The demise of native coded apps

apologies

Posted by Christoph
Dec 6, 2020 at 02:14 PM

Simon - ok I’ll bite.

The problem with OS specific coded apps is that you end up in the walled garden of your Apple word, and you can never leave it because your most important apps only run on MacOs and you are so used to the Mac keyboard. I like when I have the freedom to move away to another OS knowing that I can continue to use my most favorite apps there. Sure, developers could provide their software as native apps for all the major platforms, but the development cost and the cost of the product as well. Also, development pace would come to a crawl, because features need to implemented in all the different apps. That’s why Evernote went that road. The maintenance burden of the different apps on the different platforms was simply too high. The idea to consolidate was not a bad one, it was just badly carried out. And I really don’t think all platform-independent apps are ugly or slow. Yes, many of them are. But there are many very usable, stylish and sufficiently fast platform independent apps, including Electron apps. I’m thinking of Visual Studio Code and Obsidian for example. The user communities of such apps are also much greater and more diverse because they do not only cosist of Mac users. I really hate it when shiny new apps are only available for Mac. Yes, Apple is nice, and there are many great native apps for Mac, but I know that as soon as I buy a Mac, I will be locked into the Apple world, and need to buy expensive hardware from a single company from then on, and can never go back.

Simon wrote:
I’m here to lament the demise of OS specific coded apps. There is an
>increasing trend to use Java, Electron, Catalyst and the like. Why do I
>dislike this? Because the user experience in general is pants. I don’t
>know what Microsoft use, but on my mac I can’t use simple shortcuts such
>as CMD A or E to get to the beginning or end of a line. It irks me. Also
>the UI changes, slower responses and general sluggishness. The
>difference between native macOS apps and these imposter apps is as
>different as night and day.
> >Is this what we have to look forward to? Apps coded once that kinda work
>on all platforms, but are unpleasant in the main and don’t integrate
>with any OS well?

Posted by Christoph
Dec 6, 2020 at 02:34 PM

Somewhere a “would explode” is missing.

Posted by Simon
Dec 6, 2020 at 03:16 PM

I don’t really care about being locked into an OS, as that’s why I chose it. Plus, data doesn’t need to be locked in ie markdown files for text, etc. Even with Obsidian and VScode, there are notable oddities and performance issues. You can tell they’re Electron.

In the end, macOS as an example will find users moving to cheaper OS’s if the user experience deteriorates due to OS agnostic apps. If every app you use works on linux, why pay for Windows or macOS? I understand the code once run everywhere concept, but personally would choose OS native apps every time.

Christoph wrote:
Simon - ok I’ll bite.
> >The problem with OS specific coded apps is that you end up in the walled
>garden of your Apple word, and you can never leave it because your most
>important apps only run on MacOs and you are so used to the Mac
>keyboard. I like when I have the freedom to move away to another OS
>knowing that I can continue to use my most favorite apps there. Sure,
>developers could provide their software as native apps for all the major
>platforms, but the development cost and the cost of the product as well.
>Also, development pace would come to a crawl, because features need to
>implemented in all the different apps. That’s why Evernote went that
>road. The maintenance burden of the different apps on the different
>platforms was simply too high. The idea to consolidate was not a bad
>one, it was just badly carried out. And I really don’t think all
>platform-independent apps are ugly or slow. Yes, many of them are. But
>there are many very usable, stylish and sufficiently fast platform
>independent apps, including Electron apps. I’m thinking of Visual Studio
>Code and Obsidian for example. The user communities of such apps are
>also much greater and more diverse because they do not only cosist of
>Mac users. I really hate it when shiny new apps are only available for
>Mac. Yes, Apple is nice, and there are many great native apps for Mac,
>but I know that as soon as I buy a Mac, I will be locked into the Apple
>world, and need to buy expensive hardware from a single company from
>then on, and can never go back.
> >Simon wrote:
>I’m here to lament the demise of OS specific coded apps. There is an
>>increasing trend to use Java, Electron, Catalyst and the like. Why do I
>>dislike this? Because the user experience in general is pants. I don’t
>>know what Microsoft use, but on my mac I can’t use simple shortcuts
>such
>>as CMD A or E to get to the beginning or end of a line. It irks me.
>Also
>>the UI changes, slower responses and general sluggishness. The
>>difference between native macOS apps and these imposter apps is as
>>different as night and day.
>>
>>Is this what we have to look forward to? Apps coded once that kinda
>work
>>on all platforms, but are unpleasant in the main and don’t integrate
>>with any OS well?
>

Posted by Christoph
Dec 6, 2020 at 03:57 PM

There are many reasons why people stick to Windows instead of switching to Linux. For instance, you may have an important device where the driver is only available for Windows, or you are into gaming, or you need some Windows office programs, or at your work place you can only use Windows. Maybe you don’t even want to use something different at home to avoid the mental burden of switching and using different key(board)s, also Linux is still difficult for people who are not IT affine. But all these reasons may change for you over time, and you may want to switch your platform. Also, you may not be satisfied with the overall direction into which Apple or Microsoft goes concerning their operating systems, e.g. regarding data privacy, look-and-feel, technical aspects, pricing. In that case it’s good when you have the freedom to make the switch because your programs work on the other OSes as well.

Simon wrote:
>In the end, macOS as an example will find users moving to cheaper OS’s
>if the user experience deteriorates due to OS agnostic apps. If every
>app you use works on linux, why pay for Windows or macOS?

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