Editing 1367: Installing
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic refers to the kind of "inventions" which seem new from the point of view of a {{w|smartphone}} user but have already been around for a long time on desktop or | + | This comic refers to the kind of "inventions" which seem new from the point of view of a {{w|smartphone}} (handheld computer) user, but have already been around for a long time on desktop or laptop/notebook computers. |
− | [[Cueball]] has a clever idea to skip the installing of applications on mobile phones: he would host the applications online instead and provide links to the servers. The apps wouldn't stay on the phone all the time; instead | + | [[Cueball]] has a clever idea to skip the downloading and installing of applications on mobile phones: he would host the applications online instead, and provide links to the servers. |
+ | The apps wouldn't stay on the phone all the time; instead the phone would download each app again every time the user wanted to run it. | ||
− | However, web pages and {{w|web application}}s already work like this. Clicking a link will make the browser download a web page and | + | However, web pages and {{w|web application}}s already work like this. |
+ | Clicking a link will make the browser download a web page and execute the contained HTML and any JavaScript it contains or plugin data (such as Flash applets) that it links to. | ||
+ | The page usually isn't saved long-term on the user's computer; instead the browser downloads it again when needed. | ||
− | + | In the title text, Cueball's idea for local application storage already exists in the HTTP protocol as {{w|HTTP cookie|cookies}}. | |
+ | More recently, the HTML 5 protocol added the more flexible {{w|Web storage|web storage}}, which does much the same thing. | ||
− | + | Native phone applications and web applications are not completely interchangeable. | |
− | + | The web browser that is needed to run web applications on a mobile phone doesn't allow access to several of the phone's resources, like notifications and sensors. The [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS Firefox OS] project is trying to standardize these resources so that the entire user interface can be a web app, while projects like [http://cordova.apache.org/ Apache Cordova] try to make these resources available to web applications, but they do this by creating a native application wrapper for the web application. | |
− | Native phone applications and web applications are not completely interchangeable. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Cueball: Why not skip it entirely, and make a phone that has every app "installed" already and just downloads and runs them on the fly? | :Cueball: Why not skip it entirely, and make a phone that has every app "installed" already and just downloads and runs them on the fly? | ||
− | :[Caption | + | :[Caption:] |
:I felt pretty clever until I realized I'd invented webpages. | :I felt pretty clever until I realized I'd invented webpages. | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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