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Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

atrium.co

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Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#141

Post by ncallaway »

casper345 wrote: post #111

80% of apps are uninstalled in the first 10min (especially if they ask for information or creating an account). Once uninstalled very unlikely they will ever install again. In my dev shop, I always advise clients to look into website MVP over apps unless IT IS CRITICAL to the functionality. Websites can always bring back ppl who were initially uninterested. Faster development/instant updates. Better tracking and UX a…

I completely agree. This is also my advice to clients that initially ask for a mobile app as well.

Unless you _know_ you have a successful business, a website/webapp MVP is almost always a cheaper way to validate your business concept and a cheaper way to iterate as you develop it.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#142

Post by awat »

ecp9 wrote: post #137

I don't even bother installing apps anymore, I don't have time to research whether or not they are going to abuse my privacy or have some horrendous TOS. I got my core 10 apps and haven't bought a new one in a year.

This is my position as well. Unless your app is going to provide substantial features over your website or operating system like functionality. I'm not even going to try it out.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#143

Post by rimliu »

neonhat wrote: post #68
wvenable wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is wishful thinking with no logical argument behind it. WebAssembly replaces JavaScript but the rest of the experience (a web browser) is exactly the same. What would compel users to care?

> This is wishful thinking with no logical argument behind it. 1. A web app developed using WebAssembly offers performance indistinguishable from that of a native app. 2. Since the web app offers native performance, there's practically no need for a native app to exist in the first place. Why should developers waste their time developing for multiple platforms when a single mobile app works flawlessly? 3. This is gre…

WebAssebly offers zero of the things native SDK offers. I wish people making these claims took at least a cursory look what’s in UIKit alone.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#144

Post by jurmous »

NightlyDev wrote: post #129
ransom1538 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After years of experience: 0) Native means you get notifications: APNS, GCM. 1) If you don't go native, you go SEO. SEO is hard.

Web has had notifications for years too.

Not on iOS. https://caniuse.com/#feat=notifications

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#146

Post by mountainofdeath »

freehunter wrote: post #62
have_faith wrote: post #38

Earlier 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.

I run a website where I get asked quite often to make it into a mobile app, and I reply by showing how to add it to the device's homescreen and not need an app. Never ever ever in the few dozen times I've had this conversation has anyone ever actually done it. In fact most responses to that suggestion have been overwhelmingly negative. They want an app, even though it'd just be a wrapper around the site with no added…

Bingo. That's exactly what end-consumers want. If you have a good enough PWA, you can wrap it in a single webview and push it to the appstore/play market. The presence is the important part, the actual implementation does not matter.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#147

Post by jermaustin1 »

ecp9 wrote: post #137

I don't even bother installing apps anymore, I don't have time to research whether or not they are going to abuse my privacy or have some horrendous TOS. I got my core 10 apps and haven't bought a new one in a year.

I like this concept. Using the smart phone more like a PDA than a tiny laptop.

What are your 10 core apps if you don't mind sharing?

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#148

Post by tracker1 »

wvenable wrote: post #104
johnday wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but there's a bit of apples and oranges here - for example, any modern internet-connected app would also need a server backend.

Also I just installed Daylio which is a cool little diary application. They have no web app, it's mobile app only. It backs up your data to Google Drive. It has no server component, no signup, etc. Admittedly there are limitations of not having a server backend but for a MVP that's another way to go.

And apparently no way to update from my desktop then.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#149

Post by dec0dedab0de »

phs2501 wrote: post #140
endorphone wrote: post #34

Earlier 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…

> Indeed, right now we're seeing a big uptick in Instant Apps on Android -- go to a webpage and it actually loads a native app -- and I fully expect the same to appear on iOS. I'd never heard of this but I can guarantee I will immediately quit and never install an app that gets forced upon me via this method. This is like the terrible "Try our app!" web popups, only 10x worse. I realize like most people on HN I'm har…

I saw it for the first time last night. I think it was Vimeo. It was actually much better than the "try our app" popup, because it was android asking if i wanted to use the instant app, and when i said no it just went away.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#150

Post by NightlyDev »

Most of my mobile users(64 %) has the page added to the home screen, and it's awesome.

There is however one problem in all things web: Apple.

The amount of bugs in Safari on iOS is incredible and the developers should be ashamed of their work. Safari is literally worse than IE6 was.

But sure, users can just switch to Chrome.. Oh, wait, we're talking iOS here, so there is only one engine, and that engine is broken. So the only option is to get a decent phone, aka not an iPhone.

Like, how freaking hard can it be to make a browser that doesn't need to be restarted just to make touch or keyboard working again?

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