The Fall and Rise of Embedded Plugins: The Trend Away from IFrames

IFrames have long been utilized in embed frameworks due to their simplicity and customization capabilities, but they come with challenges like performance issues, security risks, and compatibility problems, especially with mobile interfaces. As a result, many platforms are exploring alternatives such as "cards," which provide a limited set of UI objects for more secure and consistent interfaces, particularly appealing for mobile-focused platforms like Slack and Gmail. Although cards can be limiting for developers, they ensure better security and performance, prompting continuous updates and integration with APIs to enhance their functionality. Alternatives like controlled HTML frameworks, such as Salesforce Lightning and Shopify's Polaris, offer more flexibility by allowing developers to build consistent applications within modified HTML/CSS/JavaScript environments. New window integrations, which direct users to separate web apps, provide a straightforward user experience in certain contexts. Remote rendering is emerging as a promising solution, allowing developers to build flexible applications in sandboxed environments that are then securely and efficiently rendered by the host platform, as demonstrated by Shopify's Remote-UI framework. Despite ongoing experimentation and evolution in embed frameworks, iframes and cards remain prevalent, with a growing trend towards more standardized and consistent patterns in the future.