Future of the desktop app?
About 7 years ago, there was a discussion here about the future of the web app. At that time, people from Faithlife told us about how they wanted to use the web app for testing new ideas which would then find their way back to the desktop app, with the two apps not diverging too far from each other.
As we've seen, the web app just keeps getting better and better, which is fantastic and allows us to access our beloved Bible software on whatever machine we may have access to. New computer chips raise the question of how many code bases software publishers will have to support. We're already seeing Microsoft trying to move users to the "new" version of Outlook, which is just a progressive web app. Using that same code base across platforms will likely save MS a lot of time and effort, but it has really dumbed down the product. New Outlook is a shell of the powerful desktop app that so many of us have used, and it's really a shame.
I support whatever efficiencies Faithlife can achieve that will ultimately allow them to continue providing the world's best Bible software, but I hope we don't end up in a place where a connected web app is all we have. I would never want to be unable to have all of my resources locally installed. Internet access is more reliable than ever, but there are still times when it goes out, as well as times when I don't want to have concern myself with finding a good connection.
So, what is the future of the desktop app? Will it one day become just a local version of a progressive web app? Will we have to do without OS-specific optimizations in favor of a standard codebase across all platforms? Can anyone from Faithlife give us an update on this topic? I know things change (Bob Pritchett said in 2018 that he had no intention of selling the company), but I think it would be good to understand the vision for the various versions of Logos.
Thank you!
Comments
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Bob Price said:
So, what is the future of the desktop app? Will it one day become just a local version of a progressive web app? Will we have to do without OS-specific optimizations in favor of a standard codebase across all platforms?
The future as you fear it is already here. The desktop program is already a cross-platform program, and they have already added many features to it that are web dependent. And it appears that the plan is to continue making it more web dependent, in particular AI features.
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Bob Price said:
So, what is the future of the desktop app?
If you want a future a decade ahead, I would hope that you are not gullible enough to believe anything that you might be told. In the near term, it appears that the future is a stabilization of the application by replacing the oldest code, removing features that have long since been replaced by more flexible implementations (think the removal of equivalent resources which was simply a specialized form of parallel resource), making the interface more intuitive by making more similar to contemporary applications, etc., and adding glitz by utilizing methods making the news. As for the current plans 4-7 years out, the company would have to speak to that. But if they do, they are not promises - they are goals that will be reevaluated and modified every year or two. Given the forum members usual reaction to potential futures ... if I were a Logos employee, I wouldn't want the company to answer.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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I just hope they don't go "all mobile"...as I love using Logos while out in the nowhere...with no cell reception.
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True its good to go somewhere to disconnect so we can reconnect
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Tech is hard to predict, but so is the Bible software industry. I didn't see 10 years ago that BibleWorks would be gone, along with a bunch of others such as WordSearch. Olive Tree is struggling, so is Accordance. Some free apps have held their own or taken up space as well. My view is that this is what Logos is trying to solve for in changing their business model and that will ultimately work out into which technologies they are going to invest in and employ.
One of the things Logos got right years ago, was cloud services. Yes, it is good to go off of the grid, but having my notes synchronised on the desktop (Apple or Windows) and other apps (Web, IOS or Android) is something we can take for granted. Accordance years later has yet to master this without data corruption. I suspect there will be less and less parts of the planet which will truly be off of the grid at some point, as 5G and beyond further enable concepts such as IoT (Internet of Things).
One thing is for certain is change. I can't remember the last time I walked into a dedicated Bible book store!
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Only one man's opinion, mine, but I think the moves Logos are making now with the subscriptions is a forward thinking move to help insure their stability for, at least the near future. The biggest problems software developers have is what the future features will be. No one knows that and most just guess. Add in to that, what the future hardware will demand and, at the least, you have a huge guessing game.
I see hardware adding A.I. capability which will demand some older software to either change or drop out. The rise of NVIDA as a company cannot be overlooked. They make new A.I. chips which many companies are clamoring to get on board with. So look out world, here they come!
Change is inevitable. I remember when Windows 3 came out. Since then look where we are! The only thing that doesn't change is the bible!!! All else is man made... lol [8-|]
xn = Christan man=man -- Acts 11:26 "....and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch".
Barney Fife is my hero! He only uses an abacus with 14 rows!
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I suspect, if other software platforms/apps are any guide, FL will fill out some major features (eg lesson plans, AI, etc). And clean up the UI and continue tagging.
But, by and large it is, what it is. Much of earlier decisions constrain a more religious usage. Basically, settling in for the duration. Maybe pick up the pieces on Accordance. The PE will want its return, and re-packaging for sale to another owner.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I agree that the move to capitalize on the power of AI is smart and forward-thinking. Right now it's a little hard to envision uses of AI in Logos as more than increasing the power of search, but I'm sure there will be many new innovations that build on this new capability. My hope is just that Faithlife will be able to successfully walk the tightrope that will allow them to continue to offer cutting-edge tools, while still being able to offer a lot of that offline. A friend told me that he's heard that the future plan for Logos is for it to become software as a service (SaaS). I can certainly see the allure of that approach, but hope it won't turn out to be the only form in which Logos is offered.
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A few years of experience tells me that we don't know what's over the horizon, not even what's over the fuzzy next nob. Visions are good, goals are helpful, but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat (I think that is a good thing). Though He taketh away my Logoth, yet will I trusteth in Him. Etc.
I once planned to take Logos to Heaven when I die, but I am not sure wifi will reach that far. I could pay my subscription a few millennia ahead, but without wifi, what good would AI do me? Bury my laptop with me in my casket if you will (thanks!), but all too soon the software security will be outdated with no way to update. Pirates will hack in and get my Logos for sure!
As for tomorrow, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; so, for today, let's just burst out with thankfulness.0 -
No, it's not really about how you pay for it. SaaS is cloud-based software where the application is offered over the web and everything is managed and maintained at the server. The Logos web app works like this. My original question was to inquire as to whether Logos would one day move away from software installed on our individual machines and instead make the web app the only way to get it. Not having to write OS-specific versions (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS) would free up resources and allow Faithlife to maintain the software at a lower cost.
I'm not trying to be alarmist, but I was wondering if that might eventually be the direction things go. Since so many of us value having local copies of our resources, I really can't imagine things going that way, but I was hoping maybe to hear some of the future ideas.
On the other hand, there's a lot of negative reaction already to the new subscription model and that's not even here yet, so I seriously doubt Faithlife would want to stir the waters and talk about things they may only be dreaming about right now.
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Bob Price said:
No, it's not really about how you pay for it. SaaS is cloud-based software where the application is offered over the web and everything is managed and maintained at the server. The Logos web app works like this. My original question was to inquire as to whether Logos would one day move away from software installed on our individual machines and instead make the web app the only way to get it. Not having to write OS-specific versions (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS) would free up resources and allow Faithlife to maintain the software at a lower cost.
I'm not trying to be alarmist, but I was wondering if that might eventually be the direction things go. Since so many of us value having local copies of our resources, I really can't imagine things going that way, but I was hoping maybe to hear some of the future ideas.
On the other hand, there's a lot of negative reaction already to the new subscription model and that's not even here yet, so I seriously doubt Faithlife would want to stir the waters and talk about things they may only be dreaming about right now.
Also with web/cloud based - it could lock out missionaries in some areas of the world - either due to limited connectivity or the danger of connecting to a Christian based website... Possibly even rob those missionaries of their resource purchases, as it could prevent them from access... So hopefully, that is considered as well....
Think Chromebooks - I remember some theories that the inexpensive cost and portability would be to good to resist - yet it didn't seem to explode to the levels I remember some forecasting - as people like you mentioned, prefer having local copies of their software.
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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I don't mind the sync and stuff, but logos mobile app is useless when ofline (like kids camps in the woods), visiting out of country without roaming data.
No matter how much of the res I have downloaded to my phone, most of the features require internet connection. That's why I ha ve 2 other bible apps so I can read in peace and quite (airplane mode in the plane) if I'm stranded with a mobile phone only.
I just hope not everything is server dependant.
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