Paul Ford says the web browser is more than enough for app development
Nov 9, 2026, 12:32 AM UTC
•Marta Kowalska
•4min read
Paul Ford describes launching TinyLittleOffice and argues that modern browsers give individuals access to APIs that large teams have used for years. He points to Simon Willison’s browser-based Battle Drones as evidence that personal software projects can reach production quality.
Paul Ford launched TinyLittleOffice last week and argues that modern web browsers give individuals the tools to build applications that required large teams.
Ford, writing in his Oct. 21 Ftrain newsletter, said the launch drew so many visitors that it exceeded CloudFlare’s free plan and required a credit card. After that fix, a couple hundred thousand people visited the site. Hacker News commenters called the project a pointless waste of time, while GitHub users asked for features and fixes. The Register covered the launch, and the site reached the top 10 on Product Hunt. Ford said he and his team will continue to support and enhance TinyLittleOffice while doing client work.
Ford said he spent twice the effort he would spend on a long newsletter post to build the office suite. He said he does not claim special talent, and he wants readers to know they can learn the same skills. CloudFlare hosting costs $0, he said, because he optimizes for low cost and because hosting has become cheap. Computers are fast, and software development is faster than it used to be, he added.
As he built the app, Ford said, he kept finding browser features he had not explored. Developers can use the Web Crypto API as a security platform in the browser. WebAssembly lets developers run native-speed code in the browser. Developers can use WebGL for high-quality 3D and 2D graphics. The Web Audio API lets developers mix sound. HTML can represent most document functions on a computer, and PDF.js handles PDFs in the browser. JavaScript is a full programming language. Ford released TinyLittleOffice in 21 languages, including Creole and Yiddish, and included accessibility infrastructure.
Ford said he knew these APIs existed and had used some of them, but he downloaded open-losely
Ford pointed to Simon Willison’s Battle Drones as proof that one person can ship a complex browser game. Willison hosts the game on GitHub and wrote it himself, although he does not work as a game developer. The game runs in the browser, supports multiplayer, and works offline. Ford quoted Willison’s comment that “vibe coded games like this” can be taken seriously, and that Battle Drones is fun, looks good, and includes a multiplayer-over-audio feature that Willison called a first for a real-time strategy game. Ford said he would like to see what a developer with better taste and a strong drive to build something exceptional could produce.
Ford said these browser technologies have existed for years, but each one is large. A developer who masters Web Audio may not have time to master Web Crypto, WebAssembly, and WebGL. He said the web was built for teams at companies such as Google, not for individuals. For more than a decade, he said, the web has served large companies that deliver software to billions of buyers. Those companies received the large libraries, and individual developers came second.
Now, Ford said, one person can build a 3D game with sound that runs on an airplane. He said the AI boom makes the question fuzzy for him. Large AI companies chase artificial general intelligence, he said, but a world with 100 times as many people making software for each other would change the tech economy. He compared the shift to carpet factories: if buyers can hack firmware and personalize every carpet, carpet companies must hack their own firmware to compete.
Ford said the shift weakens the app store model. When a developer can test an idea on a web server for $0 after a couple of weeks, the tax of building for app stores looks less attractive. He joked that Mozilla should try launching a mobile phone again, and told readers to forget he said it.
Ford said software development feels more like writing to him every week. That comparison has an awkward side: people do not pay writers, and software developers face the same devaluation. Clients who need software to fix a process, organize a database, or get more value from industrial equipment can do just about anything. He expects the market to meet in the middle, although that will take time and the result will differ from the current market.
