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Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

atrium.co

401–410 of 587 posts

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instagram is perfectly usable as a website, at least on an iPhone. I guess some features might be missing, but the core stuff is there: browsing, adding photo, filters, stories.

How do you post a photo on instagram in a web browser? I thought that was reserved for the app.

You can post a photo on instagram in a browser on iphone. you also can on other platforms by changing your useragent to webkit

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#402
post #65

"No one wants to download apps anymore" I stopped reading there. The major advantage of the App Store (primarily for consumer apps though) is the fact that there's some kind of filtering at place. If I find a quality app, I want to actually pay for it. In fact, if it's a good app - then I prefer to pay, as it often ensures some kind of continuity in the app's lifecycle.

Kind of same for me. Before I switched to Android, on the iOS app store I was actually able to find interesting apps, but I guess I just had too much time to spend sifting through them lol. To me, the Google Play store is less organized. Now I seem to find apps more from others' recommendations.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#403
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer they absolutely work to drive engagement, which is why so many apps use them. So if you’re trying to run a business that’s a pretty important thing.

Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves. One part is on the system to provide the right management tools, the other is on the user to tell the system what notifications are important.

> Notification management is the problem. Not notifications themselves.

Notification abuse is the problem. Notifications have been so heavily abused by apps (and increasingly now by websites themselves) that makes the notification system itself look terrible.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve developed software all of my career that I personally have no use for. I develop software to pay my bills. We are talking about notifications, not killing puppies.

We're not talking about whether or not you are killing puppies -- I don't think you're a sadist. Just "make stuff you would want to use." Or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Or, if you prefer, "act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."

> Just "make stuff you would want to use."

So I should quit my job developing enterprise software because I don't personally have a use for enterprise software?

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#405
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 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'm going out on a limb but I'd wager you're not exactly representative of the general userbase for which apps are developed.

well according to the article Google Store app numbers peaked in early 2018 so it might not be as unrepresentative as you think. Time is a zero sum game and there are only so many apps all of us can install no matter how enthusiastic we are.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#406
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. Ok, but what are the downsides?

Unless I absolutely have to have the app (work or something), I avoid it. Webpage any day. It wont bug me in the middle of the night. 3AM. Sleeping Phone: BING!!! Me: *groggy* shit, hope everything is ok... Me: *picks up phone* Phone: Rayman Adventures has updated! Me: *uninstalls Rayman Adventures, angrily goes back to sleep*

Not to sound condescending but why would you have your notifications on at night? 10pm-7:30am do not disturb has been a godsend.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me: Personal Capital (finance), WhatsApp, Slack, Overcast (podcasts), Kindle, Dark Sky (hyper accurate weather app), Google Authenticator, Lyft, RENPHO (my smart scale’s app), 1Password Everything else is very situational and totally optional.

Mine: Firefox, WhatsApp (for family) & Telegram (friends and groups), andOTP instead of Google authenticator, New Pipe instead of YouTube, FBReader, Orgzly (notes), Phonograph for music and trying to move to LessPass for passwords.

andOTP is great, NewPipe is not as great (get YouTube Vanced, https://vanced.app/ instead). Why do you prefer FBReader over Moon+?

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#408
post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The claim isn't never--it's for installing a small set of apps that you don't change for more or less the entire lifetime of your device.

Yes. Lurking around the app store of your device and installing random apps is a behavior for first-time users of the platform. Back during 2010 to 2015, almost everyone was a first-time user of the platform. From now on, downloading random apps is a job for ever younger audiences.

Crikey. I'm 48, a developer and I still install random apps.

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#409

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…

> No PWA competes with a native experience. Sure they do. Consider Reddit's website (well, before the atrocious UX updates the past few months) vs. their mobile app. It work(s)/(ed) perfectly fine. There's literally no reason to use their native app (well, other than their ridiculous, atrocious, never-ending prompts on their mobile website to use their native app).

> well, other than their ridiculous, atrocious, never-ending prompts on their mobile website to use their native app

In your settings there's an option to tun this off (I agree, a truly terrible user-hostile default).

Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very, very sparing about installing apps. However, I'm even MORE cautious about browsing to websites, unless I can disable all client-side scripting. At least I can firewall apps to mitigate any abuse they may engage in. That's much harder to do with websites.

Sounds like a miserable way to browse the web. Why not just isolate your browsing in a VM and trash it when you’re done? I’m not security expert but seems to me if you clicked on something malicious, it costs you nothing as you’re not really exposing anything. Obviously don’t do your banking, etc on the same VM then go clicking around warez sites

It's not miserable at all -- in fact, I personally think that it makes most websites better. If a website can't operate without JS, then I just don't use that site. No loss to me.

VMs are another reasonable approach. I don't do that, though, because it's more hassle than it's worth to me.

> if you clicked on something malicious

That's not my primary concern. My primary concern is really to stop bad behavior that is very common across all websites (tracking, etc.)

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