July 31, 2026
Log out, drama in
Authorize, don't authenticate
The internet wants control of its own stuff, but the comments are already fighting over whether this is genius or just File->Open with extra steps
TLDR: A developer wants apps to stop owning your data and instead ask permission to use storage you control. Commenters loved the freedom angle but instantly argued over whether it’s revolutionary, unrealistic, or just old software ideas wearing a shiny new outfit.
A developer just tossed a grenade into the usual “log in with your password” routine by arguing that apps shouldn’t hold your data hostage at all. Instead of proving who you are to some app, the idea is that you keep your data in your own personal online storage and simply give an app permission to use it. In the demo, a to-do app skips the classic login screen and asks you to connect a database you control. In plain English: the app is just a tool, not the landlord of your digital life.
But the real fireworks broke out in the comments, where the crowd immediately split into camps. One side loved the “your data should actually be yours” vibe, while the skeptics came in hot with “isn’t this just File->Open all over again?” That line became the thread’s unofficial roast, with people joking that we’ve somehow reinvented old-school desktop software and called it the future. Others were less snarky and more suspicious: what stops apps from stuffing your information into unreadable blobs anyway, making “ownership” feel more like a nice slogan than a real escape hatch?
Then came the practical panic. Commenters grilled the idea over speed, reliability, company teamwork, and security, basically asking: sounds empowering, but who fixes the mess when it breaks? Even supporters admitted the language is muddy, with “authentication” and “authorization” getting mixed up so often that one commenter called “auth” hopelessly confusing. So yes, the article pitched a data freedom revolution — but the community response was a full-on reality check, with equal parts idealism, nitpicking, and meme-worthy side-eye.
Key Points
- •The article argues that traditional login systems place user data under application control because the data is stored in application-managed databases.
- •The author proposes personal database authorization, where users grant apps access to databases they control instead of authenticating into app-controlled systems.
- •The author implemented this model in ayb and demonstrated it with a to-do app called Todos that requests database access instead of showing a login screen.
- •The system uses OAuth2 for authorization, and the author says an open-source ayb.js library can help developers integrate the flow quickly.
- •The article states that database creation should be made as simple as document creation, with backups, migrations, and connectivity handled automatically.