paperplanes.world (Progressive Web App) not working on Jolla 1
asked 2016-11-17 13:42:19 +0300
I wanted to try out paperplanes.world on my Jolla 1, but sadly it does not work. This is a progressive web app, i.e. an app that runs in the web browser.
It works fine on the gold standard for boring mainstream, a Samsung Galaxy S7 (the regular ones that do not explode).
Could somebody with a more modern Sailfish device try this link (paperplanes.world) and see whether it works? The initial page should display an animation of paperplanes flying around. My Jolla 1 does not even show that animation. (Careful: My browser got stuck. I had to close the tab, go to another page via bookmark. Finally I even restarted my device to get the keyboard back in the browser.)
Progressive web apps (PWA) may well be the (somewhat distant) future and they could make (most) native apps obsolete. That would be an enormous advantage for Sailfish OS because all the famous applications will become available in the browser. No need to hope and pray whether somebody will port them to Sailfish OS. But this means that our native Sailfish browser must be top notch and be able to run PWAs well. Getting paperplanes.world to run properly would be a good start.
pwa.rocks has a list of more PWAs to try out. Telegram sounds interesting and Web Flap (a Flappy Bird clone) works on my Jolla 1.
While PWAs may sound like hype and utopia that should be ignored by real men, there is substance behind it. Here is a great introduction for developers: Native Apps are Doomed
Define doesn't work. It loads -you see the globe and the planes-, the audio is choppy, and can't do much else. Don't have any other mobile phones around me to test.
ApB ( 2016-11-17 14:26:53 +0300 )edit"Native Apps are Doomed"
Blah. Upload all your data to the cloud, use slow and unreliable mobile networks and remove that "independece" stuff which is called applications. All written in a JavaScript! Because that bloat makes the web slow? Just for fun: http://sealedabstract.com/rants/why-mobile-web-apps-are-slow/
On of the worst things computers and the internet have brought up are braindead trends, buzzwords and herd instinct.
hoschi ( 2016-11-17 14:32:59 +0300 )editSame as ApB with my Jolla1. Choppy audio and graphics, which got worse the longer I watched it, with larger gaps in between frames and audio.
Spam Hunter ( 2016-11-17 16:55:39 +0300 )edit@hoschi: Thanks, great link! I am all with you for applications in which I am really interested. Give me native, anytime. But for all that social media crap and those cutesy appies that the hipsters will be screaming for, I am happy if everybody gets the same experience on all devices with a PWA.
Looking at "paperplanes.world" on my wife's Galaxy S7, I have to admit that it is really good (enough): Everything runs smoothly, no usability issues. I think having a Sailfish OS device that can keep up with this performance is important. Nobody knows what relevance PWAs will have in three years, but I think there is a genuine chance that many companies who want to publish an app will choose this way, for economical reasons. The article "Native Apps are Doomed" illustrates that the technology is mature. If Saiflish lacks native apps (which I take for granted) AND then also fails to run PWAs properly, the future will not be bright. Therefore it makes sense to push Sailfish and its browser forward so that its PWA performance is comparable to other devices. After all, PWA technology helps Sailfish because it makes new apps available immediately. Can we agree on this? (I mean, hey, you just got Flappy Bird in your Jolla's browser thanks to a PWA :-)
StaticNoiseLog ( 2016-11-17 21:57:09 +0300 )editChoppy graphics and audio with my Jolla 1. CPU usage was 100% all the time while playing PWA. So either jolla browser or web page need optimisation or hardware is not up for the task.
mattl ( 2016-11-18 06:35:34 +0300 )edit