Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#51

Post by palsecam » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:06 AM UTC

jb1991 wrote: post #50

palsecam wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Safari (and Firefox) does not have https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/BeforeInsta... So you can’t have a custom button/way to prompt players to install. However, they can install a PWA manually, by themselves; there is the option somewhere in their browser menu.

That’s interesting, thanks. I just did it successfully, I don’t think I’ve ever installed an app like this before. So I guess when I click it it’s just opening a browser window with no actual browser controls and then loading the site?

Exactly.

“it’s just opening a browser window with no actual browser controls”: yes, due to the `display` setting in the app manifest: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Manifest/displa...

It’s similar to a `WebView` component: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebView

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#52

Post by jb1991 » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:08 AM UTC

palsecam wrote: post #24

https://FreeSolitaire.win is a successful PWA of mine. It’s a Klondike Solitaire game. It used to bring ~$500/mo of advertising revenue, but that’s significantly down these days: I refuse to have a cookie/consent banner, so I refuse customized ads (in the UE, in some US states now, &c.) Players do add it to homescreen. There is a non-intrusive button prompting them to do so, at the end of a game. People like to be ab…

I just discovered something interesting while playing your game: I’ve been playing solitaire incorrectly for my entire life, several decades! I thought maybe you had changed the rules but then I just looked up the rules and I see it’s I who have apparently been playing it incorrectly. When I was taught solitaire by my grandparents, instead of turning over one card when you are out of moves, you always turn over three cards. The only way to unlock those cards you passed over in dealing three instead of one is to play one of them which will change the sequence of every three cards the next time you move through that deck. This certainly makes the game harder to win.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#53

Post by hi-v-rocknroll » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:32 AM UTC

dualogy wrote: post #20

> had some success ($500 MRR) with shareware, 20 years ago Don't trigger my nostalgia! Fun times, been there done that 2005-2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080118184913/http://www.sudoku... — then sold it on to another "micro-ISV" (the popular term for indie software maker back then)

Don't copy that floppy! (Busts out greaseweazle and Central Point - Copy II PC Option Board Enhanced, and Nevrlock)

The 5.25" and 3.5" floppy disk shareware cardboard bins on tables at Weird Stuff.[0] This was the equivalent to [Download Demo] in the 90's, except they made you drive to a brick & mortar store and pay for privilege.

0. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/weirdstuff-warehouse

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#54

Post by arthurmorgan » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:35 AM UTC

cpcat wrote: post #46

vjeux wrote: post #12

excalidraw.com is a PWA, but not unsure how helpful it’s going to be as comparison. As mentioned in the comments, success is likely more due to the usefulness of the app rather than the tech used. vjeuxx@gmail.com if you wanna chat.

Unrelated, I'm interested in the tech behind it to build my own PWA. May I ask what tech stack you use. Sorry if it's obvious I'm just getting started

Not OP, but the source code can be found here: https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#55

Post by KingMob » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:45 AM UTC

JimDabell wrote: post #44

joshstrange wrote: post #26

Whenever this argument comes up it reminds me of how detached from reality HN is on this subject. Customers want apps. Companies want apps. No one except us nerds want PWAs. We can talk about how PWAs are second class citizens and how unfair that is or we can remember that end-users _do not care_ about the underlying technology. We constantly make this mistake, customer don’t care what language you are using, they do…

> Customers want apps. Companies want apps. No one except us nerds want PWAs. I used to work on a platform that offered native iOS apps, native Android apps, and PWA / web apps for all our customers. When users were given the choice, around two thirds opted for the native iOS app, about a quarter opted for the native Android app, and about 10% opted for the PWA / web app. That’s including desktop users, not just mobi…

More likely, users want something that works, is a good experience, and don't care about apps _per se_ at all.

If Apple wasn't hamstringing PWAs, they might be viable for more categories of software.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#56

Post by palsecam » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:48 AM UTC

jb1991 wrote: post #52

palsecam wrote: post #24

https://FreeSolitaire.win is a successful PWA of mine. It’s a Klondike Solitaire game. It used to bring ~$500/mo of advertising revenue, but that’s significantly down these days: I refuse to have a cookie/consent banner, so I refuse customized ads (in the UE, in some US states now, &c.) Players do add it to homescreen. There is a non-intrusive button prompting them to do so, at the end of a game. People like to be ab…

I just discovered something interesting while playing your game: I’ve been playing solitaire incorrectly for my entire life, several decades! I thought maybe you had changed the rules but then I just looked up the rules and I see it’s I who have apparently been playing it incorrectly. When I was taught solitaire by my grandparents, instead of turning over one card when you are out of moves, you always turn over three…

Oh, you can play in “draw 3 by 3” mode too: https://FreeSolitaire.win/turn-three ;-)

(You can also choose the mode in the New Game dialog.)

And yes, it’s indeed harder. The solving algorithm has a winning rate of 52% in “turn one” mode, but only 18% in “turn three”.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#57

Post by KingMob » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 9:49 AM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #26

Whenever this argument comes up it reminds me of how detached from reality HN is on this subject. Customers want apps. Companies want apps. No one except us nerds want PWAs. We can talk about how PWAs are second class citizens and how unfair that is or we can remember that end-users _do not care_ about the underlying technology. We constantly make this mistake, customer don’t care what language you are using, they do…

You talk a lot about what customers want, but they want apps only because Apple makes PWAs so unpleasant. There are some tech limitations (games might be tougher), but most of what makes PWAs suck is Apple.

In another timeline, Apple chose to double-down on PWAs instead of the App Store after the iphone 1, and PWAs are the majority of non-performance-sensitive smartphone applications.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#58

Post by iknowstuff » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 10:26 AM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #26

Whenever this argument comes up it reminds me of how detached from reality HN is on this subject. Customers want apps. Companies want apps. No one except us nerds want PWAs. We can talk about how PWAs are second class citizens and how unfair that is or we can remember that end-users _do not care_ about the underlying technology. We constantly make this mistake, customer don’t care what language you are using, they do…

Tell that to users of https://sniffies.com nsfw

Can’t have that on the app store.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#59

Post by JoeyJoJoJr » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 10:27 AM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #26

Whenever this argument comes up it reminds me of how detached from reality HN is on this subject. Customers want apps. Companies want apps. No one except us nerds want PWAs. We can talk about how PWAs are second class citizens and how unfair that is or we can remember that end-users _do not care_ about the underlying technology. We constantly make this mistake, customer don’t care what language you are using, they do…

Users also have their favourite messaging apps and services, completely oblivious to the fact that it’s actually completely stupid that there is basically no interoperability between these apps and services. Imagine if Yahoo mail could never send emails to Hotmail or Gmail.

People in the know rightfully care about the erosion of standards for which big tech have built their empires upon.

Re: Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

#60

Post by iknowstuff » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 10:31 AM UTC

https://sniffies.com is bar none the most successful PWA I’ve seen in the wild. Push notifications despite Apple’s nonsense and all. Impossible to have an equivalent on the app store. Nsfw.