
The Threat to the Mac: The Growing Popularity of Non-Native Apps - artsandsci
https://daringfireball.net/2018/02/non_native_apps_threat_to_mac
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FBISurveillance
I just checked and I don't have a single app installed from Mac App Store. It
always felt weird to go through spaghetti of prompts to get basic
functionality available. I'm happy with apps like 1Password, Fantastical
having their own autoupdate functionality. I'm happy that I don't need to
think about having some apps on Mac App Store, and some someplace else (Docker
or Microsoft Office aren't even available on Mac App Store).

So yeah, choosing between using `brew cask` and Mac App Store — former clearly
wins.

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bartvk
Even Apple can't be bothered to make quality Mac apps for all their software.
There is no News app for the Mac, nor a homekit app. And the Mac App Store
doesn't feel like a native app to me.

However, it doesn't really bother me. I'm extremely happy using macOS.
Hardware is excellent as well. Companies hawking their wares without decent
client apps, like Slack, don't get my sympathy. I'll use it when I must, and
the minute that need drops away, then it's gone from my system.

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marssaxman
I have never used the Mac app store. I didn't use or want to use the itunes
store, either. Apple's steady march toward sandboxing and mobile-os-like
software control feels paternalistic and annoying; it makes the platform less
interesting. It's my machine, not Apple's, and I don't care what they think I
ought to do or not do with it.

I still have a Mac mini on my desk at home, but I stopped wanting to "upgrade"
its OS a few years ago, because each new release just seemed to have more
flashy crap bundled in for Apple's benefit and not mine. It has felt more and
more like a sales funnel for services I don't want to use, and wouldn't want
Apple to provide even if I did want them.

When that Mac dies, I doubt I'll replace it; that will be the first time in
over thirty years that I won't be regularly using at least one Mac at home or
work.

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Eridrus
The rise of the web app is basically what allowed OS X to be at all
competitive with Windows, since more and more software was being written for
the browser as the platform. If it weren't for the web, OS X would not have
become a viable platform. I feel like the fact that browsers freed us from
this OS dependence is underappreciated.

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Lievelingsduif
I never really felt why I should log in to download free apps. I hate how
software has to implement their own update mechanisms when there's a native
alternative solution built in to the OS.

Which is a shame since I love using package managers on Linux.

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untangle
> ...it might as well not exist, because the only remaining thing that would
> distinguish it from other desktop OSes is iCloud integration.

This is truly scary when one of your weakest products (features) is supposedly
your main differentiator.

