> Maybe you can clarify what kind of app you are speaking of. I'm using Hacker News at the moment, which is a web app. I am typing into a text area, and in a moment, will press the reply button.
HN is a forum. It uses forms, which the web was more or less originally built for and for which a web browser is a suitable interface.
> I'm not feeing this "lack of integration" you speak of. I don't see how this could be improved if it was in a Windows app, and that reply button was coded using the Win32 API as opposed to being made in HTML, styled in CSS, and given interactivity with JavaScript.
Browsers used to be simple enough that buttons did use the native toolkit. JavaScript isn't even required for what HN does. My point is that HN is less an "app" than it is a "document" and the web is perfectly suitable for viewing it. The same way you use a native PDF viewer to interact with a PDF. Web apps are like if a bunch of people insisted on treating PDF as an application platform.
> Oh, you mean some other kind of app? What kind?
CAD software, audio software, art software, modelling software, development environments, office applications, diagnostic tools, emulators, video editors, photo editors, management tools...
> I use the Google's "messages for web" app that allows me to send and receive SMS messages via an app in a web browser. Drag and drop works as expected. And so on. How would it be better if it was a native Windows app?
It would take up less memory and CPU time, integrate with the system tray and native notification system, be easier to control with windows firewall, could keep a local log, and it would match the look and feel of the rest of the OS, reducing friction. If Microsoft hadn't bone-headedly remove Windows's theming capabilities it could also match your aesthetic preferences with no special effort.
> I also use apps like Gimp and Inkscape, which are technically native but are horrible (because they are trying to be cross platform).
Kinda my point really: they would be better if they used native interfaces instead of GTK. When I say native, I mean taking advantage of the integration provided by using native widgets and APIs.
> And I use a native video editing app called ScreenFlow, which works great on a Mac. But now that my main machine is Windows, it is a huge pain in the ass to use because I have to get out my aging Mac and transfer large files to it.
I'm sure storing your videos in the cloud for use with some kind of web-based editor would be completely seamless?
> I use Visual Studio Code. It is built on web technologies (i.e. electron, but it also can run right in a web browser over the web), and is every bit as slick the competing single-OS native app I recently abandoned for text editing (BBEdit).
> In every case I am either using apps that are web based (or at least web-browser-engine based), or I am suffering from the downsides of apps that are not.
HN is a forum. It uses forms, which the web was more or less originally built for and for which a web browser is a suitable interface.
> I'm not feeing this "lack of integration" you speak of. I don't see how this could be improved if it was in a Windows app, and that reply button was coded using the Win32 API as opposed to being made in HTML, styled in CSS, and given interactivity with JavaScript.
Browsers used to be simple enough that buttons did use the native toolkit. JavaScript isn't even required for what HN does. My point is that HN is less an "app" than it is a "document" and the web is perfectly suitable for viewing it. The same way you use a native PDF viewer to interact with a PDF. Web apps are like if a bunch of people insisted on treating PDF as an application platform.
> Oh, you mean some other kind of app? What kind?
CAD software, audio software, art software, modelling software, development environments, office applications, diagnostic tools, emulators, video editors, photo editors, management tools...
> I use the Google's "messages for web" app that allows me to send and receive SMS messages via an app in a web browser. Drag and drop works as expected. And so on. How would it be better if it was a native Windows app?
It would take up less memory and CPU time, integrate with the system tray and native notification system, be easier to control with windows firewall, could keep a local log, and it would match the look and feel of the rest of the OS, reducing friction. If Microsoft hadn't bone-headedly remove Windows's theming capabilities it could also match your aesthetic preferences with no special effort.
> I also use apps like Gimp and Inkscape, which are technically native but are horrible (because they are trying to be cross platform).
Kinda my point really: they would be better if they used native interfaces instead of GTK. When I say native, I mean taking advantage of the integration provided by using native widgets and APIs.
> And I use a native video editing app called ScreenFlow, which works great on a Mac. But now that my main machine is Windows, it is a huge pain in the ass to use because I have to get out my aging Mac and transfer large files to it.
I'm sure storing your videos in the cloud for use with some kind of web-based editor would be completely seamless?
> I use Visual Studio Code. It is built on web technologies (i.e. electron, but it also can run right in a web browser over the web), and is every bit as slick the competing single-OS native app I recently abandoned for text editing (BBEdit).
> In every case I am either using apps that are web based (or at least web-browser-engine based), or I am suffering from the downsides of apps that are not.
Doesn't mean its a good idea.