Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App • Hacker News Board

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#201

Post by beckler » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:48 PM UTC

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…

I think PWAs are still considered more of a novelty.

If they really ever catch on, I could see where apple might require you to start hosting some kind of cross-signed cert or something that you can only get from Apple to install/use them.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#202

Post by ecp9 » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

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?

On the web I can install ublock origin, privacybadger, and a vpn. Even if you ignore the phone's personal data aspect that's a 99% improvement over mobile.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#203

Post by trophycase » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:51 PM UTC

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #179

trophycase wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I figure most things don't need an app unless they are trying to take more data anyway. Anything telling me to install an app whose mobile experience is fine already is very fishy to me. I'm looking at you, Reddit.

Interesting, iOS has pretty locked down default settings and prompts you when an app tries to access most sensitive data. I think I’d generally prefer mobile apps from a privacy perspective because I don’t have to worry about things like cookies as much.

That's a good point, and maybe my hesitance to use these apps comes from ignorance about what data they have access to. It's just them being so pushy about it really makes me skeptical. Perhaps users are less likely to leave Reddit if they are viewing from the app? Richer ad content? More ad content? Notifications?

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#204

Post by achairapart » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:52 PM UTC

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #179

trophycase wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I figure most things don't need an app unless they are trying to take more data anyway. Anything telling me to install an app whose mobile experience is fine already is very fishy to me. I'm looking at you, Reddit.

Interesting, iOS has pretty locked down default settings and prompts you when an app tries to access most sensitive data. I think I’d generally prefer mobile apps from a privacy perspective because I don’t have to worry about things like cookies as much.

In a browser you have control about cookies, I'm sure iOS can leak more sensitive data even with default settings.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#205

Post by reaperducer » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:53 PM UTC

M2Ys4U wrote: post #96

billmalarky wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>Apps abuse those features because it works well for their business. In the short-run anyway...

This is true.

I allow certain apps to use notifications because there are things that I want to be notified about. My card balance from the Starbucks app, or breaking news from the New York Times app.

Both of those companies started abusing notifications. Their apps are no longer on my phones.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#206

Post by pjmlp » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:53 PM UTC

v1k65m677 wrote: post #182

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 b…

Gaming is one of the use cases where native wins, specially since WebGL 2.0 isn't widespread and it only exposes a subset of OpenGL ES 3.0, let alone GL ES 3.1, 3.2, Metal or Vulkan.

However if the game is a Flash like one, then WebGL/WebAssembly might just be enough.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#207

Post by reaperducer » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:54 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #80

cschep wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using email as a notification service works in this case. The user probably gets a notification for new emails.. at least if they do they chose to. :)

Email delivery has its own set of problems - mostly spam filters. Even when the email does reach the end user, most people get so many emails it’s easy to get lost in the noise.

Using notifications to bypass spam filters speaks to the quality of the notifications you're sending.

If your e-mail is important, people will find it.

If your e-mail gets lost in the noise, then notification is probably not essential.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#208

Post by reaperducer » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #57

simplecomplex wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Service workers allow for push notifications and other background tasks.

iOS doesn’t support push notifications for web pages.

Are Safari push notifications desktop only?

https://developer.apple.com/notifications/safari-push-notifi...

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#209

Post by zjaffee » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:57 PM UTC

trophycase wrote: post #163

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 figure most things don't need an app unless they are trying to take more data anyway. Anything telling me to install an app whose mobile experience is fine already is very fishy to me. I'm looking at you, Reddit.

I have to disagree with you here, even from a social media perspective. Namely, with apps that leverage hardware at a high rate such as the camera features of Snapchat and Instagram.

I agree that reddit might not need an app in the same way, but I'm sure there are ways they could improve their user experience by further leveraging mobile hardware in ways that don't relate to tracking.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#210

Post by jkchu » Fri, Jan 04, 2019, 6:59 PM UTC

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.

A native app with no server backend is the same as a web application with no server backend. In that case you really just need to put those static web files into an S3 bucket and route a domain to it. The cost is very low for this.