Agree with Ben here. I don't think apps should be 'browser chrome' unless they *absolutely* have to. The apps we choose to ship with should be an example of what is possible Firefox OS and ultimately be replaced by better third-party apps.
*W I L S O N P A G E* Front-end Developer Firefox OS (Gaia) London Office Twitter: @wilsonpage IRC: wilsonpage On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Benjamin Francis <[email protected]> wrote: > On 12 May 2015 at 00:10, Jonas Sicking <[email protected]> wrote: > >> We've debated various forms of making FirefoxOS more webby and less >> app focused. The new security model is one example of that. The >> pinning proposals from Ben is another. >> > > In case you're wondering what these things are... > > New Security Model > https://wiki.mozilla.org/FirefoxOS/New_security_model > > "Pinning the Web" design concept > > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JTRM1qr25tW_GLe5zeDV-P2p0x6mwefMy5TcGkzAK9c/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000#slide=id.p > > >> We can create something >> which cause people to not just count the number of apps that we have, >> but instead look at other differences. >> > > Definitely on board with this. > >> >> Second, I think the web model provides substantial benefits. All >> modern operating systems, desktop and mobile alike, use an application >> model. But this model came about due to engineering reasons, not for >> UX reasons. On desktop the web model has proven remarkably popular and >> successful, and I see no reason why it couldn't on mobile too. >> > > I'm not sure it's true that the app model only exists for engineering > reasons, but it's certainly not the only possible model, or necessarily the > best model for the web. > >> >> Third, by creating something more webby, I think we'll make better use >> of the content that we have. I.e. it'll make better use of the web as >> it is and as it will be for the near term future. >> > > I agree. The web has a billion web sites, content is the web's biggest > strength. Let's make the most of that and unlock more of the value of the > web for users. > > >> So, in summary, the idea is to: >> * Don't use separate windows for separate "apps" >> * Enable platform-wide "tabs" which can be navigated to any URL, >> including gaia URLs. >> * The same URL can be open in multiple tabs at once, including gaia >> URLs. > > > I think this is all consistent with the Pinning the Web design concept. > Any window can be navigated to any URL, no app windows vs. browser windows, > the browser chrome collapses and expands as you navigate into and out of > pinned sites/pages. It also suggests dynamically grouping open windows by > site in the task/session manager as an optimisation. > > Even including the homescreen. >> * Icons on the homescreen are just like links and just navigates the >> current tab. >> * The homebutton simply navigates the current tab to the homescreen URL. >> > > It could make sense for the homescreen to be like about:home, the browser > start page to be like about:newtab and settings to be like > about:preferences. Also things like the dialer which depend on APIs which > are never likely to become web standards are essentially chrome. I think it > also makes sense to be able to modify this chrome with Firefox OS Addons. > > It would be shame for apps like Contacts, Gallery, Music, Video etc. not > to have real URLs, and a unique URL for each contact/photo/song/video as is > being worked on with the new architecture, so that you can deep link to a > particular item. Maybe some parts of Gaia would become chrome, and some > would become web apps? > > I think these ideas make sense architecturally, but need exploring further > from a UX point of view to figure out what problems are actually being > solved for the user. Being different isn't enough on its own, we should be > aiming to provide real value and a compelling experience for users. > > Long live the web :) > > Ben > > > _______________________________________________ > dev-b2g mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-b2g > >
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