[aurareturn]

>Blender, in my view, is one of the best arguments to develop native desktop applications over web view wrappers like Electron.

Different class of products.

For Electron apps, often it's the choice of having a desktop app or not having one at all.

[daemin]

I would prefer they do not make an electron app and just have people use the web-app contained in a browser like it was meant to be.

[aurareturn]

So don't download the desktop electron app? What's the problem?

[daemin]

Web versions don't work with all browsers, they also want you to use the app, and heavily promote using the app, even though the app is just a web page in a browser that's not your browser.

If they want you to use an installed app then they should just build a native app that can be installed.

[zztop44]

But what’s stopping you just using the web page (in a browser that it works with)? Yes, they want you to use the app, but you can still do what you want.

[swiftcoder]

There is usually critical missing functionality from the web version (mostly around native filesystem access). Also, most sites that offer an Electron app paster annoying banners advertising this fact across their web version...

[daemin]

I have done that in the past, though it was more that certain features were just broken in a browser rather than the whole website not working.

If I needed to run another entire browser just for this website I wouldn't bother.

[McDyver]

In my opinion, the actual problem is the focus on making everything web first.

> For Electron apps, often it's the choice of having a desktop app or not having one at all.

Maybe it would be better to have none at all. Having an electron app is an excuse to say "we already have a desktop app, so we won't make a native one".

[flohofwoe]

The reason why Electron has won is because native platforms couldn't be arsed to agree on a standardized native UI framework integrated into the platforms (and not just Microsoft, Apple and Google (via Android), but also 'Linux on the desktop' which is still the same fragmented mess as it ever was (arguably worse after Wayland will replace X11 any moment now).

Electron's success is strictly to blame on the desktop platform owners/maintainers dropping the ball, consistently and repeatedly for the last 3 decades (Microsoft's UI framework 'evolution' is especially hilarious, who in their right mind would write an application against a widget library that's going to be deprecated in 3 years).

[aurareturn]

  In my opinion, the actual problem is the focus on making everything web first.

I don't think this is a problem. Many class of products require a web version over a desktop one. The desktop one is a very nice bonus.

[rounce]

I wonder if this relationship will invert as wasm and web guy and their tooling matures, to the point where these types of applications where drawing performance is a must are being targeted desktop first and then thrown through a OSFA wasmification step to run on the web.