PreCentral: Syntactix drops support for YouView and Pack 'n' Track

[News Reporter]

As webOS users we are definitely no stranger to

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. Even before former HP CEO developers were already abandoning the platform by the boatload for "greener pastures". Fast forward to today where there is no webOS hardware to look forward to, a customer base that is shrinking by the day, and an uncertain future in the open source world and we are truly lucky to have any new app development at all. One has to be a true die hard webOS lover to continue to develop apps for the various webOS devices that we hold so dear. With that said, a "die hard" webOS developer leaving the platform kind of stings a bit. So when we heard the news that developer extraordinaire Syntactix announced that they would be dropping support for two of the most popular webOS apps we were a bit taken back. 

As of October 16 Syntactix developer Greg Hrebek announced that they will be dropping support for both YouView and Pack 'n' Track. These two apps were prime examples of webOS apps done right and really showed what was possible on the platform. As a matter of fact YouView (a YouMail visual voicemail client) by a sizable margin earning Syntactix a cool $100k. Their other app Pack 'n' Track also . Last but certainly not least we had a nice in depth (Syntactix President) a little over a year ago in our Developer Spotlight series. So to say that both Syntactix and their apps played a very big role in webOS history would be a huge understatement.

So why if they are so loved and well respected in this community is Syntactix dropping support for their webOS apps? Well both apps are facing ongoing API changes which the now aged legacy webOS hardware simply does not support. Add that to the anemic webOS userbase and you're left with two projects that unfortunately do not justify further development. As much as it pains us to hear that it is the harsh reality of the situation. 

In closing Greg did say that Syntactix is interested in Enyo 2 and have been monitoring the framework's progress closely. So it wouldn't be too far fetched to imagine more of their great work in the future using the framework which is something we look forward too. In the meantime we here at webOS Nation would like to collectively wish Syntactix the best of luck in the future and thank them for all their hardwork and dedication over the years.