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Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

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Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#51

Post by mook »

endorphone wrote: post #32
diggan wrote: post #6

> this new API, we can say that it allows developers to offer interactive and dynamic content from their apps even if you haven’t installed them Also formerly known as Web Applications but now made by Apple with the added features of less control from the developers, a 30% mandatory fee if you accept any payments of any kind and locked to just one platform.

"with the added features of less control from the developers" Given that this is an additional option for developers, this is pretty tenuous logic. You seem to be arguing against developers having this option by claiming that it restricts their options. "and locked to just one platform" I'm fairly sure making one of these apps doesn't suddenly restrict every other option. You can make Android and Web Apps and J2EE (i…

> Full native apps are absolute svelte in comparison.

Unfortunately, going by current trends… it will be a full native app wrapping a browser containing a web page trying to look like native UI.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#52

Post by enos_feedler »

kllrnohj wrote: post #40
diggan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did you provide similar feedback when that was announced? I did not, as I'm a lot more bored at this point in time and also have a lot of more free time. But I do feel the same about both of the platforms movement towards "instant apps" that could have been equally solved by making web apps work better on respective platforms, instead of trying to solve the same problem again.

> But I do feel the same about both of the platforms movement towards "instant apps" that could have been equally solved by making web apps work better on respective platforms, instead of trying to solve the same problem again. The web ecosystem has been trying to solve this for almost a decade now and has made relatively little progress. There's no reason to believe Apple could suddenly solve it in a few months if t…

I think it's worth separating web components and shadow dom from asm.js. The former are trying to improve the browser and the later are taking browser open philosophy everywhere. Browsers have full support for WebAssembly and keep working on optimizations. It's also taking off outside the browser too (WASI, Cloudflare, etc). If WebAssembly succeeds it's precisely because innovations in the browser did not, and we had to break it open.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#53

Post by dahfizz »

diggan wrote: post #17
djrogers wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice snark, however web apps are still possible, and Android has a very similar feature (Instant - enabled by slices). Did you provide similar feedback when that was announced?

> Did you provide similar feedback when that was announced? I did not, as I'm a lot more bored at this point in time and also have a lot of more free time. But I do feel the same about both of the platforms movement towards "instant apps" that could have been equally solved by making web apps work better on respective platforms, instead of trying to solve the same problem again.

Web apps have always sucked and always will suck. With decades of development and thousands of frameworks, it still sucks.

Instant apps take the one advantage web apps have (you don't have to install them) and brings that to the native platform. I think that makes a ton of sense, vs "just fixing" something that people have been trying to fix for decades.

How often do you go to uber.com to call an uber? If you want to build a product people actually want to use, make it native.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#54

Post by thekyle »

netsharc wrote: post #48

I wonder if a phone OS will move to Google Stadia-esque offer: your device is just a remote viewer, everything including rendering the UI happens on their backend (Marketing has a field day touting Cloud-features), and is streamed to your device. Of course it'll be limited to places with high speed cellular Internet, but hey 15 years ago no one thought we'd be able to stream 3D games over the Internet..

This is similar to AWS Workspaces but for mobile. The biggest concern is obviously privacy and security.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#55

Post by esmi »

Wouldn’t it be more surprising if Apple wasn’t working on something like this? Even if it is true, basically it sounds like someone leaked out a test build of something. They’re probably prototypes for all kinds of crazy things, some good some bad, just like everywhere.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#56

Post by briandear »

diggan wrote: post #19
voz_ wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with your assessment. Web Applications involve running JS downloaded from a remote source. If this is closer to slices, as the article says (did you read it? assuming yes, as this is HN and not reddit), then it is very different. Web applications are not native UI, and often have far worse experience and clunky usage of things like cameras, peripherals, system audio, etc. Slices would ostensibly be native…

> Web Applications involve running JS downloaded from a remote source Any "instant apps" like this is gonna involve running code from remote sources. Then if the code is JS or Swift doesn't really matter. > Web applications are not native UI That's true. But that's up to the company deciding over the operating system and the browser in the end. Apple could have easily expose ways for web developers to write native UI…

> Apple could have easily expose ways for web developers to write native UIs in HTML, CSS and JS.

Easily?

As as far as running on one platform, I like native because my iPhone X Pro has a heck of a lot more capabilities than some generic back alley Shenzhen Android device. And multi platform necessarily requires developing for the lowest common denominator device.

And JavaScript isn’t the best language for everything, let’s stop pretending it is.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#57

Post by habosa »

Android has Instant Apps. Not sure how others feel but I hate it. Compared to a website it's slower to load, harder to share, and outside of my normal flow.

I guess it would be cool for a demo but I dunno. Also iOS apps are so large this won't be practical at all on cellular data.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#58

Post by zoom6628 »

MIUI has had this for a couple of years already. Leverages the Android feature for Google Play Instant as @esmi mentioned. I dont know how it works but effect appears to be a wrapper of sorts is setup for the app so the app itself does not get installed. Not all apps support this mode for reasons with which i am not familiar.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#59

Post by solarkraft »

This is going to be another Apple success story along the lines of: Yes, others have had this for years in theory, but nobody actually ever used it. Apple enter the market super late but instantly capture it fully because they're the only ones not monumentally sabotaging themselves.

Re: Apple is developing a feature for using apps without requiring full downloads

#60

Post by spike021 »

anfilt wrote: post #44

Sounds like a horrible idea. Why on earth would I want the act of scanning a QR code to start downloading & executing random code. Heck native code too since they say it's an app.

I doubt in practice it would be completely random. Most likely it would still need to be reviewed/verified by the App Store review board, and most likely it would still require asking for permissions just like any other app.
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