Fluid: Web-Based Apps, One Step Closer
18 January 2008 – 8:01 pm
This is one of those life changing moments. Get ready.
One of the computing trends that I’ve been somewhat skeptical about is web-based applications replacing desktop applications. My biggest issue is that it’s a total hassle to keep track of the browser windows that your applications are running in. I generally have several windows open, or worse, several windows full of several tabs and I can easily lose track of a browser-based application.
Desktop apps, on the other hand, have their spot in the dock. You can’t lose them.
Enter Fluid. It takes a web page and makes a mini application out of it and opens it up into a Single Site Browser, or SSB.
You can give it an icon and when you run it, it appears right in your dock like any other app. It effectively turns a website into a desktop application. Killer.
Can something so simple be the thing that makes web-based apps viable? To me, this may just be it.
So how does it look? Here, I’ve made a few of these Fluid apps for Basecamp, Campfire, and Jangro.com. 
And each app doesn’t seem to take any more system resources than just another tab in Safari.
Feel free to grab my smiling face over there on the right for your own Fluid App use. You know you want to.
OK, seriously, if you’re an OS X user, get it. You will never be the same.
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6 Responses to “Fluid: Web-Based Apps, One Step Closer”
Sounds great idea, that would save ages of searching through tab for the correct page.
How does it work though, does it replace a browser? I would quite like a plugint hat does this, so you can click on a button and it makes the page you are on into a applicaiton.
By Ed on Jan 20, 2008
I like very much web-based applications, for the many benefits offered, as:
1. no need to install
2. can preserve user preferences
3. no hassle with updates
4. can save a lot of local storage space
5. easy-to-publish or share the written docs
Fluid seems a great alternative to Prism for Mac OS X users. Yet I am still a fan of platform-independent solutions.
My dream is to get more freedom and independence of hardware. I can foresee a future of the Internet when users may carry with themselves no hardware at all, being able to use just one log-in and password combination to access their preferred workspace via any Internet connected terminal.
By Sandor Kakasi on Jan 21, 2008
I was hoping someone would mention Prism in a comment, thanks.
I came across it when I was looking at Fluid. While I agree in principle on platform independence, Java apps just don’t quite work the same.
By Scott on Jan 21, 2008
I do agree that we’ll never be the same again after trying web-based apps. But not all of those apps are convenient for everyone. For example, I hate Basecamp and the way everything is organized in it. I prefer to use Wrike http://www.wrike.com instead - neat email integration and smart gantt charts!
By Kongo Bo on Jan 22, 2008
I’m a fan of web based applications, reasons such as: no installation or updating is great. However there is an issue with web based applications, if your connection fails, then you can’t access it. To me local applications will always have a use.
By Search Engine Optimisation Jobs on Jan 24, 2008
Thanks for sharing this. It looks like a really good web-based application. Keep up the good work.
By Jason Pearson on Mar 4, 2008