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commit a2fd3b0881441011f0ae3c5ef345967f59c249a4f7a8e0b14b3b5cb99191a796
Author: yihanwu1024 <yihanwu1024>
Date: Tue May 24 00:00:00 2022 +0000
create article describing my hate of apps
diff --git a/4fb312a1a6f915b60617b2c16dcb42c52f0e79b26fb7cacfd78c89e171a60f19 b/4fb312a1a6f915b60617b2c16dcb42c52f0e79b26fb7cacfd78c89e171a60f19
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:id="4fb312a1a6f915b60617b2c16dcb42c52f0e79b26fb7cacfd78c89e171a60f19">
+<title>The Ongoing Shift</title>
+<para>In 2016, Android got richer notifications, adding visual media and a direct reply function.
+In 2017, Notification Categories.
+In 2018, Slices (Does anyone still remember this?), which are small pieces of interactive UI that were supposed to be included by other interfaces.
+In 2021, a large number of Android widgets were updated, which incidentally happened after the iOS 14 widget update in 2020.
+It was the most recent change that got wide appreciation.
+All of these have brought targets closer to the current context.</para>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="b63bf722c102927c9203401861a5eae5fae07e7aca98b615bd1e93646cfec164"/>
+</section>
diff --git a/86264ca170335b23a312919b09ffa89375f7ce022408563473ee759fa24974a7 b/86264ca170335b23a312919b09ffa89375f7ce022408563473ee759fa24974a7
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:id="86264ca170335b23a312919b09ffa89375f7ce022408563473ee759fa24974a7">
+<title>The Evolution of a Top-most Concept</title>
+<para>Until the beginning of mobile computing, the usage of systems required a very central cognition: the distinction between programs and data.
+Usually, users open the file explorer to a location containing only their personal files, while a separate menu shows a list of programs, which themselves are kept somewhere outside of the user’s data directory.
+Typical usage would be either opening up a program and selecting a file to work with, or opening a file with a registered program.
+From the perspective of an engineer, doing so absolutely makes sense.</para>
+<para>The invention of the concept of app, first and foremost, rejected the idea that program and data should be treated separately.
+This has, of course, brought us a diverse world of easy-to-use functionalities.
+But app quickly got further than that.
+The data does not have to be stored on your device anymore, because the app only provides the interface to using the online functionality as a whole, and suddenly very complicated information exchange comes in.
+They are baked into the concept, immediately invalidating the data/program pattern.
+In the end, the functionality is the only thing perceived by the user, much like an enclosed class.
+Let’s call these target elements.</para>
+<para>The client software is also technically enclosed in its own environment for code execution.
+Anywhere outside of that, an app needs to make system API calls, for actions from reading a contact to exposing a file.
+All the other concepts have since stemmed from this top-level app concept, including its technical aspects.
+We introduced notifications, and later permissions, <emphasis>shared</emphasis> storage, widgets, and of course those icons on your home screen; URL handling <emphasis>apps</emphasis>, pairing <emphasis>apps</emphasis> (rather than activities) on dual-screen devices….
+The list is endless, and all circumventing direct organization of the target functionality.</para>
+</section>
diff --git a/873e91b37f69243dcd42a01c9f8c25c53ab8ac101bc99a6fca68839e361f6857 b/873e91b37f69243dcd42a01c9f8c25c53ab8ac101bc99a6fca68839e361f6857
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+++ b/873e91b37f69243dcd42a01c9f8c25c53ab8ac101bc99a6fca68839e361f6857
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:id="873e91b37f69243dcd42a01c9f8c25c53ab8ac101bc99a6fca68839e361f6857">
+<title>An Ad hoc Pile of Apps</title>
+<para>Furthermore, a fact that never changed since the invention of app is that apps are ad hoc.
+The following are some of the points I am able to summarize:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem>
+<para>Nothing is interoperable by default, including indexing.
+Similarly, any data sharing action across apps is considered a significant, explicit context switch that is difficult to reduce.</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Procedures, no matter how regular and redundant, have to be programmed explicitly.
+This is especially the case around OS API calls, which are designed in an engineering sense and considerations for the user are added by the app developer.
+For example, “Your network/Bluetooth/USB is broken” messages are paired with tremendous troubleshooting instructions made by the app developer.
+Contrast this with a humble <literal>perror</literal> which will even print the reason of the error to you.</para>
+</listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+<para>These consequences should be directly attributed to “There is an app for that,” where “that” implies a presumably cozy corner of your digital life that need not be interoperable or subjected to further analysis.
+I am not giving further comments on this quote, because I want to let you see the direction in which things are changing that is going to take us beyond the app.</para>
+</section>
diff --git a/932b8a423b738044b2908428f25453deb2de8690e01f9608d7ced3d52159e451 b/932b8a423b738044b2908428f25453deb2de8690e01f9608d7ced3d52159e451
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+++ b/932b8a423b738044b2908428f25453deb2de8690e01f9608d7ced3d52159e451
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:id="932b8a423b738044b2908428f25453deb2de8690e01f9608d7ced3d52159e451">
+<title>The Supposed Destination</title>
+<para>All of these optimizations are what I consider to be part of an inevitable shift to an overarching UX approach that pivots around target elements, which intrinsically disregards the app concept.
+Because app is not an element we work with directly, UX increasingly circumvents that concept and takes you to the thing.
+This may or may not have been done consciously.
+But at the end of this change, the UX should reflect cognition; that is, things work on your device as you would think they logically <emphasis>are</emphasis>, without any designer or engineer mindset, and without any unnecessary entities (apps).</para>
+<para>This new architecture should integrate target elements on the client side through semantics, as well as intuitively conveying the semantics to the user.
+This should be achieved with minimal user configuration and permissions granted to each client executable.</para>
+</section>
diff --git a/b63bf722c102927c9203401861a5eae5fae07e7aca98b615bd1e93646cfec164 b/b63bf722c102927c9203401861a5eae5fae07e7aca98b615bd1e93646cfec164
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+++ b/b63bf722c102927c9203401861a5eae5fae07e7aca98b615bd1e93646cfec164
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="b63bf722c102927c9203401861a5eae5fae07e7aca98b615bd1e93646cfec164">
+<title>An Asystematic Change</title>
+<para>Our current change is very partial.
+On an asystematic thought, we may want to bring more targets to our home screen to apparently bring the target elements closer, hence the app widgets and shortcuts.
+We also try to make dashboards (Designers love dashboards and feeds!) without really figuring out why.
+I shall argue that our current optimizations cannot arrive at its very core goal without us first realizing what we are doing.
+We are mixing the two systems, one with an explicitly stated top-level app concept that is not semantically helpful by itself, and the other implicit, anti-well-formed, and increasingly used, therefore almost dangerous.</para>
+<para>Obviously, all of these features have created a so-called better user experience, by saving the user from an otherwise boringly redundant procedure.
+But can that be explained?
+We should now be asking, why is <emphasis>that</emphasis> considered a better user experience?</para>
+</section>
diff --git a/db24f8876ef6d5bc3b52eba08fcd51bd15e7ee0da9dfcde1d1956b1e900e07b8 b/db24f8876ef6d5bc3b52eba08fcd51bd15e7ee0da9dfcde1d1956b1e900e07b8
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+++ b/db24f8876ef6d5bc3b52eba08fcd51bd15e7ee0da9dfcde1d1956b1e900e07b8
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="db24f8876ef6d5bc3b52eba08fcd51bd15e7ee0da9dfcde1d1956b1e900e07b8">
+<title>Why Does “App” Still Exist?</title>
+<subtitle>A meta-UX reflection of the past decade of apps</subtitle>
+<para>What characterizes the digital world of the 2010’s?
+Most would agree with Web 2 and a world of apps.
+But whatever prosperity it seems to be does not prevent me from, alternatively, considering our current world of apps as an ad hoc mess.
+It has been practically obvious that no modestly sized group of experts would agree on the categorization of apps on their home screens.
+(Pointing at Apple.)
+Yet our ability to navigate this world of apps proves the presence of a certain logic, which states that each app has its own logic.
+Intrinsically, as a co-product of the current mode of relationship between online services and users, this model of apps will not serve any much-needed change against itself.
+(Now, take a moment to realize that the first choice you make after unlocking your phone perfectly manifests the status of this industry.)</para>
+<para>Unless we determine to change it.
+But what change is needed?
+What is even that presumably better system?
+Unfortunately, I am not yet able to form concrete, detailed design to answer that, and my intention with this article is to give you an intuitive understanding.
+However, a concrete design would significantly involve logic and semantics.
+For those who love to see some sort of textbook definition, your wish is granted at the end of this article.</para>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="86264ca170335b23a312919b09ffa89375f7ce022408563473ee759fa24974a7"/>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="873e91b37f69243dcd42a01c9f8c25c53ab8ac101bc99a6fca68839e361f6857"/>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="4fb312a1a6f915b60617b2c16dcb42c52f0e79b26fb7cacfd78c89e171a60f19"/>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="932b8a423b738044b2908428f25453deb2de8690e01f9608d7ced3d52159e451"/>
+</article>