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Comment by kyriakos | Hacker News Reader

Would be really hard to launch a new platform. Even if its excellent on its own unfortunately it can't survive without a big app catalog.

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Yes, it would definitely be an uphill battle. But I wonder if you could build a platform where a progressive web app felt enough like a mobile app and therefore enticed more app developers than requiring them to learn native tools for another platform

Ever heard of Firefox OS?

https://medium.com/@bfrancis/the-legacy-of-firefox-os-c58ec3...

Can a new phone platform be successful if it launches without whatsapp / wechat / line / instagram / [add a dozen social networks there]?

A phone that doesn't let you speak to your friends, family, and coworkers is going to be a tough sell. Getting all those from the get go, without a large user base to motivate the developers, is going to be a tough sell.

Easy solution, make the default app platform be based off of html/css/javascript. Now the entire ecosystem of web developers can build for your platform instantly.

Wasn't that PalmOS which got acquired by LG?

That would be Palm webOS.

The nostalgia I have for 2009-2011's webOS, as a former app dev for the platform and its embrace of the Web Platform, is still very much real to the point that I keep my Palm Pre 2 dev unit behind me in my home office. Still charges and boots just like it did back in 2010. I'd love to see something with the computing power of the present try it again (and I'm aware React Native exists), but my expectations of it ever coming to fruition are rather low.

Aside: Seeing MagSafe chargers for iPhones these days makes me chuckle. Also a webOS innovation from back in...2009.

I lost my old Pre recently. Will probably buy another for the nostalgia reasons as well.

My beloved webOS failed with that 11, 12 years ago.

They can always start from their old playbook with Embrace..

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