hx-pod Html is actually good and it's getting better with Tony Ennis
Oct 2, 2025
Tony Ennis, founder of Really Good Software, discusses his HTML-first philosophy aimed at creating polished web apps with modern web standards. He delves into exciting new native UI elements like modals and popovers in HTML, the collaboration with Chrome developers for better web standards, and introduces MiniJS, a tool for lightweight front-end state management. Ennis also touches on building mobile apps using React Native with webviews and emphasizes the practicality of HTML in today's development landscape.
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Agency Roots And HTML-First Playbooks
- Tony describes building Really Good Software and using HTML-first playbooks across many client projects.
- He built htmlfirst.com from those playbooks to standardize UI patterns they reuse.
Native Browser Features Are Catching Up
- Tony found many native browser features are now mature enough to replace common JS UI patterns.
- He became more bullish after testing native popovers, modals, and other elements and talking with spec contributors.
Build Polished Modals With CSS
- Use CSS building blocks to make polished modals with minimal JavaScript.
- Copy known CSS properties like transform, transform-origin and opacity to get smooth modal animations.