The Browser As An App Platform

Web5G Workshop

Dominique
Hazaël-Massieux
W3C

dom@w3.org / @dontcallmeDOM

Web as App Platform

Fundamentals
Current Trends
The Future?

Goals

A personal take on the Web as a platform
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An selection of hot topics in Web Apps
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A look at their intersection with the network

Web Fundamentals

Built-in characteristics of Web browsers that shape how apps are and will be developed

The Browser Is The User Agent

Under extensive user control
Manages user security and privacy
No trust by default in apps or networks

Network-inside

Hypercard vs HTML
AJAX
Video streaming
WebRTC
PWA

Adaptive

Progressive enhancement
Device independence
Multi-modal

Current Trends

A selection of emerging changes in the platform that may shape its future

Streams everywhere

WHATWG Streams
Adaptive streaming with MSE
WebRTC Media Streams
QUIC Streams in WebRTC.next?
Streamable content and parsers

A Client is A Server is A Client

WebSockets, WebRTC, Second Screen
P2P browser (e.g. beaker) hosts content
JavaScript/WASM on client & server
Micro services, service workers as serverless functions

Network integration

More protocols: WebSockets, WebRTC, HTTP2, QUIC
More control: network information, programmable proxy (Service Worker)

Hardware integration

Sensor APIs, Bluetooth, NFC, USB, MIDI
Web of Things

OS integration

Home screen, App List (PWA)
Layout customization (CSS Environment)

Cloud integration

Payment handler
WebRTC Identity Provider
Share API
Background synchronization
Cloud sync
Cloud browser

Componentization

Web Components
Intent mechanisms (Share API, Payment Request)
Packaging for Web Apps

Embedding & re-use

JavaScript everywhere: clients, servers, devices, things
WASM as universal bytecode?
WebView embedding as generic UI mechanism

New modalities

Voice recognition
Computer vision

Without browser UI (chromeless)

Fullscreen mode
Immersive Web

AI/ML

Sites gain access to features based on user-behavior heuristics (e.g. frecency)
ML in the browser (tensorflow.js, WebGPU)

Future?

Possible paths for evolution of Web Apps

Cloud-native browser

Client-side orchestration of cloud services, under user-control, through a data/computing plan

User agent

Network inside

Network integration

Cloud integration

Componentization

A Client is A Server is A Client

Distributed Web

P2P topology of dual client/server agents

User agent

Network inside

A Client is A Server is A Client

Network integration

Ambient Web

The browser serves as UI to operate and compose "just-in-time" locally available services

Network inside

Network integration

A Client is A Server is A Client

Hardware integration

New modalities

Streams everywhere

AI/ML

The Invisible Browser

The Browser is the OS is the Browser

User agent

Adaptive

OS integration

Embedding

Chromeless

New modalities

The Smart Browser

The browser learns from user behavior to tailor Web browsing to their expectations

User agent

Adaptive

Hardware integration

New modalities

AI/ML

Network impact

Major:

Cloud-native browser
Distributed Web
Ambient Web

Upcoming W3C Workshop?

On Future of Web as App Platform

Fall 2018?

Thanks

dom@w3.org / @dontcallmeDOM