11–20 of 151 posts
99 times out of a hundred for the smartphone carrying crowd, the app store has become a replacement for google searches when it comes to tools/games/toys for their slab-o-glass...
So it sounds like PWAs now make this true: > You don't have to create a native app because PWAs now offer all the functionality of a native app. That's cool. But _this_ has been true for a while: > You don't have to create a native app because a mobile-friendly website offers all the functionality you need. I use (reluctantly) a bunch of apps that really should be just websites. They don't make use of my phone's came…
The author spends some time talking about platform stability as a big part of why web apps are great. But for web apps, is the platform actually stable? I run some applications on my PC that are older than the iPhone and they work just fine. Will the Starbucks web app still work a decade from now? Is any non-trivial web app ever actually done ?
https://www.warnerbros.com/archive/spacejam/movie/jam.htm
So it sounds like PWAs now make this true: > You don't have to create a native app because PWAs now offer all the functionality of a native app. That's cool. But _this_ has been true for a while: > You don't have to create a native app because a mobile-friendly website offers all the functionality you need. I use (reluctantly) a bunch of apps that really should be just websites. They don't make use of my phone's came…
Being able to use the 'app' offline is a pretty important feature tho. I almost always have web access, but most apps also almost never need it (for me to do what I want to do).
This is a blatant lie
> Starbucks PWA: ~600KB
2.1 MB just the initial page, with no cards. The preview.js file is 751 K
I do agree, however, that it's much smaller than an iOS app.
So it sounds like PWAs now make this true: > You don't have to create a native app because PWAs now offer all the functionality of a native app. That's cool. But _this_ has been true for a while: > You don't have to create a native app because a mobile-friendly website offers all the functionality you need. I use (reluctantly) a bunch of apps that really should be just websites. They don't make use of my phone's came…
Being able to use the 'app' offline is a pretty important feature tho. I almost always have web access, but most apps also almost never need it (for me to do what I want to do).
I think one of the uphill battles you're going to have to fight with PWAs is end-user habit. If Joe consumer is looking for a great way to see a weather forecast he's going to look for an app. Jane wants to play podcasts - she's looking for an app. Ezra wants a Jewish calendar - app store. 99 times out of a hundred for the smartphone carrying crowd, the app store has become a replacement for google searches when it c…
Sure, a decade with Moore and it might actually become usable - but do we really want to set the bar that low?
Installing an app is cumbersome, but when going to his example I'm forced to create an account just to see what it is.
So it sounds like PWAs now make this true: > You don't have to create a native app because PWAs now offer all the functionality of a native app. That's cool. But _this_ has been true for a while: > You don't have to create a native app because a mobile-friendly website offers all the functionality you need. I use (reluctantly) a bunch of apps that really should be just websites. They don't make use of my phone's came…
The author also points out (correctly) that web apps are smaller than their equivalent native app. That's nice, but I'm not terribly constrained as far as storage goes on my phone. I am constrained by battery life and data consumption.
Well, the author straw-mans that web apps are smaller. Yes, web apps are lighter than equivalent native apps. But not to anywhere near the degree described in the article.
There's no legitimate reason for the Starbucks app to be 100MB. None. A native Android app equivalent to the PWA in the article would come in at about about 2MB, for instance.
Starbucks app is huge because they stuffed it with something (same for Twitter, Facebook, etc). Starbucks new PWA is clean and light because it hasn't (yet) been stuffed with the equivalent junk. It's not a technology difference, it's a political/corporate one.
Android Instant Apps allows Android users to run your apps instantly, without installation