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Comment by Toutouxc | Hacker News Reader

I appreciate the time and knowledge that went into this, but I feel like I need to say that when the time comes I am absolutely going to start avoiding Flutter-based "native" apps just like I'm currently avoiding Electron based ones. I don't like what they're doing and I won't be willing to spend any money on them.

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Same. I know I'm probably just being a grouchy crank, but I wish there was a "Awesome Not Electron" list featuring only true native apps. I've recently migrated back to Linux after 10 years full-time on Mac. I am often looking for an open source replacement for something, e.g. Apple Notes. I cannot believe how many "native" note-taking apps there are and how few of them aren't a shell wrapping a web app. At this point whenever I'm considering adopting a piece of software, I first check if they have a "native" app for all three major platforms (sometimes plus web), and if they do, I take a peak at the git repo. If it's mostly written in JS, I assume it's an electron app and de-prioritize it on the list of options.

Almost all cross-platform apps that are available on linux these days are electron, so that makes it tough to do what you say. I tried it myself - I can't stand apps taking up resources in the background disproportionate to what they're worth - and had to go back on it pretty quick. It's either cross platform electron apps or linux-first native apps.

Yep. I've been learning the same lesson. I'm actually rediscovering all the things I loved and hated about Linux 10-15 years ago when I was on Ubuntu full time. The janky, unpolished, hodge-podge look and feel, but super snappy and configurable apps are more endearing this time. The inconsistent UIs between Qt, GTK, etc don't bother me so much after a decade of web-first UIs.

A big downside to native apps is that they break as system dylibs change. It's rare to see an iOS app last more than 3 years without updates.

Flutter Apps should last longer using fewer system libs.

Good news for companies, bad news for the users that have reduced responsiveness and uniformity. Many people might not have the vocabulary or knowledge to distinguish native from quasi-native apps, but they certainly feel the laggy and inconsistent UI.

Your comment makes a lot of sense and is full of insight. I like it when people put a lot of valid reasons into their claims like that.

The only claim is in that post is "I won't buy or support Flutter based pseudo-native apps" and I believe in this case "I don't like what they're doing" is very valid, since the whole post is clearly highly subjective.

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