Comment by asoneth
1 year ago
I agree it's disappointing to think I've found a native app only to realize it's just an Electron app. But I don't need the idea to die, I just want better transparency in app stores so I can know ahead of time whether an application is native or just a wrapped webapp.
> This browser-in-a-box cancer needs to die a painful death.
That depends on what you think the result would be.
What do you think companies who use Electron, CEF, embedded web views, etc today would do if those technologies all died tomorrow? For example, do you think GitHub, WordPress, Figma, Discord, Whats App, Slack, Trello, Skype, or Spotify would hire native Windows desktop development teams? (Or even Mac/Linux desktop development teams?)
Personally I doubt that there would be any increase in native app development. Any developer who cares about this is already making native applications, Electron just makes web apps slightly more convenient.
> But I don't need the idea to die, I just want better transparency in app stores so I can know ahead of time whether an application is native or just a wrapped webapp.
That’s a great idea. Or a simple “Native App” badge for native apps.
They would use Qt/QML, NodeGui, Sciter, Flutter, React Native or another lightweight Electron alternative: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38687662.
> Electron just makes web apps slightly more convenient.
Yes. Until the next Cornflicker, Sircam, Code red, Blaster.