Do not build cloud-first mission-critical mobile apps

I'm not some crazy "local-first" religious zealot. I understand that building applications that use cloud services is essential and valuable. But there are also many cases where it's unacceptable for your app to require the internet. Today's experience with this app called Klevio has boiled my blood, and I will rant about it. Hopefully, this will spur their developers to rethink their sins and make the app better.

Here's what I ran into today. Now I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.

So I'm in London for an extended business trip, and I usually like to use AirBnB to find a place to stay. Most hosts, I never meet, and often they give me access to some remote access application that can unlock doors so that I can get in. This particular AirBnB host uses an app called [Klevio](https://klevio.com/) to give me remote access to enter the building.

However, when I enter the building to get to the unit, I'm in a long basement with barely any internet connection often, all connectivity disappears. So today, I was unfortunate to have lost all connectivity, and I tried to unlock the door to get into the building. I was greeted with the above screen. I could not unlock the door, and I was utterly stuck outside. To make things worse, the application froze with some corrupted cache (god knows what it was doing). Because when I tried to restart the application, it was stuck on the loading screen.

So I had to walk around the block to get some internet connection, reinstall the application, re-login, and then unlock the door outside the building. I had to run to the unit door to get in before the door locked again! This is entirely unacceptable. I don't know what the developers thought when they built this application. I'm sure they thought they were building a "cloud-first" application.

1. I shouldn't always need an internet connection to open a door.

2. What happens if the Klevio cloud goes down? Would thousands of people be locked out of their homes? Luckily, the weather was good, but what if it was in the middle of a storm or the cold of winter?

In the developer community, we talk a lot about Offline-First, Peer to Peer Connections, Local-First, blah blah blah. These are all developer buzzwords that we like to throw around and don't stick to because it's devoid of a connection to real people and real problems.

# Do not build a cloud-first mission-critical mobile app

If you are building a mission-critical app, it must not be cloud-first. It must be able to work without an internet connection. What other apps are mission-critical?

* Mobile apps for healthcare workers and hospitals

* Apps for pilots and airline crew (flight attendants, security)

* Military apps for soldiers and armed forces

* Apps for industrial, mining, construction and oil workers

* Retail and commerce

No, not every app needs to work without the internet. But if it's mission-critical, it is a requirement.

Klevio, if you are reading this, please get your act together. Do not be a lock company and lock people out because of a short-sighted, cloud-first mentality.