Discussion · bonfire.cafe

So the NHS app is a good example of an app that's basically a bunch of web content, shown in web views, with a wrapper that enables things like biometric login and notifications. Call me crazy, but I think this is as much part of the web as it would be if it were running in a traditional browser. (Which by the way you can also do if you choose to.) I think we need to start thinking about an expanded definition of "what is the web" that includes web technology usage in native apps.

Jeffrey Yasskin

@jyasskin@hachyderm.io · 1 hour ago

@torgo I don't think it's "on the web" unless someone can link to it and expect most of their users to be able to follow the link.

Daniel Appelquist

@torgo@mastodon.social · 60 minutes ago

@jyasskin @laser I also agree linkability is a key trait of the web. However when I use online banking in the browser, my bank balance is on the web but I wouldn't expect others to be able to link to that. So it's a bit of a grey area…

Daniel Appelquist

@torgo@mastodon.social · 55 minutes ago

@jyasskin @laser conversely, when I use Mastodon via a native client like Ice Cubes, I'm not using a browser, but every message has a unique URL and is definitely linkable. (In my view, that's also the web, by the way.)

Andrew Plotkin

@zarfeblong@mastodon.gamedev.place · 1 hour ago

@torgo > (Which by the way you can also do if you choose to.)

I think that's critical. When people say “that's not the web” they are (I think, largely) objecting to the architecture of payment, gatekeeping, and corporate control that has built up around "apps" in the "App Store" sense. If I can do everything from a browser *also*, then that objection disappears.