I am unreasonably excited about Safari PWAs on macOS. This is a very good start.
Some of my favorite details from the article:
> Different from iOS/iPadOS, credentials in cookies are copied over, so if you were logged in when running in the tab, you're logged in when you launch the app. No other storage means apart from cookies are copied.
> Same-origin (or in-scope if a manifest exists) links are handled in-app, cross-origin (or out-of-scope if a manifest exists) links open in the default browser. A notable exception are OAuth flow links, which are handled in-app based on a heuristic.
> Web apps run in the context of a separate process called `Web App.app`. Separating Safari and Web App allows both to run independently. You can open a Web app without opening Safari, you can close Safari without all web apps closing.
Buuutt... FileSystem API is not supported yet. Nor is drag-and-drop or LaunchHandler (open a specific file type with the web app). If we had those features, we could get back to storing and editing files on disk, using web apps, which would be a huge improvement for local-first apps.
> Web apps run in the context of a separate process called `Web App.app`. Separating Safari and Web App allows both to run independently. You can open a Web app without opening Safari, you can close Safari without all web apps closing.
This is a big thing that's dampened my desktop usage of PWAs with Chrome and other Cloniums - it's highly irritating for Chrome itself to fire up when I launch an installed PWA. Not a problem if Chrome is your main browser I suppose, but that's not an assumption that should be made. Glad Apple took this route on this.
> FileSystem API is not supported yet. Nor is drag-and-drop or LaunchHandler
Drag-and-drop as in, not handled any better than current web apps?
As for the other two, I hope they never are. My hope is that this feature is for process isolation for things that may be open all of the time anyway and not have native alternatives: project management tools, social sites, media sites.
I don't want developers to build web apps in place of native and point to "Web Apps". I know I'm fighting an uphill battle, but 10 years later, Electron apps still suck. I'm not interested in making it easier for developers to build crappy desktop apps.
It is so weird hearing people hope Safari doesn't implement feature X, Y or Z simply so users and developers don't have a choice. If you don't want to use or support something don't, but you have no idea what is best for me.
As is mentioned elsewhere in the thread certain features are too easily abused. Part of being a platform owner is saying no to things that may seem like a good idea but are short-sighted and have a high likelihood of abuse.
Some of my favorite details from the article:
> Different from iOS/iPadOS, credentials in cookies are copied over, so if you were logged in when running in the tab, you're logged in when you launch the app. No other storage means apart from cookies are copied.
> Same-origin (or in-scope if a manifest exists) links are handled in-app, cross-origin (or out-of-scope if a manifest exists) links open in the default browser. A notable exception are OAuth flow links, which are handled in-app based on a heuristic.
> Web apps run in the context of a separate process called `Web App.app`. Separating Safari and Web App allows both to run independently. You can open a Web app without opening Safari, you can close Safari without all web apps closing.
Buuutt... FileSystem API is not supported yet. Nor is drag-and-drop or LaunchHandler (open a specific file type with the web app). If we had those features, we could get back to storing and editing files on disk, using web apps, which would be a huge improvement for local-first apps.