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Ask HN: Who has had a successful PWA product?

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

#121

Post by iknowstuff »

joshstrange wrote: post #70
iknowstuff wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell that to users of https://sniffies.com nsfw Can’t have that on the app store.

That’s not a good example, I’ll bet 99% of users of that website couldn’t tell you it’s a PWA or what a PWA is. All they know is that the only way to get this “app” is add it to the home screen and if it was allowed in the App Store they’d all get it from there instead. That’s not customers choosing PWA over native, it’s customers forced to use PWA since native isn’t an option.

Yeah, we don’t disagree on that. It just seems that for end users prudish app stores are the only option for procuring apps.

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

#122

Post by nathancoleman »

As someone who started investing in PWAs earlier this year after jumping through Apple and Google’s hoops for years, I’d highly recommend progressier.com for making a PWA with an install experience that makes sense to less technical users. This was far and away the biggest hurdle for me. Haven’t had a single person confused since integrating Progressier.

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

#123

Post by JoshTriplett »

pflenker wrote: post #18
JoshTriplett wrote: post #9

What do you want to do with a PWA that you can't do with a webpage? If at all possible, try to use a webpage instead, to avoid the myriad problems and quirks that arise with PWAs. Only resort to a PWA if you need capabilities that you can't get as a webpage.

Push notifications, for starters. But the more compelling argument is that from the user’s point of view, an app is something else than a web page. Even the most basic feature - being represented at the Home Screen on the device - makes a huge difference.

I'm aware of the differences; I was encouraging the OP to consider whether those differences are worth the increased pain that comes with PWAs, particularly on Apple platforms.

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

#125

Post by DylanSp »

throwaway9143 wrote: post #3

I'll give you a hard-earned tip: expect to fight Apple every step of the way. They will randomly erase all local data (cookies, localstorage, push subscription tokens, etc) in your PWA without warning. They say they don't do this, but I have the receipts. They want PWAs to suffer, and you will go insane trying to make workarounds on iPhone.

Does Safari on iOS support the File System API, specifically the origin private file system? Can you use that to reliably persist data into a file/SQLite database?

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

#126

Post by ttymck »

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…

Your buy a coffee link was not clickable on Firefox Android

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

#127

Post by mvdtnz »

throwaway9143 wrote: post #3

I'll give you a hard-earned tip: expect to fight Apple every step of the way. They will randomly erase all local data (cookies, localstorage, push subscription tokens, etc) in your PWA without warning. They say they don't do this, but I have the receipts. They want PWAs to suffer, and you will go insane trying to make workarounds on iPhone.

Just refuse to service Apple customers. They can lie in the bed they've made.

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

#128

Post by mvdtnz »

jmb99 wrote: post #110
Turing_Machine wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is requiring the user to open a completely different application a better "user experience" than installing it from the web page they're already on? Yes, I know that installing a PWA is confusing (especially on Apple's systems), but there no reason it has to be that way. PWA (if it were implemented properly): "Click here to install app". Click. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. App opens in the same window .…

> PWA (if it were implemented properly): "Click here to install app". Click. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. App opens in the same window. > App store: "Click here to install app". Click. An entirely different application opens. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. You open it, but now you're in a different context. You’re unfortunately oversimplifying the PWA installation. Say a user has heard of a new serv…

This is an idiotic way of breaking it down. How does the user even know Florb exists? They're already on the web at this stage. You're also being totally disingenuous with your break down. Why does the user have to "hunt and scroll" for the app on the PWA side but not the app store? Go ahead, search for "fastmail" on your Android app store and tell me what the first and most prominent result is.

And when I click "add to home" in my browser's menu I don't need to name the app. The app has a name. What are you talking about?

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

#129

Post by Turing_Machine »

jmb99 wrote: post #110
Turing_Machine wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is requiring the user to open a completely different application a better "user experience" than installing it from the web page they're already on? Yes, I know that installing a PWA is confusing (especially on Apple's systems), but there no reason it has to be that way. PWA (if it were implemented properly): "Click here to install app". Click. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. App opens in the same window .…

> PWA (if it were implemented properly): "Click here to install app". Click. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. App opens in the same window. > App store: "Click here to install app". Click. An entirely different application opens. Confirmation dialog. App is installed. You open it, but now you're in a different context. You’re unfortunately oversimplifying the PWA installation. Say a user has heard of a new serv…

> 4. Tap “share”

> 5. Hunt and scroll for “Add to Home Screen”

> 6. Tap “Add to Home Screen”

>7. Give the app a name

> 8. Tap Add

None of this is essential except maybe 8.

That is why I said "if implemented properly". In specific,

> Yes, I know that installing a PWA is confusing (especially on Apple's systems), but there no reason it has to be that way.

> PWA (if it were implemented properly):...

You're also pretending there aren't a bunch of junk/garbage/spam/ripped off apps in the App Store with names similar to the real app.

I assure you that is not the case.

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

#130

Post by cyanydeez »

metadat wrote: post #104
throwaway9143 wrote: post #3

I'll give you a hard-earned tip: expect to fight Apple every step of the way. They will randomly erase all local data (cookies, localstorage, push subscription tokens, etc) in your PWA without warning. They say they don't do this, but I have the receipts. They want PWAs to suffer, and you will go insane trying to make workarounds on iPhone.

Are you saying the Safari browser on iOS intentionally cripples web applications by randomly erasing / deleting browser data (cookies, localStorage, etc)? And this happens on purpose because apple wants to boost App Store Apps usage? If there is evidence of the veracity of this claim, this topic deserves a whole lot more attention. Especially considering Apple's stance on 3rd party mobile web browser engines - Apple…

When do legit bugs turn into active negligence?
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