Ask HN: Why isn't PWA's the default cross platform solution yet?
4 comments
Its political warfare in that Apple wants to own both the hardware and software and ultimately ideally has a complete monopoly over all hardware. Ultimately they want to own 60% of every developer's pre-profit income, they're strangulating the future so you have attempts to make things better like react native. Its the same type of leverage that MS applied before its anti-trust trial where they destroyed web standards with IE and their desktop monopoly.
Sadly Apple apologists seem far more prevalent than Microsoft ones back in those days. Every thread about it on HN, there’s always at least one of:
- It is impossible for Apple to engage in monopolistic practices because Android exists
- If Safari were actually forced to compete with other browsers its market share would immediately drop to 0
- It is impossible for Apple to engage in monopolistic practices because Android exists
- If Safari were actually forced to compete with other browsers its market share would immediately drop to 0
Two reasons: 1. Because Apple intentionally cripples them on its mobile operating systems. 2. Because PWAs can't harvest as much of your personal information as native apps can (regardless of platform).
Because I can't do this:
const FS = require('fs');
let data = FS.readFile();
A PWA is only useful if all of your features fit within the web. Many electrons apps have web versions with less features. That is the natural result of a sandbox.
const FS = require('fs');
let data = FS.readFile();
A PWA is only useful if all of your features fit within the web. Many electrons apps have web versions with less features. That is the natural result of a sandbox.
Browser bugs and you don't get direct access to the hardware.