Do not download the app, use the website • Hacker News Board

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#121

Post by xxr » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:11 AM UTC

ErrorNoBrain wrote: post #116

I prefer having as few apps as possible so using the web is my go-to i dont have reddit, on my phone for example. Also, all those app icons are just "advertisement" every time you look at your phone screen... i dont need that. if you REQUIRE me to use an app, then i'm only using it if i absolutely have to. (there's almost always an alternative)

>app icons are just "advertisement"

You wouldn't believe the volume of actual advertisements that show up as push notifications on my wife's phone

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#122

Post by guzik » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:12 AM UTC

just 1hr ago (1 AM local time) I saw 'your app is live on app store' notification on my phone and eagerly launched it... only to have it crash instantly. After a debug session I discovered an obscure bug in tflite library that only shows up in release builds. 20 minutes ago I pushed a hotfix with an expedited App Review request, hoping to spare as many users as possible from that crash. I can't wrap my head around how the appstore review missed it, especially after rejecting our last build 4 times over a barely legible location-permission alert description.

That said, I built my first mobile app 15 years ago, and to this day, building for mobile remains the most frustrating part of my programming life.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#123

Post by redbell » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:12 AM UTC

> If you've ever opened Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or practically any popular service on your phone's web browser, you've likely encountered it.

Another website that asks to Get The App is https://imgur.com/ , every time you open a link to just view that image you instantly got asked to Get The App. It's really annoying!

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#124

Post by tootie » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:14 AM UTC

markbao wrote: post #7

Don’t agree, but to each their own. The native app experience for every app noted in the article is better and smoother than the mobile web version, in my opinion. Lots of people hate Electron apps, which suggests to me that my preference for native apps isn’t unique. Web apps can ask for your location or microphone the same way native apps can. Just reject it, there’s nothing that says you have to accept on either p…

Honestly haven't noticed this. What I have noticed is that few if any apps implement a "find text on this page" which I use constantly in browser.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#125

Post by SapporoChris » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:14 AM UTC

pixl97 wrote: post #76

VoidWarranty wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason I believe the web experience is inferior is because companies put more resources into apps at the expense of the web. Apps break often. They need a lot of support. Everything must be constantly updated. You never know when Samsung or Apple will push an update that breaks things because of some esoteric policy shift or setting change. But the web? If you do it right, maintenence is much easier. If things do…

>But the web? If you do it right, maintenence is much easier Eh, I'll argue this isn't as true as you think. Browsers are constantly updated these days and have their own fun things that break or mess with experiences. But that's not the biggest issue with browsers, at least on the PC, it's that the average user seems completely incapable of keeping mal/adware off their device. For those users the app world is an esc…

https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/malware-adware/more-than...

That link was posted two days ago, but it's not unusual news. Phone apps are not an escape from mal/adware.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#126

Post by frollogaston » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:15 AM UTC

redbell wrote: post #123

> If you've ever opened Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or practically any popular service on your phone's web browser, you've likely encountered it. Another website that asks to Get The App is https://imgur.com/ , every time you open a link to just view that image you instantly got asked to Get The App. It's really annoying!

Also uhh the default search engine in mobile Safari. Just Google searching gives you a half-page notice to install the app. If you have the app, it's a half-page notice to use the app. And guess what's inside the app, a website.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#127

Post by Beijinger » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:16 AM UTC

RajT88 wrote: post #111

Beijinger wrote: post #88

Reddit tries very hard to make you move to their app.

Facebook as well. They responded to the criticism of people leaving their platform because the feed was all garbage and no friend updates by making a friends only feed feature you could only enable in the app.

If you use Facebook in a browser, install the social fixer plug in and put this into the hide options:

follow

Reels

People you may know

join

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#128

Post by Mengkudulangsat » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:16 AM UTC

xxr wrote: post #121

ErrorNoBrain wrote: post #116

I prefer having as few apps as possible so using the web is my go-to i dont have reddit, on my phone for example. Also, all those app icons are just "advertisement" every time you look at your phone screen... i dont need that. if you REQUIRE me to use an app, then i'm only using it if i absolutely have to. (there's almost always an alternative)

>app icons are just "advertisement" You wouldn't believe the volume of actual advertisements that show up as push notifications on my wife's phone

These are so infuriating they should be illegal.

Especially when they come from apps you can't delete like your bannking app.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#129

Post by Beijinger » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:16 AM UTC

catlifeonmars wrote: post #103

Beijinger wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing beats a hardware token. I would also use Yubikey for banking, but I am scared as f. what happens if I lose it while traveling abroad.

I think it should be standard to allow registering multiple tokens, which would be equivalent to a backup for your purposes.

You can copy this if you buy two. You would have to store one somewhere, where it can be fedexed to you.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#130

Post by crimsontech » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:17 AM UTC

frizlab wrote: post #77

gxs wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot data collection I think if people realized how much data they can get from your iPhone with simple permissions like WiFi they’d think twice about giving so many apps access

This is getting less and less true though. Also WiFi permission is not a thing on iOS.

These apps were recently found to be collectind a huge amount of personal browsing data from the device, regardless of whether private browser mode was used or permission settings.

https://localmess.github.io/

This technique was discovered, makes me wonder how many undiscovered techniques are still in use.