The End Is Near for Mobile Apps? • Hacker News Board

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#31

Post by erikb » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 8:55 AM UTC

psergeant wrote: post #23

ohazi wrote: post #9

Basically every flashlight app on Google Play contains adware or malware and wants non-negotiable (thanks, Google) access to my contact list and files and network. Same with many task managers and qr code scanners and other random little apps and utilities. Fuck that. I'll install Uber and an IM client or two, but that's it. No more "that looks like it might be cool" apps for me. I've said this before - the app ecosy…

> I don't know what the story is in Apple-land The walled garden is great and protects my privacy.

Please mark sarcasm at least with a ";)" otherwise many people might think you mean what you say becaise they don't know that it's a ridiculous idea that a big corp will come and protect each users privacy.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#32

Post by gman83 » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 8:55 AM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #26

You know what rocks, and which doesn't get nearly as much attention these days, vis a vis mobile app development? Using a single game engine for real business apps, and then shipping those apps on every platform the game engine supports. Sure, you maybe have to do a bit more work to get a data entry field up on the screen - but you only have to do it once and you've got the same, consistent, agreeable (assuming you d…

You've just described Flutter, it's basically a video game engine for apps.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#33

Post by oh-kumudo » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 8:56 AM UTC

One thing this article gets right is that it is just going to be harder to persuade users to download an App that only brings in marginal/augmented functionality. I have about 1.5 screens of Apps installed, probably somewhere near 30-50 apps in total, and use barely 10 of them fairly frequently as far as I can recall.

Maybe it won't be too surprising that Google/Apple will announce something similar to Wechat's mini-program, a lightweight application distribution system that doesn't require a browser, nor installation to work. In fact, Google's Instant App aren't that far from the above description, it is just a matter of marketing effort to push it closer to users.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#34

Post by lloeki » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:02 AM UTC

KaiserPro wrote: post #17

This is written by someone who lives in the "web eats everything" bubble. It also neglects the apple store. The fact is, webapps are suboptimal, and unless something drastically changes, will remain so. Unless you have decent caching, they are slow, difficult to use, and generally annoying. Why? firstly HTML/JS is a very slow presentation layer compared to native, which means less battery. You still can't multithread…

I have an eerie feeling of déjà vu, namely that "This is the year of Web Apps!" appears to be the new "This is the Year of the Linux Desktop!" in many ways.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#35

Post by starbeast » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:07 AM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #26

You know what rocks, and which doesn't get nearly as much attention these days, vis a vis mobile app development? Using a single game engine for real business apps, and then shipping those apps on every platform the game engine supports. Sure, you maybe have to do a bit more work to get a data entry field up on the screen - but you only have to do it once and you've got the same, consistent, agreeable (assuming you d…

Unity is a very good tool for this.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#36

Post by EZ-E » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:09 AM UTC

gitgud wrote: post #5

So the author proposes that most apps will be consolidated onto platforms such as wechat, messenger or aliexpress. With each new app, comes new requirements of the platform to produce better and more functional API's for the sub-apps. Eventually these platforms will bloat and bloat until they basically become their own operating system.... then tada we're back at the beginning...

> So the author proposes that most apps will be consolidated onto platforms such as wechat, messenger or aliexpress. With each new app, comes new requirements of the platform to produce better and more functional API's for the sub-apps.

This is actually happening in China to some extent.

I'm blown away that Apple and Google actually approves apps that run a mini-OS inside them like WeChat/Alipay. I initially thought they would have rules to kick these apps off their store. These mega-apps are able to run mini-apps that effectively bypass any control from Apple/Google, the loss of control on their end is maddening.

Google and Apple have no control over whether WeChat mini-apps respect their respective App Store rules and guidelines for example. Also, WeChat got so big that I wonder if they would even ban it from the app store if transgressions are found. WeChat literally took control away from them.

Example : people install WeChat, from there install mini-apps that aren't controlled by Google/Apple, and even can pay though third party apps : Google/Apple don't get a piece of the cake like they would if you used their IAP system.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#37

Post by jbverschoor » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:11 AM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #26

You know what rocks, and which doesn't get nearly as much attention these days, vis a vis mobile app development? Using a single game engine for real business apps, and then shipping those apps on every platform the game engine supports. Sure, you maybe have to do a bit more work to get a data entry field up on the screen - but you only have to do it once and you've got the same, consistent, agreeable (assuming you d…

And we're back to flash.

Just learn the damn platform you're deveoping for.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#38

Post by jnaina » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:13 AM UTC

erikb wrote: post #31

psergeant wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know what the story is in Apple-land The walled garden is great and protects my privacy.

Please mark sarcasm at least with a ";)" otherwise many people might think you mean what you say becaise they don't know that it's a ridiculous idea that a big corp will come and protect each users privacy.

I actually pay more for an iPhone to be in their walled garden (with all the restrictions therein) for the better security and privacy. I consider my smartphone to be an appliance and am ok to trade-off uber-customization-capabilities for better than Android level of security. I also carry an Android phablet for on-the-go mobile hacking/coding/exploring shenanigans, but don't keep any data on it for obvious reasons

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#39

Post by EZ-E » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:18 AM UTC

I only agree with the third point the author makes

> Smaller apps will become part of social media and mobile wallet ecosystems.

I find actually unbelievable that Apple and Google didn't crack down on it yet as it takes considerable control away from them. Through iOS's WeChat for example, I can install and run mini-apps that effectively bypass any control or review scrutinity away from Apple. Not to mention about how all payements are processed thru these mega-apps, fully bypassing the in-app purchase system.

Could Apple even ban some of these big offending Mega-Apps like WeChat at this point? Probably not, as that would cripple their marketshare in China. So meanwhile they effectively host a third party app store competitor... in their app store.

Re: The End Is Near for Mobile Apps?

#40

Post by zeroname » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:23 AM UTC

KaiserPro wrote: post #17

This is written by someone who lives in the "web eats everything" bubble. It also neglects the apple store. The fact is, webapps are suboptimal, and unless something drastically changes, will remain so. Unless you have decent caching, they are slow, difficult to use, and generally annoying. Why? firstly HTML/JS is a very slow presentation layer compared to native, which means less battery. You still can't multithread…

You're thinking of this too much in terms of technology. Even when what you say is true, it's rather irrelevant for most apps.

> The data I have seen from the old company was this: people who installed our news reader app were 4-8 times more engaged than the people who used our uber mobile friendly and fast news site. Apps can be faster, handle offline/near offline far better.

I think you're mixing up causalities here. Those users that are already more engaged are the ones that can even be bothered to install your news reader app. How many users is that though? Do they make up for the ones that don't install the app? You're probably going to need both anyway, you're paying for both, you better make sure the native app is worth it. For a lot of business, it isn't worth it.

The core issue is that people aren't willing to install any more apps. Case in point, the very article wants me to install the "Medium" app. I'm not going to do that, because it's pointless. Medium works just fine as a website and that's true for most other apps you use merely on occasion. Could it be more responsive, use less battery, if it was native? Of course. I don't care.