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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

#181

Post by cturhan »

Domain is $10 but it’s for a single domain. For every website you will buy one. In addition, play store asks one-time $25 fee. You can submit as many apps to app stores as you want.

Generally, you have to do more things during web development such as SEO, cross-browser testing, meta tags. In addition, you need to deal with responsive design. Mobile apps are easier easier to develop because apps display one thing at once while web sites and apps display a few components in one screen.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#182

Post by v1k65m677 »

I had similar idea for my 1st game. I don't like the idea of downloading native app for everything.

I bought a (.)app domain to host my game. I never build website before, although I have decent understanding of HTML and CSS, so people suggested me to start with a static website first in HTML+CSS. Result was a terrible website www.chessxplode.com

Next was to learn JS, React, HTML5/WebGL, cloud computing and more to build the game. Instead I decided to focus on what I know well, game programming in native iOS. Once native game was ready, focus shifted to grow the game.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#183

Post by noobiemcfoob »

billmalarky wrote: post #44
noobiemcfoob wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too many applications abuse notifications and background processing anyway. If you need those features, you have to convince of far more value before I'll install a thing.

I'd wager you are not a great representation of the market that 99% of apps serve. Apps abuse those features because it works well for their business.

> I'd wager you are not a great representation of the market that 99% of apps serve

I'd wager no one is. Snapchat has 200 million users. There's some 4 billion people on the internet. Niches are niches, and no one serves everyone.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#184

Post by adventured »

vesak wrote: post #171
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 don't have time to research whether or not they are going to abuse my privacy or have some horrendous TOS. Do you think that web apps are better in that regard?

Yes, drastically. Wikipedia and Hacker News don't have access to the contents of my phone or desktop, just as they don't have access to the contents of my home or mailbox.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#185

Post by da_chicken »

vesak wrote: post #171
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 don't have time to research whether or not they are going to abuse my privacy or have some horrendous TOS. Do you think that web apps are better in that regard?

Yes. I don't give them permission to run code on my device arbitrarily and perpetually.

Think of it like this: If Hacker News required a fat client to function on your desktop, would you actually be here at all?

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#186

Post by wasdfff »

kkhire wrote: post #85
clarky07 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how so? click a button and download to device? now you have an icon that the user sees every day. How is the web better than that?

there's a big difference between typing a URL into a web browser & downloading an app: 1. go to the app store 2. search for it and find the right one 3. make sure you have the right amount of space for it 4. download it 5. place it on the 5th screen of your phone 6. never see it

Show someone with an iPhone how to turn any website into a web app with one button in safari and their mind will be blown, yet the feature predates the App Store. No one knows how to do this outside of tech circles. Apple had it as a stop gap before the coming App Store, then promptly never mentioned again to cement the store as the only way to get additional utility from the phone; web apps are a vestigial feature.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#187

Post by wpietri »

endorphone wrote: post #34
shams93 wrote: post #2

Given 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…

I think it depends a lot on what you mean by "compete". I'm a heavy Twitter user. I now only use its PWA on Android and it's fine. I wouldn't call it perfect, but it's certainly very usable, and I suspect most non-experts would have a hard time telling that it's not a native app.

Especially for MVPs, I think they're competitive for a wide range of uses. The UX may not be as polished, but that can be more than made up for by instant availability, instant updates, lower dev costs, and faster release cycles. The ability of a new company to learn is limited by release cycle time, and I think fast, low-cost learning is a huge advantage to startups.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#188

Post by naravara »

endorphone wrote: post #34
shams93 wrote: post #2

Given 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…

>No PWA competes with a native experience. Not performance wise, not usability wise, and ultimately for the developer not even development wise.

How much of a usability advantage does an app for, say, IMDB offer that the regular website doesn't? Or the loyalty card apps that a lot of grocery stores and coffee shops use now?

A lot of apps on the market are functionally just wrappers put around a poorly optimized website. They'd be better off putting their efforts towards making a great experience on the mobile web instead of trend-chasing.

In the iOS environment Apple could actually help here through a simple awareness campaign. You can save website bookmarks as icons on your home screen as it is, but this functionality is little known and not easily discoverable.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#189

Post by wpietri »

menckenjr wrote: post #109
untog wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In addition, it could say something like your worker can only run in the background if a user has been to your site in the last n hours But iOS apps can't do that. The only way they can guarantee background execution is if they are playing audio, or say they're a VOIP app. Of course, Apple could change those rules for Safari, but what I'm saying is that I don't think it's as simple as just flipping a switch - it'll…

Getting background location updates will also let your app stay unsuspended. You better have a good reason for getting them, though, or your app won't make it into the store. (Ditto for VoIP or audio apps; the app store reviewers are wise to tricks for mimicking services in a non-service architecture.)

This is interesting:

> the app store reviewers are wise to tricks for mimicking services

Has that been written up anywhere? I'd really like to know more about the reasons behind this arms race.

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