Recently when I was reading an article, I saw the term DApps for the first time. For the ones who are also new to this term, let's have a brief introduction.
⚡ What are DApps?
Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like normal apps and offer similar functions, but the key difference is they are run on a peer-to-peer network, such as a blockchain ⛓️
That means no person or entity has control of the network.
🔑 Some DApps Alternatives
While researching about DApps I found some decentralized alternatives to popular apps that you must check out.
| Alternative For | DApp |
|---|---|
| MINDS | |
| Youtube | DTUBE / LBRY |
| SIGNAL | |
| AETHER | |
| Dribble | CREARY |
| Medium | PUBLISH0x |
| PEEPETH | |
| KARMA | |
| Gmail | PROTONMAIL |
DApps have many pros and cons, lets see some of them ➡️
PROS ➕
Censorship-resistant : With no single point of failure, it’s very difficult for governments or powerful individuals to control the network.
No downtime : Relying on a peer-to-peer system ensures the Dapps continue to work even if individual computers or parts of the -network go down.
Blockchain-based : As they are made of smart contracts, they can easily integrate cryptocurrencies into the basic
functionalities of the Dapp.Open-source : This encourages the widespread development of the dapp ecosystem enabling developers to build better dapps with more useful or interesting functions.
CONS ➖
Hacks : As many are run on open-source smart contracts, it allows hackers the rare opportunity to probe the networks looking for weaknesses.
Usability : A lot of Dapps have poor user-interfaces, which have put a lot of users off.
Users : The more users a Dapp has, the more effective the network is at delivering those services. This is often referred to as the network effect. Dapp's struggle from low user numbers, which can make them less interactive. It can also make them less secure, as a Dapp's security can often rely on how many users it has.
The Question ⚠️
If you have worked with Dapps or have any knowledge about the same then give your reviews on being introduced years ago, why it has not been so popularized? and what do you think will be the future of Dapps? 💬 ⬇️
Top comments (2)
Personally, I think Dapps have a long way to go, especially if we are to replace other giants such as Facebook.
The list of Dapps for social media websites are definitely cool. Didn’t know many of them existed.
Definitely a long way to go. Glad you found something helpful in the article 😊