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mooreted
July 20th, 2015, 09:26 PM
I'm not getting the point of webapps. I have decided to switch back to Firefox. I go to YouTube and get: "Would you like to install YouTube..." ... Um, I'm already watching YouTube. Same think happened with Facebook.

If I want to load a webpage I just click a bookmark. Why would I want a webapp that's just a webpage?

Confused.

night_sky2
July 21st, 2015, 01:32 AM
I am not sure what you mean. Were you using Google Chrome? That seems odd though.

I use Firefox on desktop and not receiving any of the promptings you are talking about.

mooreted
July 21st, 2015, 03:06 AM
That's interesting. No, it's a desktop. Ubuntu 14.04.

I disabled some extensions that seems to have fixed it: Unity websites integration and Unity desktop integration

Also, I think they only work in Firefox.

Pinoy Tux
July 21st, 2015, 03:15 AM
Old feature. This article (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/07/ubuntu-unveil-new-web-apps-feature-for-12-10) in OMG Ubuntu! pretty much explains what it is for. (Doing a search for "Ubuntu webapps" in your favorite search site will give you tons of resources. ;))

mooreted
July 21st, 2015, 03:56 AM
Yeah, read a bunch of those. It was more a philosophical question. What's the point? Why would anyone spend time developing them? What do they offer that a bookmark doesn't? They seem completely useless. The article talks a good game, but none of that actually seems to work. Do you use webapps? If so, what for? Do you like webapps? If so, why?

Since this is The Cafe I figured we could just BS about the merits of webapps since I'm not seeing any.

grahammechanical
July 21st, 2015, 02:03 PM
I must admit that I am also bemused by the webapps philosophy. Leaving aside the "Its the latest. Everyone should get one" description I have struggled to find a point to them. They should be usable on the desktop but I think that they are more useful on the Ubuntu phone.

I can see a point to these if they let us access a web site without needing to open the full web browser program. It might mean lower usage of system resources. And Also if the webapp has some security features that are not present in the web browser.

The publicity blurb says


And with a separate API that enables websites to be quickly converted to run independently of a browser, the same goes for your web applications.

I am not sure what that means but it might be useful in some way.

I am also not sure about the meaning of this either


URL patterns control what can be opened in webapp and what goes to browser while enabling complex apps drawn from multiple URLs

or this


Containment: Webapps use isolated cookies, history, etc. that is not shared with any browser

But I will give that they may have their uses. And then there is this:


Security: Links to other URLs open in browser, so user cannot be spoofed

Now that is most definitely useful. One day it will be fashionable to use webapps. May be. And millions of people will use them without even knowing what they are. And when that day comes, someone will ask: What's the point of a web browser when we have webapps. And the rest of the people will laugh.

Regards.

mooreted
July 21st, 2015, 07:48 PM
Most of that just sounds like developer market speak. Or I just don't understand what it means. Maybe on a phone it would work well. I need to get my hands on an Ubuntu phone one of these days.