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I'd like to move to a world where all "apps" are just web sites (or
"progressive web apps" as they're now called when you anchor them to
the device). That's exactly what PWA is for, and at this point there
is exactly zero reason for native apps to exist.
ew. own nothing and be happy, eh?
For the most part, the apps have to connect to something get data, so its a wash really as far as ownership. Sure if its native, you 'own' the app, but if your data is elsewhere.... A few exceptions of course.
I'd like to move to a world where all "apps" are just web sites (or
"progressive web apps" as they're now called when you anchor them to
the device). That's exactly what PWA is for, and at this point there
is exactly zero reason for native apps to exist.
ew. own nothing and be happy, eh?
Mail. Chat, voice, shared calendars ( even shared just between your own machines.. ) weather, social media, navigation maps, video/music streaming, countless others. the vast majority of what people use.
Not saying that 100% local apps don't exist ( like photos, clock, local music, etc. ) just that for the average person, without data, the app is pointless. And if they are just data consumers, might as well be a web-page.
( unless i totally misunderstood your comment, which is possible )
Maybe I don't know what kind of apps we're talking about. nothing I use does that.
What was the Oracle CEO who said we would all be thin clients by some point?
The cloud is just someone else's computer. Literally. All apps as a website means someone else controls the entire experience. Good luck with that.
So what the 'web founders' intended it to be. Until we went sideways.
And from what i remember that was still the case when the original iPhone came out, as "smart" being mostly a "portable browser" but then someone at apple had the idea of ' apps in a walled garden' and down the tubes that went too. ( or jobs secretly had that plan all along and it was just the marketing that i remember.. )
I'd like to move to a world where all "apps" are just web sites
I believe it was them. But, it may have been said long before that too and they just l liked the idea.
But ill still say the same thing, if you are consuming their data to make your app function, you are still tied to them for the experience. And they most likely make your 'app' too, so really there is no practical difference, other than it sucks more resources off your devices than a 'true' client/server situation.
Most, and again not all, but most, things we do need remote data or they are pointless. And for the 'masses' the % is higher.
What was the Oracle CEO who said we would all be thin clients by some point?
The cloud is just someone else's computer. Literally. All apps as a website means someone else controls the entire experience. Good luck with that.
2026-06-29 21:47 from Nurb432Funny you say that, I operate most of the background servers myself in a lot of cases and lots of things can operate on local data. For example, there are such things as offline navigators so you can have maps while watching caballitos in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal. You can even use GPS for those. You only need to download the maps beforehand.
Subject: Re: Callback 8020
Mail. Chat, voice, shared calendars ( even shared just between your own
machines.. ) weather, social media, navigation maps, video/music
streaming, countless others. the vast majority of what people use.
Right, not *all* but most of what the unwashed masses use.
2026-06-29 21:47 from Nurb432Funny you say that, I operate most of the background servers myself in a lot of cases and lots of things can operate on local data. For example, there are such things as offline navigators so you can have maps while watching caballitos in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal. You can even use GPS for those. You only need to download the maps beforehand.
Subject: Re: Callback 8020
Mail. Chat, voice, shared calendars ( even shared just between your own
machines.. ) weather, social media, navigation maps, video/music
streaming, countless others. the vast majority of what people use.
Well, yes, but there was a place for apps when smartphones were first being built. Remember, the state of the art back then was WML and WAP, and most of what you can do in a mobile browser today simply wasn't possible then. We needed apps. Now we don't. So now it's time for applications to move to the web on mobile, just like they did on the desktop.
Actually a lot of "apps" these days are simply a mobile web site wrapped up and stuck into an app store. The next step needs to be for PWA's to appear in the app stores. There are half-attempts at this, but both major app stores discourage, tarpit, or actively prohibit packaging a web site as an app. You have to start inside the browser.
Ironically, it is Microsoft who are on "our" side right now, since they no longer have a mobile app store of their own.