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App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

rogueengine.io

231–240 of 384 posts

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#231
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason that Uber or Waymo needs to have an "app". Here’s one: I don’t give websites my location or the ability to interrupt me with notifications. Ever. I’ve blocked the browser from doing this entirely. I have Uber and Lyft apps installed and granted those permissions though.

You could give only them location access then they wouldn't be able to see what apps are installed, contacts and family photos or listen on the mic. You are afraid of a browser so you give system access?

What kind of phone are you running and how old is it? Apps don’t get any of that other information either unless you specifically approve it. If you want to give Uber just notifications and just location, you can do that.

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#233
post #231
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could give only them location access then they wouldn't be able to see what apps are installed, contacts and family photos or listen on the mic. You are afraid of a browser so you give system access?

What kind of phone are you running and how old is it? Apps don’t get any of that other information either unless you specifically approve it. If you want to give Uber just notifications and just location, you can do that.

And even then, it only gets location access while it's running (if that's the access that's set). And doesn't get to run in the background either (if you say it's not allowed to).

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually think of them as more than just an aesthetic preference. It is fundamentally about proof of work. Something that will become more and more important as we move into a post AI world. Every single piece of art, music, game or any other creative piece, has three things to it. One, the actual artifact itself of the music, the art and the game. Second is who is making it. And the third is how much have they put…

That's monopoly problem. Text retains quality, because it's more democratic, and AI can democratize visual art.

How does AI democratize visual art? Anyone can pick up a pen and draw. Affording all the expensive hardware to train AI, on the other hand, is limited to a much smaller group of people, unless there's something I'm missing?

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apps fingerprint you much, much better, and can access more data (despite what apple marketing says), your argument is moot.

What data can apps access without your explicit permission?

install tiktok (if you do not have it) and disable everything, no mic/camera/photos/contacts/… nothing. then ask you partner/friend/… to send you some text messages about purchasing an ebike for instance. open safari and do some searches for ebikes (https://blue.bike perhaps and others)… the head on over to tiktok and scroll a bit and see if any ebikes start showing up…

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What data can apps access without your explicit permission?

install tiktok (if you do not have it) and disable everything, no mic/camera/photos/contacts/… nothing. then ask you partner/friend/… to send you some text messages about purchasing an ebike for instance. open safari and do some searches for ebikes ( https://blue.bike perhaps and others)… the head on over to tiktok and scroll a bit and see if any ebikes start showing up…

a) There is no evidence that Apple is sharing messages with third parties.

b) You are simply confirming my point which is that when you visit a website it is able to tie you to an consistent identifier through the APIs your browser supports.

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What data can apps access without your explicit permission?

install tiktok (if you do not have it) and disable everything, no mic/camera/photos/contacts/… nothing. then ask you partner/friend/… to send you some text messages about purchasing an ebike for instance. open safari and do some searches for ebikes ( https://blue.bike perhaps and others)… the head on over to tiktok and scroll a bit and see if any ebikes start showing up…

So you think there a conspiracy and that TikTok for iOS has been able to break out of its sandbox and read your text messages?

This would have made news if so.

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#238

I man don't get me wrong, I love the idea of PWAs but this dude is out to lunch. It's so painful making anything complex work cross browser/cross platform. On iOS iirc they don't even support adding PWAs to the homescreen? You definitely can't Bluetooth outside of Chrome (probably only on Android and Windows too because nothing fun is ever allowed on Macs). Multiplayer games you kind of need UDP. You cannot UDP in th…

iPhones support PWAs on homescreen. However, there's no way to trigger the "install the PWA?" prompt. The user has to do it, which very few know about, and maybe that's what you were thinking of.

I haven't looked at this lately and so don't have a specific recommendation, but there are small libraries for helping iOS learn how to add PWAs using the standard Share → Add to Home Screen mechanism.

https://github.com/khmyznikov/pwa-install (Try on device: https://khmyznikov.com/pwa-install/)

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#239
post #231
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could give only them location access then they wouldn't be able to see what apps are installed, contacts and family photos or listen on the mic. You are afraid of a browser so you give system access?

What kind of phone are you running and how old is it? Apps don’t get any of that other information either unless you specifically approve it. If you want to give Uber just notifications and just location, you can do that.

"When it's running" also means when it runs in the background, and apps can wake themselves up any time they want when you allow them to send you notifications.

Re: App Should Have Been a Website (and Probably Your Game Too)

#240

I man don't get me wrong, I love the idea of PWAs but this dude is out to lunch. It's so painful making anything complex work cross browser/cross platform. On iOS iirc they don't even support adding PWAs to the homescreen? You definitely can't Bluetooth outside of Chrome (probably only on Android and Windows too because nothing fun is ever allowed on Macs). Multiplayer games you kind of need UDP. You cannot UDP in th…

I can't say about gaming, but a huge chunk of popular apps out there are PWAs with a native wrapper. If built well people aren't even going to notice.
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