ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Simos Xenitellis <simos.lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 1:36 PM, Peter Cliff <pixelatedpete@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> While the webapp/app debate is interesting, I don't think this thread
> should get sidetracked into a discussion on webapps vs. apps.
>
> The security of any application on an Ubuntu phone is an important
> issue. Seems to me that if Ubuntu want the device to be taken
> seriously they have to provide some assurance that an app that
> requests confidential information is legitimate. Is the click store
> vetted? Is there a policy statement anywhere?
>

I think it helps if anyone would visit
https://developer.ubuntu.com/webapp-generator/
and go into the process to create a webapp.
Then, the produced app file should be uploaded at
https://myapps.developer.ubuntu.com/dev/click-apps/

In those steps, you can experience the process, the policy and the vetting.
Web-apps are not just bookmarks. You can select whether they should save
cookies or not,
whether they should be fullscreen or not, whether to show back/forward
buttons, etc.
You can even change the User Agent so that you can fool websites like
Facebook Messenger,
because Facebook Messeger would suggest that you install the Android app
(and not work).

Here are some instructions,
http://simos.info/blog/archives/1352 (warning: Greek).


> I'm guessing that is more an end-goal rather than the state of play
> today - mostly because it is early days for Ubuntu phone - which is
> fair enough.
>
> On my bq I've avoided pretty much all of the applications (aside from
> stock ones and Canonical ones) because I just don't trust them. That
> isn't a slight on any of the developers nor the apps themselves which
> I'm sure are fine. It is more because I don't know the answer to the
> question raised in this thread and I don't know where to look nor who
> is going to take responsibility for a rogue application.
>
> While I accept I know "because I can read the code" as an answer until
> I find time to read the code (i.e. never) I'll not install the app.
>

To figure out if a webapp is OK or not, you need to
take a glance at the "Exec=" line in the .desktop file.

It is possible that someone will come up with a web service
to show the "Exec=" line automatically.
For example, the https://uappexplorer.com/ website.

Simos


>
> Pete
>
> On 5 June 2015 at 10:52, Alan Bell <alanbell@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On 05/06/15 10:46, Davide Alberelli wrote:
> >>
> >> @Alan
> >> Well, the "bookmark" is my experience with webapps.
> >> All the webapps that I daily use are nothing more than bookmarks (gmail,
> >> dict, OSM, Amazon, tumblr, various games, ecc) and often the websites
> >> themselves say that I should use the native app for Android instead of
> going
> >> to the website ;)
> >> All the other features that you are mentioning sound definitely
> >> interesting, but none of them are useful to me now, nor I have seen
> them yet
> >> anywhere in my daily experience.
> >> So, why should I use a webapp instead of going to the website? The only
> >> reason that I have in my daily experience is because it is a nice
> bookmark.
> >>
> >> Davide Alberelli
> >>
> > yeah, I think those ones should not exist (or should be something else,
> > there is no reason there shouldn't be a shared bookmarks and ratings
> system
> > built into the platform, that used to be a popular concept, like
> > stumbleupon)
> > There are a few webapps that do contain some active code I think, google
> > plus, facebook, gmail and so on. Stuff to fix the experience or add
> platform
> > notifications or whatever. These deserve to exist, the bookmarklets
> don't.
> >
> > --
> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> > Post to     : ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> > More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>
> --
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> Post to     : ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>