Because of brainwashing and manipulation by big corporations which made people believe that native mobile apps are superior to web/browser based ones. The reason for this is that big companies didn't want to be sandboxed in a browser, they wanted full access of users devices, sensors and data. It's the same reason why software developers use paid enterprise subscription services instead of open source software. They…
Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
181–190 of 315 posts
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's right. Web standards are spearheaded by Google, while Apple's job is to make sure they don't work on iOS.
Tell me, why does Apple need to do exactly what Google does? I thought we liked different ideas and competition ‘round these parts?
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not have iphone either, but based on my observations many (most?) iphone owners have disabled safari location services from the os side, so you can't just allow them from the permission popup, but you need to go to the os settings and enable them for safari before you can bypass the permission popup. Again, I do not own an iphone, so not sure if it is exactly like this, but something like that needs to be done i…
I wish I could do that on macOS so I stop getting hit with pop ups in Safari asking me for my location. Homedepot.com is particularly annoying about this.
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#184No.
The App Store is like going to the dentist.
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#185Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#186When iPhone and Android hit the scene the 'rich' web experience was primarily flash, silverlight, and some java applets (taking their last breathe). Input APIs for touch, multitouch and gesture were a mess for many years in the browser. Media queries didn't become a w3c recommendation until 2012 so building a ux that looked pleasant really wasn't possible. The memory, cpu, GPU, storage and battery constraints were un…
Also, desktop browsers have been around for over 30 years, and hence the click, double click, scroll, and basic key shortcut metaphors have as well.
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#187Native phone apps are more invasive and can therefore be used for more extensive tracking and spying, which is good for ad revenue. Remember how all the largest spying products like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter, etc aggressively push you to install their phone apps even though they are (or were) perfectly usable through their mobile websites.
I think this claim is unfounded.
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#188When iPhone and Android hit the scene the 'rich' web experience was primarily flash, silverlight, and some java applets (taking their last breathe). Input APIs for touch, multitouch and gesture were a mess for many years in the browser. Media queries didn't become a w3c recommendation until 2012 so building a ux that looked pleasant really wasn't possible. The memory, cpu, GPU, storage and battery constraints were un…
Brands and vendors don't like the web because often they cannot 100% control what browsers do, and of course, a browser website cannot get access to the whole contact list, phone numbers and files on a phone device unlike a native app...
Installing an app via an appstore on mobile is low friction. Good luck getting someone to install your Windows or MacOS app on your desktop...
Even PWA that were all at rage a few years ago, called a replacement for native apps by the dev community, how many here have a single PWA installed on their desktop computer?
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really dislike the 'consumption device' label, to me it seems lazily dismissive and missing the point. Smartphones, like phones, are primarily communication devices and communication is an active process. Texting/chat, email, audio calls, Twitter, Slack, Teams, Reddit, facebook, Discord, snapchat, etc, etc are all interactive communications media people use to create content for as well as 'consume'. Yes of course…
Go to any commuter train on a Monday morning and look what every last one of those people seated in the car are doing. They're consuming, not interacting. It is not lazy nor is it dismissive to suggest smartphones are largely devices that inspire consumption. It's just a proper observation.
Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?
#190When iPhone and Android hit the scene the 'rich' web experience was primarily flash, silverlight, and some java applets (taking their last breathe). Input APIs for touch, multitouch and gesture were a mess for many years in the browser. Media queries didn't become a w3c recommendation until 2012 so building a ux that looked pleasant really wasn't possible. The memory, cpu, GPU, storage and battery constraints were un…
I would agree with you if not for the fact that a lot of these popular "native apps" are just webpages within a native wrapper, which kind of defeats your argument. Brands and vendors don't like the web because often they cannot 100% control what browsers do, and of course, a browser website cannot get access to the whole contact list, phone numbers and files on a phone device unlike a native app... Installing an app…
Agreed on the control- another thing to consider at least in this crowd is that Safari content filters (aka ad blockers) aren’t applied in apps.