To preface this post, I think I need to define what a real AIR application is in my mind: it is an application that is essentially a mash-up between your OS and the Web, in one seamless experience. To further that, I don’t think a “real” AIR application is any of these following things:
- A web application that runs on the desktop
- A web application with offline functionality
- A desktop application that talks to the web
This isn’t to say that all the current AIR applications out there are useless. But I really think the true purpose of AIR hasn’t been fully realised. If we consider some use cases, you’ll see what I mean. These are applications mentioned in Lifehacker’s Top 10 Apps Worth Installing Adobe AIR For.
1. Google Analytics Reporting Suite
This is, in my mind, an offline web application. Does it use AIR’s cross platfrom desktop integration? No. Does it process anything on the client side that drastically reduces network load? No. Does it do anything that a web application can do? No. This is easy. A well thought out Flex application could do exactly the same. In the minds of some, an AIR application may be more useful, in the mind of others, the web application would be preferred. It’s real appeal is that you can view this information offline.
2. ReadAir Google Reader client
Again, this one is the same as the web version, except the interface is more restrictive, and you don’t have access to as many of the settings or advanced options. You do have the offline functionality, which is is useful for some, but the primary reason for using an RSS news aggregator is to keep up to date with the latest news feeds as they come become available. It could be handy if you are on a laptop that is offline for a while. But in my mind, this is far less useful than the web version.
3. DestroyFlickr
Funnily enough, this about the closest to a “real” AIR application in my mind. It’s one shining light is that it takes advantage of the drag and drop integration AIR provides, and mashes that up with a web service. Beyond this though, the rest is essentially a full screen web application. To me, this isn;t a new experince, it’s a web application with drag and drop.
4. Klok Time Tracker
This is a desktop application that talks to the web, plain and simple. At least, this is the experience that comes across to the user.
5. Twhirl Twitter Client
I think this somewhat similar in principle to ReadAir. There is nothing at all here that cannot be done in a web application. Again, I want; to see a unique experince evolve from the mash-up of technologies.
Again, I don’t intend this to be a rag on these AIR applications. Many of these make access to particular application far easier, add offline functionality, or allow you to access your web applications in a unique and different way.
But I can read my RSS feeds in exactly the same style in Google reader. I can read my instant messages and statistics online. I can view photos full screen, and I can track my time in pretty much any PIM. This is what I really want to see though: an AIR application adds brand new functionally, beyond uploading files through drag and drop. I want to see an AIR application that adds a brand new experience, more than just using a web application in what is essentially a browser with some custom chrome. And I want to see something that has never been done before in any application, that only the blend of a cross platform runtime with OS integration and seamless web access can make possible. The technology AIR exposes makes this possible for sure.
The lack of this kind of application is something that has kind of bugged me since AIR and XULRunner started becoming popular. It has been possible for a while now. And this is why I’m so excited now about the Konductor AIR application. If you think of a relatively unskilled user dragging a 12 megapixel photo into a photo region on a template, and instantly getting resized and having bitmap effects applied to it, and then being transferred to the server – I really do think this is a new experience for the user. Sure, for an online photo application, you may expect to upload your image and have it resized. But combining all of this into one smooth step really defines a new, concise piece of functionality.
And think of having real-time WebKit HTML renderer running inside an extended Flash player displaying your web page as you add to it, using a mixture of static web elements and dynamic content. It uses a fusion of Flash and HTML to give the user an intuitive interface, but at the same renders the site perfectly, and based on a totally custom design template. This is something that has never been done before.
This is a totally new and easy way of doing content management, and it showcases so much of the potential of AIR.
I’m doing up a screen recording shortly, showing the complete workflow from both the designer and user perspective. You will get to see the base functionality of our current Dreamweaver Extension and AIR application in action. Can’t wait to show you guys!
Just give the Flex Developers (and maybe more importantly the suits) some time to get a full understanding of the potential. I think that this year a lot of apps will start to use the full power of AIR. The problem is that often the businesses managers do not fully understand what AIR is, and sadly they are the ones that often dictate what the developers develop. I think the Konductor app will start to open some eyes. Good post Andrew.