Is it possible to completely replace native applications with web ones?
Kacper Raubo
6 replies
What limits do you see?
During some discussion (https://www.producthunt.com/discussions/figma-and-spline-have-revolutionized-the-graphics-editing-software-market-but-what-about-videos), @kevin_t said he has worked in places, which for a security reason don't allow for web software to be used.
Have you encountered such a restriction?
Replies
André J@sentry_co
Banks and security apps doesn't allow third party libraries at all.
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@sentry_co, what exactly do you mean by this? Aren't they allowed to use e.g. React?
@kacperraubo Nope. React has many external dependencies. And React is a layer on top of the native language. When native APIs change. React doesn't always patch etc. When you code In the native language the architecture also becomes more robust and handles OS changes better etc.
Yes. Eg. High security establishments, Bank back offices, etc
Solopreneur Rocks
It depends on the app's requirements. The web app (think PWA) can already interact with a vast number of device specific features via JavaScript. You can check this out - https://whatwebcando.today/
Generally, for web to achieve native-like performance and behavior, we have:
1) Service workers that can be used to provide offline functionality,
2) Web frameworks like React/Vue/Svelte that can take care of the UI and make the app work like an SPA,
3) PWAs that are "installable" on the users' devices,
4) Web assembly that can be used if you want near-native performance.
From the context of platform capabilities, I would say web can do as well as native on many fronts but not all.
From the security point of view, I believe the industry you are operating in (especially sensitive ones) determines the restrictions but this is not so much to do with the platform capabilities.
Cheers!