MacOS Widgets Deserve Better

Nick Heer points out that there were once grand plans for macOS widgets:

At WWDC 2007, when Steve Jobs announced the “sweet solution” for iPhone apps, Dashcode was envisioned as a way to build those web apps. The idea was that developers could take their existing Mac OS X widget and convert it to work as an iPhone web app.

I do not remember this from the iPhone launch at all. I do remember Apple talking about new features for the web which gave you the ability to run a website as if it was an app. It really looked like PWAs were going to take off, but there was a real clamour for native apps and Apple opened the floodgates a year later.