Re: The Browser Is Dead

Android phones certainly are capable of doing that, though maybe with a bit
more work from the developer.

On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 12:46 PM, Glenn Vanderburg <[email protected]>wrote:

>
>
> One of the interesting points here is that Apple, at least (I don't know
> about the others) has put a lot of thought and effort into making it
> possible to build web apps that really feel native.
>
> If you have a Basecamp account and also a phone that is supported by
> 37signals' new mobile Basecamp website, try this:
>
> 1. Go to http://basecamphq.com/
> 2. Log in and go to your Basecamp dashboard.
> 3. Add a shortcut to the page to your home screen (on the iPhone, you tap
> the middle button in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen and choose "Add
> to Home Screen").
> 4. Go back into the browser and close the tab/window/whatever that Basecamp
> is in.
> 5. Go back to the home screen and tap the Basecamp shortcut you created in
> step 3.  You'll probably have to log in again.
>
> On the iPhone, at least, there are almost no cues to indicate that you're
> in a web app vs. a native app.  Yes, if you pay attention to fine details of
> button behavior and animations, you can figure it out.  But there's no
> toolbar at the bottom, no location or search fields at the top.  No browser
> chrome whatsoever.  Basecamp appears as a separate app in the multitasking
> interface, and when you switch over to Safari, there is no tab for Basecamp;
> it's running in a completely separate instance of Safari (as far as the user
> can tell; I have no idea about the under-the-hood mechanisms involved).
>
> Basecamp mobile doesn't yet seem to support offline operation (and I don't
> know how much sense that would make, given the fundamentally cooperative
> nature of the app) but it could, and if it did, you could start it up and
> work within it even without a network connection.
>
> I would be *very* curious to know whether Android phones, Blackberries, or
> webOS devices support this kind of seamless experience for properly built
> HTML5 web apps.  (I'm sure they will at some point, and they may already.)
>
> So the browser is changing how it reveals itself to users and what it means
> to be a web app.
>
> ---Glenn
>
> On Feb 1, 2011, at 11:13 AM, Chris Morris wrote:
>
>
>
> A while ago at one of the DFW PragProg meetings, Dave threw out the
> conversation starter, "The Browser Is Dead." IIRC, he said he thought it to
> be dead in the same way the landline phone is dead - everyone still has one,
> but it's on its way out or somesuch. Having specific apps to deal with
> different data (e.g. map data) seemed to be a better way. (Insert massive
> memory disclaimers here: I may not only have not remembered Dave's points
> correctly, but may have in fact dreamed the conversation in a Spring Creek
> cobbler induced sugar coma).
>
> Today, along with an announcement about BaseCamp mobile being developed as
> a web site without specific phone apps, DHH tweeted this: RT @dhh: Taking
> your web app mobile just for iOS in 2011 is like taking your business to the
> web just for IE4 in 2001.
>
> I myself find the issue an interesting one - the browser hosting apps vs. a
> desktop hosting apps vs. a phone OS hosting apps - it all seems very blurry
> to me. But is there any point in debating approaches here, or is it simply a
> matter of determining your specific needs and not worrying about it? (e.g.
> Need for Speed for Android needs C library support and trying to do that as
> a browser app makes no sense).
>
>
>
>
> --
> Chris
> http://improvingenterprises.com
> http://clabs.org
>
>
>
>  
>



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