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Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

danq.me

21–30 of 571 posts

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#21
> There only seem to be two things that this “app” does, that a webpage might not have, and they’re both anti-features:

> It reports tracking data associated with your Google Account back to the developers.

Fortunately webpages never do any tracking whatsoever, let alone “Gobshite LLC and its 1131 partners need your permission for (contd. p94)”

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#22
post #12
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They want apps so they could fingerprint your device, spy on you and get a lot more information than a web app.

Sure. They. They want. You know who they are, and what they want.

No need to play games and intentionally be obtuse all across the thread. "They" are the developers. A website has far less access to a device than an app and ads are easier to block. So they wrap anything into an app to gain that access and make ad money.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#23
post #5
post #4

We were supposed to be in the age of PWAs. That was the initial plan for iOS before the app store and 30% cuts on subscription apps. Most web apps suck too though so I guess pick your poison. My strong belief is they want apps because they can spam you with notifications to get your attention.

> My strong belief is they want apps because they can spam you with notifications to get your attention. I believe the same about the Youtube App, I just can't see why else it exists and I hate the video links try to open in the app if you're not careful!

Apps are also more difficult to intercept and modify on most devices. Companies like them because it means you can't use ad blockers or other privacy tools. It's also why they flip out so outrageously when Apple adds privacy tools at the operating system level, because tracking and abuse are most of the reason why apps are useful to them in the first place.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#24
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they want Who are 'they' and how do you know what they want

Why this gaslighting? obviously the massive companies with vested interest in monetizing your attention and data

Nice and vague. Hard to dispute.

Simple fact is that people love to project evil incentives onto entities they don't even bother defining.

Not every native app developer is a 'massive company' with a 'vested interest' (what does that even mean) in monetizing your attention and data.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#25

> I can’t understand how we got to this place with “app culture”! The short version: ad blockers work on browsers but not apps[0]. [0] https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle

I don't think that's it. Apps took off because people felt comfortable yoloing stuff from the Apple app store, and for a short while before saturation, the app store reach was making small developers rich.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#27
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My strong belief is they want apps because they can spam you with notifications to get your attention. I believe the same about the Youtube App, I just can't see why else it exists and I hate the video links try to open in the app if you're not careful!

Casting from the web doesn’t work (on iOS at least) but that’s all I can think of.

Chromecast from desktop chromium works, so there's no reason they couldn't make the universal turing machine in my pocket do the same.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#28
post #22
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. They. They want. You know who they are, and what they want.

No need to play games and intentionally be obtuse all across the thread. "They" are the developers. A website has far less access to a device than an app and ads are easier to block. So they wrap anything into an app to gain that access and make ad money.

What access?

Like the OS native APIs that offer the very utility for these apps to even exist?

Integration with OS features is what made the app ecosystem, because of utility. Project whatever conspiracy on that you want.

Re: Your 'app' could have been a webpage (so I fixed it for you)

#29

> I can’t understand how we got to this place with “app culture”! The short version: ad blockers work on browsers but not apps[0]. [0] https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle

Apple has actually started allowing this. You can find the functionality in an adblocker called Wipr now and it works really well.
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