Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: An app store just for installable web apps

store.app

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 233 posts

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

#161

Post by perilunar »

tacoship wrote: post #13

Sweet domain! Was it expensive? Feedback: The home page's horizontal carousels/reels lack trackpad scrolling functionality. Interaction is limited to the arrow buttons on the side. To enhance user experience, it would be beneficial to make them scrollable via trackpad, similar to the Apple Store website.[0] [0] https://www.apple.com/store

Agree on the carousel. The buttons are small and clunky — if you miss them you get a page you don't want. Just use a div with overflow:auto for native browser scroll.

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

#162

Post by iansinnott »

presson wrote: post #151
presson wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not on iOS, but you can trigger native install prompts on android and chromium browsers (Chrome and Edge).

Edit: Not on iOS...yet.

Oh, didn't know that about Android. That's a definite improvement.

> yet

Is there supposed planned support for this on iOS? Seems like it would be counter to Apple's incentives, but I'd love to see it happen.

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

#164

Post by hnlmorg »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #135

Is it just me that I like websites with URLs on the browser while trying to avoid Apps wherever possible, especially on the desktop? Please don’t take me the wrong way; I was the one developing apps for Pocket PC devices in the early 2000s. For instance, “Twitter” is the first featured “app” I see here at Store.App. However, when I use Twitter, I tend to click away on links and read/browse them. How are people using…

Given how toxic many mobile apps are and how a pretty significant amount of time they’re still just a web app under the hood, I think native apps have already lost the war.

So like yourself, I very rarely install apps these days.

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

#165

Post by merelysounds »

franciscop wrote: post #145

Ah this is perfect! Once few years ago I had https://web-app.store/ (I no longer own that) and attempted to do exactly the same thing as you did, @presson. Funny how, besides your high-quality TLDN, it's basically the same name/TLD but reversed. For posterity sake, here is what it looked like: https://i.imgur.com/hQospzk.png

For comparison, I chose a very different route. On my personal website I maintain a small directory of web games that have good UX on both desktop and mobile. Link: https://merely.xyz/games

It's extremely low tech; just a static website, no reviews, no concept of apps. The scope is much smaller — and it won't grow beyond what I can test. But I guess the goal is similar, promoting user friendly web content.

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

#167

Post by sgt »

Nice as an option but as a mobile I user my first choice is always going to be a proper native app. Faster, better integrated and not just some web page pretending to be an app. PWA's are very useful however when there is a lack of an app, and certainly there are use cases.

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

#168

Post by sgt »

hnlmorg wrote: post #164
Brajeshwar wrote: post #135

Is it just me that I like websites with URLs on the browser while trying to avoid Apps wherever possible, especially on the desktop? Please don’t take me the wrong way; I was the one developing apps for Pocket PC devices in the early 2000s. For instance, “Twitter” is the first featured “app” I see here at Store.App. However, when I use Twitter, I tend to click away on links and read/browse them. How are people using…

Given how toxic many mobile apps are and how a pretty significant amount of time they’re still just a web app under the hood, I think native apps have already lost the war. So like yourself, I very rarely install apps these days.

Most quality apps are native apps, they are not just web app under the hood. Then you are either using uncommon or niche apps, or you perhaps you are on Android (Play Store is a nightmare these days).

The App Store (iOS) may not be perfect but there are truly quality apps and the developers have a real incentive to maintain these, seeing that the willingness to pay for apps is high in the Apple ecosystem.

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

#170

Post by thepra »

sgt wrote: post #167

Nice as an option but as a mobile I user my first choice is always going to be a proper native app. Faster, better integrated and not just some web page pretending to be an app. PWA's are very useful however when there is a lack of an app, and certainly there are use cases.

Indeed, the good point is not relying on any store to bring able to "install" or use right away, so Android and iPhone users aren't blocked from sharing the same experience.
Post reply on HN