[moca]

I have worked with Internet services for many years. I think we have missed quite some opportunity to build great web app platform.

For example, we could package web apps in .apk/.jar package, so they can run like native apps without worrying about missing a resource during offline. JS engine can have more freedom optimizing the code and cache the result.

There is no need to install web app like Chrome Web Store does. All we need is bookmarking and implicit app cache (with smart caching policy). Most people don't use more than 100 apps on regular basis, so 1GB app cache is enough for most people. One major mistake with installable web apps like Chrome Web Store is they often come with security permissions, which defeats major value of web, security and privacy.

Offline can be done with smart API design. For example, browser can let web apps create cache files that sit next to cached .apk and share the same lifespan, then web apps can use sqlite to work with such files for storage. It is essentially the same model as Android/iOS native apps. All these can be done without any app install or security permission. The only risk would be you will lose data if an app is purged during offline, therefore it doesn't have chance to sync the state back to server. If you really about data loss, browser can support pinned apps, so they never get purged by caching policy. That pretty much solves the fundamental problem with web app model.

PS: the usability of JavaScript, web APIs and performance are separate issues. That would also need to solved.