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Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

andregarzia.com

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Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#881

Post by dmitriid »

jdauriemma wrote: post #860
dmitriid wrote: post #802

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter's "PWA" is crap. It has an unending stream of glaring UX/UI errors that only get worse over time. I'm just gonna link to a small subset of failures we've documented: https://www.google.se/search?q=twitter+site:grumpy.website

Why enclose PWA in quotes? Just curious. I use Twitter's PWA weekly on more than one platform and it works great for me, but that's just one person's opinion. I prefer it over their native clients for a lot of reasons, but the main value-add is that I don't have to give Twitter access to detailed information about my system while still using a full-featured, first-party client.

> Why enclose PWA in quotes?

It's twitter's mobile site that they extended to cover both desktop and PWA. As a result, it's quite bad on all fronts and judging by the number of bugs that are lingering with no fixes, abandoned. At least they managed to almost fix the epileptic scroll position [1]

> I don't have to give Twitter access to detailed information about my system while still using a full-featured, first-party client.

Yes, this is, without a doubt, the best value-proposition of PWAs.

[1] https://grumpy.website/post/0RQvmdNmN

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#882

Post by dzhiurgis »

enos_feedler wrote: post #813
dzhiurgis wrote: post #683

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook messenger is good use case for web app, but zuck want's to track you so you need to install app instead...

Try sending an AR video capture to someone over the web, lol

I'm sure there's more efficient ways to send text messages lol

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#883

Post by drkstr »

nikkwong wrote: post #533
pat2man wrote: post #362

Sounds like the solution is to add the app to your home screen. I don't think its reasonable for a browser to let any site I ever interact with to store data on my device indefinitely

It depends on the context.. For example, I use an invoicing web app that stores previously created invoices indefinitely in localStorage. This gives me the benefit of not having to manage login credentials and keeping everything client-side. It also gives the site's developers the benefit of not having to manage user accounts or server side state. Without being able to use localStorage as a long term store, I'll have…

Maybe it is because I can't seem to hold onto a device for more than a year or two before I lose it somewhere, but the idea of having all my important invoice data on a single device sounds scary to me. I would hope that localStorage is included in in iCloud backups.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#884

Post by drkstr »

alkonaut wrote: post #434

Did PWA's take off? What are some famous/big PWA's now? I can't remember ever "installing" anything in a browser as an app, or even being asked if I wanted to do it. Am I misunderstanding what they are?

DevDocs is great for offline documentation, and is entirely a PWA. You just preload the doc sets you're interested while online, and they will always be there for you when you need them. Automatic updates can be enabled for when you come back online.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#885

Post by dwaite »

Silhouette wrote: post #752
Razengan wrote: post #739

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's the whole idea behind having different devices and operating systems with different capabilities. Why should users suffer the lowest common denominator because of lazy developers?

The lowest common denominator is not having the application available on your platform at all.

I'd rather them not have the resources to get an app working on my platform, then have enough resources to _barely_ get an app working on my platform.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#886

Post by heavyset_go »

saagarjha wrote: post #873
heavyset_go wrote: post #872

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a good argument because I can find Bonzai Buddy-like apps on the Mac App Store, and they ban any GPL apps on their iPhone App Store.

GPL apps are not banned on the iPhone App Store.

Yes, they are[1]. The GPL is incompatible with the App Store terms and if Apple is aware that an app uses GPL software, they will reject or remove it from the App Store.

[1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/no-gpl-apps-for-apples-app-sto...

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#887

Post by saagarjha »

heavyset_go wrote: post #886
saagarjha wrote: post #873

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GPL apps are not banned on the iPhone App Store.

Yes, they are[1]. The GPL is incompatible with the App Store terms and if Apple is aware that an app uses GPL software, they will reject or remove it from the App Store. [1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/no-gpl-apps-for-apples-app-sto...

That link is from 2011, and the referenced verbiage is nowhere to be found in the App Store terms. I believe that the current terms leave the App Store open to GPL software. Also, Apple will only remove software if you notify them of copyright infringement; it's not their job to preemptively perform licensing enforcement.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#888

Post by saagarjha »

pier25 wrote: post #878
saagarjha wrote: post #804

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22681370

Hmm no mention about "regular websites" there...

I fail to see why you need to see a mention of "regular websites". The comment clarifies the situation of what occurs if a user goes on vacation or switches to another browser: nothing will be deleted, as Safari is not being used.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#889

Post by drkstr »

pier25 wrote: post #316
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> website.example will be marked for non-cookie website data deletion if the user is navigated from a domain classified with cross-site tracking capabilities to a final URL with a query string and/or a fragment identifier, such as website.example?clickID=0123456789. So my guess is you are fine most of the time, except if you allow other sites to embed your content in their page. In that case, you should: - provide th…

It's very confusing... I still don't understand if Safari will delete a JWT in localStorage used to talk to different microservices.

JWT tokens are irrevocable by design, or it would defeat the purpose. I would advise against issuing JWT token which are long-lived. Using "refresh tokens" are generally more prefered, as this gives an opportunity to revoke a stolen token in active use by the attacker. Even 7 days seems like an excessively large session time. That is 7 days a stolen token can be used to forge an authenticated session.

Re: Private client-side-only PWAs are hard, but now Apple made them impossible

#890

Post by heavyset_go »

saagarjha wrote: post #887
heavyset_go wrote: post #886

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they are[1]. The GPL is incompatible with the App Store terms and if Apple is aware that an app uses GPL software, they will reject or remove it from the App Store. [1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/no-gpl-apps-for-apples-app-sto...

That link is from 2011, and the referenced verbiage is nowhere to be found in the App Store terms. I believe that the current terms leave the App Store open to GPL software. Also, Apple will only remove software if you notify them of copyright infringement; it's not their job to preemptively perform licensing enforcement.

> I believe that the current terms leave the App Store open to GPL software

Please read the following:

https://github.com/nextcloud/ios/blob/master/COPYING.iOS

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12827624

https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/more-about-the-app-store...

> Also, Apple will only remove software if you notify them of copyright infringement; it's not their job to preemptively perform licensing enforcement.

Developers of GPL software have had different experiences with Apple than what you're asserting. There is a direct incentive for Apple to police licensing incompatibilities if they are profiting from illegal distribution of GPL software on their platform.

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