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AP Pranav

Nov 20, 2017

Are desktop apps generally still a thing?

#app-development #web-development #programming

Responses(8)

Franz

Nov 28, 2017

I think since SASS apps became an entity , I have never really found desktop apps to be useful to me anymore. Even Office is SASS now. I can't see myself using a desktop app outside of my Virus protection, Filezilla, Visual Studio 7zip and if by some weird series of events, I become disconnected from the internet.

Gergely Polonkai

You have to believe in things that are not true. How else would they become?

Nov 27, 2017

I want to check my mail. For that, I can open Google Inbox or GMail in a browser, or open my desktop mail application (Evolution from GNOME's suite).

When I open Inbox, I can instantly say good bye to almost 1GB RAM, depending on the browser I use. If I stay with GMail, it's only cca. 600MB, but still a lot. And I have two accounts I need to check regularly. Even my notebook with 8GB RAM can struggle under them.

Or, I can start Evolution. At its worst, Evolution eats up about 200MB of RAM, even if both accounts are configured.

Quite a difference, isn't it? Slacks Electron app is similar: if I have 2-3 accounts configured, it can eat up a GB or more. If I configure my accounts in a regular (although unofficial, thus, not supported) desktop client, I can stay well under 200MB again.

Until this problem is solved in browsers, desktop apps will remain a thing.

Nov 21, 2017

I prefer to use desktop apps. They might not be as significant as years ago, but they are still important.

Ryosuke

Designer / Developer / Influencer

Nov 21, 2017

I use desktop versions of web apps frequently because they offer either better interfaces, or don't slug down my browser with 5 tabs I perpetually keep open anyhow.

Trello (and previously Wunderlist), Flume for Instagram (although quickly replaced by the IG mobile site), Postman, etc -- all great standalone apps.

Winrar, 7-zip, Media Player Classic, VLC, OpenOffice, Filezilla, qBittorrent, Pidgin, Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint Shop Pro, 7 task tweaker, Classic Shell, GIMP, gEdit, NotePad 2, EditPlus, Notepad++, Reaper, CuBase, Cakewalk, IMGburn, Malwarebytes, VirtualBox, VMWare, the version of Skype that WORKS (as opposed to the broken pile of crap built into win 10), IE, Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Safari...

Still looks like a "thing" to me. Actively developed "things" at that. Though perhaps pointing out that browsers are in fact desktop applications may have been a bit on the snarky side of things...

But what do I know?!? I still use WinAmp. It really whips the llama's ass.

Just what made you think it's not a "thing"? Full stack web crapplets are still considered "crapplets" by DESKTOP users for a reason; they're slow, bloated, and usually crippled compared to their conventional counterparts. Same reason Windows users tell desktop Java to "suck it". Ever see a Swing crapplet on Winblows? Yeah, that.

Though it is getting comical how full stack JavaScript is now resulting in better quality front-ends and usability than ANYTHING anyone EVER slopped together with desktop Java; only proving what a moronic dead-end technology Java truly is.

That and to be brutally frank there are a lot of things (professional audio for example) you can't even come CLOSE to doing with a full stack JS crapplet. In that way they're often more crippled than 1990's pre .NET Visual Basic crapplets... aka back when the term "crapplet" was coined.

Joe Clark

Full-stack developer specializing in healthcare IT

Nov 20, 2017

In the enterprise world, yes. I'm in healthcare, and while there's a lot that can be done via the browser, desktop apps definitely have their place.

Aakash Mallik

S/W Engineer @ Samsung R&D Delhi

Nov 20, 2017

I had this very question a few weeks back before I was deciding whether to learn electron or not. I ended up realising that why the hell not, Desktop apps still have an edge over web apps in case of system resources. Also, offline apps cannot work via browser, hence they need a desktop alternative. And if you really need online connectivity, you can always connect your electron app to the backend server using REST APIs I guess. All in all, it is still a big deal if you ask me.

Tonny Hideyori

Stay foolish

Nov 20, 2017

You mean software for development or just other utility app. If it is for development desktop app is forever there; for utility app it has been overtaken by Web app and mobile app

Joe Gaspar It ran deeper than that on Java's failure. The fact it couldn't be trusted in browsers made a LOT of desktop users just flat out refuse to allow it to be installed. Amongst Joe Sixpack and Susie Sunshine desktop users Java has a worse reputation than Flash -- and that says a hell of a lot. That stigma follows Java just about everywhere it goes, which is why for all intents and purposes Java on the desktop is DEAD. (as evidenced by it rotting on the vine in terms of browser and system support). The relative JUNK every program for the desktop written using it tends to be certainly didn't endear it to users either -- I mean, what was the "Big" killer App built with it? Limewire?!? That too says a hell of a lot about it.

As to the Web Audio API, it remains with far, FAR too high a latency to be even remotely useful for professional use. It's BARELY competent enough for use in building games and to be frank, I still reject Canvas+JS+Web Audio for building games on those grounds (and find the games built with those technologies annoying due to that same lag). The lag between an event firing the ATTEMPT at playing a sound and that sound actually playing is still AGONIZINGLY slow and as such it ends up USELESS for anything realtime.

... and if you're working in realtime low latency is a must have. Until Web Audio hits latency times down around what ASIO or WSAPI can deliver, web technology crapplets will NOT be able to compete with desktop apps. Same way that Linsux is relatively useless compared to OSuX or Winblows on audio. There's a -- pardon the pun -- "reason" you don't see a lot of professional audio done with Linsux. Between the dearth of driver support, AGONIZINGLY high latency, and relative lack of well written programs it ends up to this day a tinkertoy even when compared to Windows 98!

Bottom line, until we see something capable of REALTIME audio along the lines of Reaper or Reason, "web audio" remains a pathetically crippled toy!

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Are desktop apps generally still a thing?

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