This is really nice, but I just can't get too excited over web apps. Whether it's not having direct access to my source files, relying on the service to stay up (either from server or business issues), working when offline, not having access to OS-level services, the clunkiness and slowness compared to native, or the cognitive overhead of the app being inside another app, I think I'll always prefer desktop apps.
These limitations are all slowly disappearing as web standards are advancing fast to fill these gaps. I think soon we'll be able to give trusted web apps permission to read/write to our file systems and reach out to more OS-level interfaces that our browsers have access to.
Web apps also offer advantages over native apps, like zero installation, universal compatibility regardless of OS, and the ability for publishers to put updates/patches out instantly.
This sounds like something perhaps the dropbox api would be useful for? The webapp would simply modify files in your dropbox through the api, and changes could then be pushed to your local machine through dropbox's service.
Making changes to the code to bring support to new "OS's" in this case is easy as long we're talking about the webkit gang + Firefox, which makes up most users who will have interest in webapps.
Serious question, as I enjoy posting on HN and don't want to run afoul of the community. Was my comment negged because I was seen as hijacking a thread by making general comments about web apps rather than addressing Webflow specifically?
Or is it because of my negativity toward web apps and an appearance of ignorance on the state the art?
Don't worry. I have been downvoted just for mentioning a project that has the same name. Just wanted to make sure, that the creators are aware... I think, some posters have strong negativity sensors, which cause false positives from time to time. :)
In case you are wondering, we did not do any downvoting of the parent. He/she voiced a very valid concern which we've heard from many people, so no negativity sensors triggered here :)
Don't be sad, it's only the top post because I just posted it. As for how it's relevant, I believe I'm saying in a roundabout way that I'd much prefer Webflow if it was a native app, while making a larger point about my reservations over web apps, especially the web design web apps I've been seeing a lot of lately.
