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I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

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Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#161

Post by empyrrhicist »

tannedNerd wrote: post #53
empyrrhicist wrote: post #35

If a website disrespects "request desktop site" and still tries to force you into an app... ugh. Had this happen yesterday when someone sent me a link to something on AllTrails. If the service was good and the website was usable, I might have even considered getting the app for offline features. Not anymore - screw companies that do this.

Why though? If only 1% of your user base is accessing your maps through the website, you aren’t going to keep supporting it.

I described my own attitude, obviously companies are going to do what they want.

In this case, AllTrails has a perfectly functional website which they allow users to access from computer web browsers, but they force mobile phones (even when in "request desktop site" mode) to redirect to the app. If a site breaks in that mode it's on the user - I'm specifically requesting to get access to something they already provide and being denied.

This is especially egregious given how many "apps" are just websites in a wrapper anyway.

I think that sucks, and I'm entitled to my opinion. Now get off my lawn.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#162

Post by choward »

I'm not going to download an app for every company I do business with. It's as simple as that.

I'm not going to download an app to order food from your restaurant. I'm not going to download an app to operate an appliance. I'm not going to download an app to get a discount on a beverage at your convenience store.

I don't care about your stupid rewards system for trying to get a reasonable price on overpriced items. I'm not downloading an app for it.

There are many people who download every app they do business with without hesitation. It's crazy. I can't imagine how many apps these people have on their phones.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#164

Post by KellyCriterion »

nkrisc wrote: post #131
KellyCriterion wrote: post #49

What most people dont get: Most of folks on HN here are much older than todays "first customers" of 16y/17/18 For them: The "Smartphone is the internet", while for most of us the "Smartphone is an extension of the internet from our desktops" that we were used to (remember the years before dot com bubble, saying: "I will be down in the basement at the computer to surf on the net little bit" ? :-) But today, the very f…

> But today, the very first touchpoint with "the internet" for younger folks is a smartphone display. The even do homework on this small screens! I saw a tweet recently that perfectly encapsulates this: for most people over 30, certain things are "big screen tasks". I use my phone for a lot, but for some things I put the phone down and use my computer instead. I am most comfortable using a large screen and a keyboard…

> For example, I read your comment on my phone and went to my computer to type this reply.

Thanks for the honor! :)

Sometimes I even copy links from here and send them by mail to myself so I can reply later - maybe Im getting tooo old? :-D (on the iPhone I would store it in a simple textnote)

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#165

Post by wisemanwillhear »

prosaic-hacker wrote: post #121

I will cast my vote for mobile websites over apps on phones. For personal choice reasons I have always had a "budget" phone with less memory and storage (and less cost) than a flagship phone. I also kept them running for years. At the end of the cycle I can barely run the base phone let alone the menagerie of apps the world would like me to run. I have opted out of app only service such as a Loyalty programs that for…

I decided to operate on a older budget phone for a while when my phone died outside of my planned budget and timeline for replacing it. By far the greatest problem was managing storage space. Except for core productivity apps, if a website option wasn't offered I was never going to be one of their users.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#168

Post by neutronicus »

dariosalvi78 wrote: post #148
karimf wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I posted this on my other comment, but there's a meme that "Gen Z Kids Don't Understand How File Systems Work" [0]. There seems to be a disconnect between some developers and the younger folks. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30253526

not even the older generations. My parents save files on the Whatsapp chat, and my father is one who bought the first IBM PC when it came out, so someone who has touched these things for decades (tho very superficially). I think that the software industry, especially operating systems, have completely failed to provide a balanced product between the overly bloated and messed up (Windows), the overly complicated (Linu…

> My parents save files on the Whatsapp chat

That's becoming dangerously true of my wife and I as well, to be honest.

The friction is just so much lower than Google Drive or whatever. As long as I handle it right away. It's just finding something from more than an hour ago that's intolerable.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#169

Post by KellyCriterion »

btilly wrote: post #130
karimf wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I posted this on my other comment, but there's a meme that "Gen Z Kids Don't Understand How File Systems Work" [0]. There seems to be a disconnect between some developers and the younger folks. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30253526

That's not new. I read a UI book in the early 2000s that cited research showing that most users didn't understand filesystems. They would seem to, but then the idea that the same filename in two places was two unrelated files would just lead to a mental block. Those who got it, didn't find it hard. It's just that some people can't get it. The disconnect is not between some developers, and the younger folks. It is bet…

> two unrelated files would just lead to a mental block

Because in the analog world, each "document has usually a single/unique headline" and file names are often perceived as some type of unique identifier as well, Id guess?

> It is between some developers, and most of the world.

sigh

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#170

Post by kaladin-jasnah »

nkrisc wrote: post #131
KellyCriterion wrote: post #49

What most people dont get: Most of folks on HN here are much older than todays "first customers" of 16y/17/18 For them: The "Smartphone is the internet", while for most of us the "Smartphone is an extension of the internet from our desktops" that we were used to (remember the years before dot com bubble, saying: "I will be down in the basement at the computer to surf on the net little bit" ? :-) But today, the very f…

> But today, the very first touchpoint with "the internet" for younger folks is a smartphone display. The even do homework on this small screens! I saw a tweet recently that perfectly encapsulates this: for most people over 30, certain things are "big screen tasks". I use my phone for a lot, but for some things I put the phone down and use my computer instead. I am most comfortable using a large screen and a keyboard…

> I personally find the idea of doing homework on my phone horrifying but I suppose kids today are either used to it and comfortable with it, or they've simply never used a computer and don't know what they're missing. Though I'd wager they probably aren't comfortable typing on a keyboard.

For college aged kids, most people are definitely not doing their homework on their phone. Many are still using paper and pencil. The one person I know who did do their homework on their phone tried to evangelize it to their friends and got ridiculed for it.

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