Web or Dead

B2G OS Code
#1

Hi all,

As part of the B2G Transition Project we are deprecating the legacy mozApps runtime in favour of new standards-based web apps.

On the kanikani branch of Gaia (soon to be merged into master) the core smartphone system apps (system, homescreen, keyboard, search, settings etc.) have been turned into system chrome. We are aiming to turn all the other apps into web apps. Real web apps. On the actual web. With an actual URL :slight_smile:

You can now find a list of those apps at mozilla-b2g.github.io/gaia which allows you to load them in your web browser. You’ll notice that none of them currently work.

We need your help to modernise these apps with new web standards like Web App Manifest, Service Workers and Push Notifications and figure out how to get them working on the web. This will require new approaches to some functionality that isn’t safe to expose to the web, we might need to run local web services on the device to replace some legacy APIs for example.

If we can’t figure out how to run these things on the web then we may eventually remove some of the apps altogether. That’s why I titled this email “web or dead”.

It’s a testament to the work that we’ve done so far with B2G that we now
have the standards we need to build modern apps on the web which are
discoverable, installable and offline-capable. It’s time to embrace that future and leave behind the old B2G-only apps we created to “prove out and prioritise the power of the system” when we started out on this journey together.

Find us in #fxos on IRC, here on Discourse, or on the mailing list if you’re interested in contributing to this effort and have ideas about how to move it forward.

Keep on rockin’ the free web!

Ben

6 Likes
#2

I almost forgot this topic, sorry :sweat:

Thanks for creating this list add adding it on mozilla-b2g github :slightly_smiling:

A thing to keep in mind while testing in the browser is that the repo moved to https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/tree/kanikani/disabled_apps (and no longer https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/tree/kanikani/dead_apps)
So a lot of reference to this folder are broken.
Also reference to these repo are broken: https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/tree/kanikani/shared https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/tree/kanikani/style
Keep that in mind when trying to test those apps.

I have the feeling that this is now the priority, the most important target to tackle. Don’t you think so B2Geeks ? :wink:
@benfrancis do you have any idea about which app can be the “easiest” to convert, to help people to get started ?

#3

This is not a system app, but a previously hosted app: the calculator.
As it’s still working fine on B2G OS, could we add it by default ?
I remember some discussions about building with webapp integrated by default, can we already do it ?

#4

Checking out gaia again.

#5

I also tested the note app, it is not working on Firefox - I didn’t look at the error, but the UI is working, it’s just not possible to create a note… Storage issue ?

1 Like
#6

IndexDB ??