Funnily enough, Steve Jobs/Apple didn't even want an app store or native apps to begin with. It was gonna be only preinstalled apps + 3rd party web apps. Hell he had to be convinced to even allow non-Apple 3rd party apps in the first place.
I don't think web apps are the future, but I also don't see why there can't be a more protected mode/sandbox for non app store sourced content to run in. Nobody has solved this yet - why can I visit pretty much any website and (mostly) be completely safe, yet I can't install any old random APK?
Hell, it should be possible to jump from the web into native code with a single click by now, why tf not. The only good thing the app stores are good for is to serve up apps that are "more trusted" (even tho app stores constantly have a couple bad actor apps on em) as well as centralised place to easily find stuff (the reason people use Google).
I guess the real problem with sandboxing/permissions systems is that users don't know what's good for them; my Tiktok loving friends would just hit "yes, yes, yes" to any dialog that says "TT wants to know your shoe size".
I don't think web apps are the future, but I also don't see why there can't be a more protected mode/sandbox for non app store sourced content to run in. Nobody has solved this yet - why can I visit pretty much any website and (mostly) be completely safe, yet I can't install any old random APK?
Hell, it should be possible to jump from the web into native code with a single click by now, why tf not. The only good thing the app stores are good for is to serve up apps that are "more trusted" (even tho app stores constantly have a couple bad actor apps on em) as well as centralised place to easily find stuff (the reason people use Google).
I guess the real problem with sandboxing/permissions systems is that users don't know what's good for them; my Tiktok loving friends would just hit "yes, yes, yes" to any dialog that says "TT wants to know your shoe size".