Web Apps

I’ll begin by looking at web apps, that is, apps built entirely using web platform technologies. Although called web apps, they don’t necessarily have to exist on the open Web; they can also be packaged and distributed through online stores for download onto devices. There are, of course, many online stores, but I’ll look specifically at two with the lowest barriers to entry: the Chrome Web Store, which has been around for a few years, and the newer Firefox Marketplace. While both are created by browser vendors, the big difference between them is that the Chrome Web Store works only in the Chrome browser, whereas the Firefox Marketplace is aimed at creating an open standard that any browser can use.

Hosted vs. Packaged Apps

Before ...

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