> But every app is a mess of inconsistent layout and hidden gestures.
This is what happens when we decide that the web is the end all be all of application delivery platforms, even for desktop (Electron).
Call me old man yelling at clouds, but when native apps would use the operating system's components and APIs, they looked just like every other app or utility in the OS, behaved the same way, shared the same shortcuts, etc. You could just learn how to use the OS and that intuitively expanded into any native app written for that OS.
We decided to throw all of that out the window for custom branded "experiences" and lowest common denominator cross platform UIs.
Now things appear simple on the surface, but are much more difficult to use because instead of just learning your OS's conventions, you have to learn each individual application and its quirks.
Letting marketing people dictate app design was one of the biggest mistakes this industry has made.
This is what happens when we decide that the web is the end all be all of application delivery platforms, even for desktop (Electron).
Call me old man yelling at clouds, but when native apps would use the operating system's components and APIs, they looked just like every other app or utility in the OS, behaved the same way, shared the same shortcuts, etc. You could just learn how to use the OS and that intuitively expanded into any native app written for that OS.
We decided to throw all of that out the window for custom branded "experiences" and lowest common denominator cross platform UIs.
Now things appear simple on the surface, but are much more difficult to use because instead of just learning your OS's conventions, you have to learn each individual application and its quirks.
Letting marketing people dictate app design was one of the biggest mistakes this industry has made.