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Is the future of (most) software to run as a web app?

3 points by frabia ↗ HN
With OS Sonoma, Apple will finally allow users to save website and Progressive Web Apps from Safari, and have them accessible form the browser. Although it's nothing new (and possible to do with other browsers), the fact that Apple is not fighting against them a strong signal imo. As a fairly new FE dev, I wonder whether we're going towards a direction where native apps will become less common, in favor of PWAs or similars. Or, to ask it differently: what are the advantages of developing native apps nowadays? Sure performance is a big argument atm, but will we get to a point where the difference is negligible? If so, what then?

5 comments

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nullindividual
You said you're a fairly new front end dev; is it safe to assume you're also fairly young, maybe early-to-mid 20s?

If so, have I ever got an answer for you! I was fortunate enough to grow up on computers in the late 80s and beyond.

How many 'web apps' did I use pre-broadband? Zero. How many desktop apps did I use? Well, I don't know, but it was a lot. A lot more than now.

So the future is here -- we're already past the point of web apps being more common place than desktop apps, sans browser. Since we're already past the point where your original question has meaning, take a look at the desktop apps that surround you today and tell us what cannot be replaced and why.

We can see cloud-based AA/AAA gaming is largely a failure for now, as a very easy example. And of course, all of that infrastructure and software that runs those websites is native to some degree.

frabia
I see your point, and maybe I haven’t expressed myself clearly. For sure web apps went from not being feasible to being widespread in a couple of decades or less. However, my point is whether they’ll replace native apps entirely. There are still limitation to they can do today (as you also mentioned), but that is likely not to be the case in the future. Honestly, my question behind all of this (which I maybe should face surfaced), is whether it’s today still a solid career direction to learn, say, iOS development compared to web FE.
nullindividual
Another thing that will come with age is that making predictions about tech is generally a bad idea. Or at least often doesn't pan out favorably. See Web 3.0 and Crypto.

Regarding what is wise/not wise to learn. Do what feels right and what makes you happy today. You like webdev and the framework-on-framework-on-framework-on-framework-on-dom-on-jit development? Go for it! You like iOS development? Do that.

You can make money either way and earn a comfortable living with experience. The market is wider for "webdev" (too broad of a term encompassing too many technologies) than it is iOS. Your generic run of the mill company may need a webdev, but far fewer are going to need an iOS dev.

If your goal is money and to screw the rest of life and relationships, just look at job postings today and see what the rate is.

Anyway, you're (probably) too young to worry about "what about 10, 20, 30 years from now?" questions. When I was young the Internet didn't seem much more than Compuserve, AOL, and refdesk.com. Could I have predicted that the web would be what it is today? Absolutely not :-)

bjourne
It's not the future, it is the current.
nektro
that's the present. I hope the tide turns back the other way