If $100 per year for the Apple Developer program is too much, is whatever you’d be making an app for even worth it? Not saying app-first is or isn’t the answer, just questioning a criticism of an expense that’s comes out to $8.25 per month.
Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
51–60 of 587 posts
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#52The real answer to this question? (Surprise!) It depends. I have worked on a side project for the last year or so that will have a website and a mobile application. It has social elements, so ultimately I decided to prioritize the mobile application, because that is where users have access to their contacts, and do most of their communication with their friends and family. There are, of course, other business ideas t…
>It depends.
Sadly I think to often people are to focused on "apps" fail to make that consideration. Businesses seems focus on getting their little icon on the home screen of people phone, to keep them coming back to their service. News sites are especially to blame here.
There are also some app that completely fail to recognise that there are people who need the service an app provides, but doesn't have a smartphone. For instance the only way I can buy a bus ticket with my debit card is to use an app on my phone, but what if I didn't have a smartphone?
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#53And sometimes even start with a mailing list (especially anything marketplace related)
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> With a progressive web app if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen Does anyone even know they can do that? I've never seen anyone do it "in the wild". Would love to see any stats around usage of pwa's added to home screen.
Chrome on Android will show a banner to add it to your home screen.
True, the situation on Android is much better than iOS. Also after you do this, you get an icon in your app drawer and not just the homescreen.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#55Given the fact that most people are already maxed out on apps on their device with just things like facebook and youtube, you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it out. With a progressive web app if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen without installing via the app store and without using up space on their device. Also don't need to pay Apple $100 a ye…
We've been hearing the same pitch for literally years. Heck, I've made some of them myself: "This is it, people! Native apps have been rendered unnecessary!" No PWA competes with a native experience. Not performance wise, not usability wise, and ultimately for the developer not even development wise. It may still make a lot of sense, and there are a lot of arguments for web apps, but the enthusiasm in this discussion…
> ultimately for the developer not even development wise
Ehhh I'm not sold on that one, as someone who has done a lot of web dev and then transferred to doing some iOS and Android work. The languages you can work in (Swift, Kotlin) are fantastic, and the APIs and frameworks are great. But XCode and Android Studio are a hot mess and have been for years. Plus, compilation delays every time you want to do so much as run a test, waiting for app store approval before you can push out a bug fix....
IMO the developer story for native apps isn't that great. The web has a lot of wrinkles too, but coding with Typescript using hot-reloading and instant deployment of code to users has a lot going for it.
> No PWA competes with a native experience.
It does in one key area: it loads instantly. I know Android Instant Apps are out there too, but having to persuade your user to go to an app store and download your app before they can do anything is a huge lift. The web always, always wins on that front.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
>if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen without installing via the app store and without using up space on their device As far as I'm concerned, until evidence to the contrary is provided, most people either don't do this or know how. Relying on a pinned app for smart phones is a good way to kill your startup. >you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it…
> >you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it out > In fact, the statistics prove[1] that this is false. Most app installs are to try it out, and promptly delete it. Most users will delete your app shortly after installing it. I'm really not following how this disproves what was being said. They were saying it's difficult to get people to even install for a test run, and you're s…
>They were saying it's difficult to get people to even install for a test run
How is it difficult to get someone to install something for a test run when like 90% of app installs are test runs? So you're saying it's difficult to get someone to install your app at all, and that has nothing to do with your product or your marketing, but it has something to do with the technology?
And the PWA experience of pinning things to your home screen, which we have absolutely no reason to believe is widely done, is a better option?
There are 200 billion some odd app installs per year (primarily for test runs), there are ??? mobile PWA app home screen pins per year.
I'd like to see you try and support OPs claim rather than argue about my comment.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. But if you are trying to start a business and the $100 a year you would have to pay to distribute your app will make or break you, you have bigger issues.
Service workers allow for push notifications and other background tasks.
iOS doesn’t support push notifications for web pages.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
We've been hearing the same pitch for literally years. Heck, I've made some of them myself: "This is it, people! Native apps have been rendered unnecessary!" No PWA competes with a native experience. Not performance wise, not usability wise, and ultimately for the developer not even development wise. It may still make a lot of sense, and there are a lot of arguments for web apps, but the enthusiasm in this discussion…
> (paraphrasing) No PWA competes with a native experience even development wise I'm personally too spoiled by the React debugging experience, and I'm saying this as a developer who mainly does C#. On the other hand, I know many developers who can't stand a line of JavaScript. The answer is here a huge "it depends, really".
For those who can't stand javascript, typescript was made for you
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#59How about start with a product that people would actually use? If it is a website, fine. If it is a mobile app, fine. Don't sacrifice business opportunities because of early tech choices.
To me, you have to have a really damn good reason to start with an app. Distribution is hell.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#60I am moving towards "Windows app first"; Windows still has dominant market share among Desktop users. You might impress investors and developers with Mac and Linux support, but far too many people are developing for platforms where the users are not and wondering why their stuff isn't catching on.