I want my browser extensions to work. I want screen readers to be able to understand the webpage and read aria tags. I want to be able to copy+paste content. I want platform-native controls and input boxes, which support all of my OS's keyboard shortcuts for scrolling and moving the cursor around. I want the browser's dev tools to work, so I can delete unreadable color combinations and take a look at what fonts you're using. And use reader mode if I need to.

There's probably a shining hill on the other side of this mountain, where we have a nice cross-platform UI toolkit thats not electron. But there's an awful uncanny valley to cross along the way. In the valley nothing works quite right and apps are a bit ugly on every platform. The valley is a graveyard of good intentions and failed ambition. WxWindows. Java's Swing. In its own way, Qt. And Phonegap, and probably React Native, though that still has some life left in it. I hate using software in this place. Notion is dog slow. Java Spring apps were always ugly and weird. Apps made with Phonegap have halfbaked javascript replacements for iOS controls that look native but break when you try to use them like their native equivalents. Does Google Blogger still load so much GWT it needs a loading animation?

Maybe I'm letting my cynicism show. I hope Flutter succeeds. I worry that it won't, and its only legacy will be another wave of half broken apps that subtly break platform conventions.