In iOS 6 there is a way to open your native app with the same content as the current webpage.
https://developer.apple.com/library/safari/#documentation/Ap...
Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
11–20 of 34 posts
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#12>My proposal would be to let mobile browsers download small apps and execute them within the browser window
Is this a sick joke? Besides the fact that the browser can trivially redirect to the exact app in the app store, I'm already annoyed that ABC wants me to download their god damn app everytime I accidentally click on one of their articles on Google News.
Not only that, but if the user has the app installed they're already prompted to open the same content with the app instead of the browser if they want.
This problem is already solved. This is very, very common in Android apps and I understand it is a new feature in iOS6 as well.
I guess if this is absolutely necessary, the browser could output a new header for domains that are declared in the .ipa/.apk that would notify the server that they have the app installed... and then they could force the app to open with a regular redirect. But that still majorly SUCKS to users who already have that choice anyway. If anything this gives the publisher more control of forcing me to use their app which I absolutely do not want.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#13Take a look at open web apps / chrome apps / phonegap / the Firefox OS project (I work on the latter). The line between apps and websites is getting thinner by the day, and getting very close to being non existent.
Also the 'apps are an island' comment is quite specific to iOS, Android has a very elegant system for allowing apps to interact with each other, one which the web is adopting (web intents/activities).
The basic premise is the wrong way round, web apps will adopt native functionality (web api's) and native performance (which already good enough for most use cases), they will (and can often already do) work offline.
'Native' apps are almost by definition going to have to be rewritten for every platform and will never have the same introspection and interconnectedness as the web.
Which platform do you think is going to fix its disadvantages first? seems obvious to me.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#14The proper solution to this problem is for content providers to build a properly responsive site. Allowing apps to access browser cookies isn't going to fix anything - the reason that a native app doesn't open to the place you left off on the web is not because it's technically impossible, it's because app developers don't give a damn. Giving them more tools isn't going to change this.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#15The proper solution to this problem is for content providers to build a properly responsive site. Allowing apps to access browser cookies isn't going to fix anything - the reason that a native app doesn't open to the place you left off on the web is not because it's technically impossible, it's because app developers don't give a damn. Giving them more tools isn't going to change this.
Allowing apps to access browser cookies is a solution to the problem that apps and websites are disconnected and don't know about each other's state. That's a different aspect than the one you're talking about.
Yes, you can build responsive sites, but what you can do in the browser is limited, especially when it comes to flaky connections that are still very typical. To take the example in the post a little bit further: Imagine you're on the train and are reading a multi-page New York Times article. Train goes into a tunnel. Trying to load the next page will result in a connection error. Native apps can know about your network state and can pre-cache content you're about to read next.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#16Take a look at open web apps / chrome apps / phonegap / the Firefox OS project (I work on the latter). The line between apps and websites is getting thinner by the day, and getting very close to being non existent. Also the 'apps are an island' comment is quite specific to iOS, Android has a very elegant system for allowing apps to interact with each other, one which the web is adopting (web intents/activities). The…
Both iOS and Android allow apps interacting with each other. iOS has URL schemes, Android has Intents which are obviously far more elegant. There are tricks you can play to have apps intercept web page visits on Android [1], but other than that, web apps are disconnected from native apps.
[1] Intent Filters: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Inten...
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#17The proper solution to this problem is for content providers to build a properly responsive site. Allowing apps to access browser cookies isn't going to fix anything - the reason that a native app doesn't open to the place you left off on the web is not because it's technically impossible, it's because app developers don't give a damn. Giving them more tools isn't going to change this.
Allowing apps to access browser cookies is a solution to the problem that apps and websites are disconnected and don't know about each other's state. That's a different aspect than the one you're talking about. Yes, you can build responsive sites, but what you can do in the browser is limited, especially when it comes to flaky connections that are still very typical. To take the example in the post a little bit furth…
web apps can know about your network state and can pre-cache content you're about to read next. (http://www.html5rocks.com/en/mobile/workingoffthegrid/)
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#18>My proposal would be to let mobile browsers download small apps and execute them within the browser window Is this a sick joke? Besides the fact that the browser can trivially redirect to the exact app in the app store, I'm already annoyed that ABC wants me to download their god damn app everytime I accidentally click on one of their articles on Google News. Not only that, but if the user has the app installed they'…
Most publishers that have terrible apps also have terrible sites. Apps that get very little usage today are hardly going to get better if users don't start using them. Building an easier onramp for apps is going to increase app usage and cause publishers to build better apps.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#19Automatically downloading and executing binary code from the web. What could possibly go wrong? Isn't NaCL supposed to in part solve this?
Take out that automatic nonsense and I think he makes a good proposal. A URL can currently load a local app rather than a page in webkit. Only in this case, there would be some markup that would tell the browser to check for the installed app, perhaps the browser would present some unobtrusive indicator that a hybrid app was available to download. Just keep the address bar and the rest of the browser chrome there, sw…
Thanks for seeing the value in my (somewhat avantgarde) argument.
I'd be happy with the app availability indicator as well. The native app would still remain within the confines of the browser, so that you could easily navigate away. People don't install apps today because it takes time to download them, and the browsing experience is interrupted by switching to a different app.
Re: Beyond App Stores: Weaving Apps into the Web
#20In iOS 6 there is a way to open your native app with the same content as the current webpage. https://developer.apple.com/library/safari/#documentation/Ap...
Yes you can, but that opens a different app and takes you away from Safari and its browsing history.