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Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

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Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#121

Post by fartasanelk »

I am on desktop. There is a button that says 'Get'. When I click on it, I get prompted to 'Install the app on your device'. Which just sends me to the home page?

I just check on mobile, same thing. How is visiting a website's homepage 'installing the app on my device?'

I think some people might be turned off by the word Installing, when you're just visiting a website?

The word Get seems misleading, because you are not 'getting' anything. If anything Visit might be more appropriate.

What am I missing?

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#122

Post by [deleted] »

presson wrote: post #117
j1elo wrote: post #115

Nothing that can be blamed to the (web)app store, but I found it curious the overall very poor first impression experience that these small niche (or not so small) websites tend to offer... some have the feeling of just being an excuse prototype to be a quick grab for money / user accounts. I guess that not too unlike actual installable mobile apps, to be fair. My experience has been: I tried the Linear app, but coul…

This is great feedback. There are some modifications coming that will enhance the discovery process. It's very early in our journey, so I'd encourage you (I'm biased, of course) to create an account and stay tuned for updates. We believe the web is in the early stages of a renaissance of some sort.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#123

Post by presson »

fartasanelk wrote: post #121

I am on desktop. There is a button that says 'Get'. When I click on it, I get prompted to 'Install the app on your device'. Which just sends me to the home page? I just check on mobile, same thing. How is visiting a website's homepage 'installing the app on my device?' I think some people might be turned off by the word Installing, when you're just visiting a website? The word Get seems misleading, because you are no…

There's better functionality coming, but for at the moment, users need to jump over to the apps domain to install. "Getting" or "Installing" means adding to home screen. The flow isn't ideal at the moment, and some web apps aren't installable (e.g. don't have a manifest/service worker), but it's early in the movement. You're not really missing anything, other than the fact that we have to start somewhere :-P

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#124

Post by pentagrama »

presson wrote: post #118
pentagrama wrote: post #110

I like the idea and execution. Is good spread the PWA feature of the web to battle the duopoly of native app stores, even if PWA has their disadvantages. Feedback: I'm browsing the site on Firefox desktop, sadly it doesn't support install PWA yet. You may want to add some banner for Firefox users alerting about that.

That's great feedback. It is indeed unfortunate that Firefox has shied away from supporting modern browser features. We will be showing relevant feedback based on your browser when you launch an app - is that sufficient for you? Seems like that's the right CTA to advice a user to switch browsers, but curious if you think it's imperative to have this info at the beginning of your discovery journey.

That seems ok! Not sure about encourage the user to switch, but maybe mention that in x browsers works.

Also have in mind that on Firefox mobile app, PWAs _have_ install capabilities, so the alert should _only_ be targeted to Firefox desktop.

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#125

Post by reustle »

presson wrote: post #84
coder543 wrote: post #22

I like the concept a lot, but I also think it should filter to only installable apps by default. If you detect a user is on a mobile device, it would probably also make sense to enable the mobile filter by default too. It would also be nice if there was an offline-capable filter as well, but maybe I missed it? I also notice the Developer tab is not part of the PWA, which kicks you out of the PWA experience on iOS, ev…

Thank you, this is great feedback. What to show and when has been an ongoing convo - we chose to evolve this based on supply side milestones. Keep an eye out for some cool updates :-). We don't yet have the ability to filter by offline-capable, but that's a great idea. Re the dev tab, this is a work in progress - right now a few things are split apart, but we'll be folding everything back together at some point. Re n…

But isn’t “installable” the entire point of this site, and your company?

If you want you help the discussion against native apps, you need to clearly take the side of proper installable PWAs, not just links to websites. It feels misleading and gives argument ammo to the “native always” crowd.

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#126

Post by [deleted] »

presson wrote: post #123
fartasanelk wrote: post #121

I am on desktop. There is a button that says 'Get'. When I click on it, I get prompted to 'Install the app on your device'. Which just sends me to the home page? I just check on mobile, same thing. How is visiting a website's homepage 'installing the app on my device?' I think some people might be turned off by the word Installing, when you're just visiting a website? The word Get seems misleading, because you are no…

There's better functionality coming, but for at the moment, users need to jump over to the apps domain to install. "Getting" or "Installing" means adding to home screen. The flow isn't ideal at the moment, and some web apps aren't installable (e.g. don't have a manifest/service worker), but it's early in the movement. You're not really missing anything, other than the fact that we have to start somewhere :-P

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#129

Post by m3kw9 »

presson wrote: post #101
m3kw9 wrote: post #100

Nice idea but probably way ahead of its time, native app still rules if you want top experience for the foreseeable future

Need to start somewhere :-P and I think you'll be surprised looking back in a few years from now.

Yeah I will be surprised, but stick with it when I first saw it I thought this is a good idea. Plus the domain name is just perfect

Re: Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

#130

Post by rahimnathwani »

fartasanelk wrote: post #121

I am on desktop. There is a button that says 'Get'. When I click on it, I get prompted to 'Install the app on your device'. Which just sends me to the home page? I just check on mobile, same thing. How is visiting a website's homepage 'installing the app on my device?' I think some people might be turned off by the word Installing, when you're just visiting a website? The word Get seems misleading, because you are no…

If you visit a PWA on Chrome for Android, you can install the app by tapping the three dots and scrolling down to 'Install app'.

OP has a filter for only installable apps, but it's off by default. So you might be taken to an app that's not installable.

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