Re: New manifest spec - ready for FPWD?

Hi Rob,  


On Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 9:28 AM, Rob Manson wrote:

> That's a great overview!
>  
> There's 2 points I think haven't fully been addressed.
>  
> 1. Section 8. Navigation
> Much of this work (and HTML5 in general) is about bringing the Web  
> Platform up to being "equal" with "native apps". But one thing that the  
> Web does that native apps can't do is deep linking (ignoring the  
> fustercluck of intents). I think it would provide a significant  
> advantage if it was also possible to deep link into installed web apps.  
> I understand this is very complex and I'm not proposing any solution  
> right now. But if we don't include this then we are in effect cutting  
> web applications down to the level of native apps instead of leaping  
> ahead of them.
>  
> Use Case: Social sharing
> User A and User B both have the same web app installed on the devices  
> they are using. User A finds a resource they like inside the app and  
> decide to share this from within the app through one of their social  
> networks. User B sees this link in their social feed and taps on it.  
> Since User B also has this web app installed it would be "nice" to be  
> able to open that resource directly within the installed app. Otherwise  
> User X's browser would just open it like a normal web resource. This  
> can also be relevant for the same user using the same web app across  
> multiple devices.
> NOTE: This is one of the key drivers we have found for building business  
> cases of "Web instead of Native".

Filed bug to investigate:
https://github.com/w3c-webmob/installable-webapps/issues/30
   
>  
>  
> 2. Section 6. Start page
> This is lightly touched on and slightly related to the point above, but  
> the common experience especially on iOS is that even when you background  
> an installed app and then foreground it again it reloads the entire  
> state. This effectively breaks the UX and makes this mode almost  
> unusable. It's definitely possible to use localStorage, etc. to work  
> around this but the UX is horrible. Allowing installed apps to persist  
> their resources and loaded state across background/foreground (and  
> ideally even launches) would be a massive step forward. Perhaps naming  
> this a "First use page" would help clarify this focus?
>  

Agree. This is really evident in iOS at least. Will also investigate if it’s something devs should be dealing with or an OS level thing. At least on iOS, it seems like it’s an OS level thing, as native apps don’t have this problem - you can switch back and force between them (unless they take up massive amounts of RAM, like games… in which case iOS seems to shut down apps as you swap from one to another).  

Firefox OS seems to fake it by taking a screenshot when the app boots up, which is then used in the task switcher.  

Tracking this here:
https://github.com/w3c-webmob/installable-webapps/issues/31

Received on Wednesday, 11 December 2013 06:56:10 UTC