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

danq.me

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

#31

Post by mr_mitm »

datakan wrote: 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.

I'm currently attempting to write a calendar app for personal use, and I wanted to go the route of a self-host PWA. Notifications are a good point. How can I create notifications as a reminder before an event? Alerts are part of the icalendar standard ("VALARM"), so these are clearly notifications that are wanted by the user. Is that even possible for a PWA?

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

#33

Post by reddalo »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #25
billyp-rva wrote: post #18

> 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.

Apps took off because Apple did everything they could to make PWAs work badly, with no reliable notifications, no access to some data, etc.

Apple did that because they want their sweet 30% from in-app purchases, which they couldn't enforce in PWAs.

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

#34

Post by reddalo »

craftkiller wrote: post #27
smallpipe wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Desktop Chromium is Chrome. iOS Chrome is just Safari with a different interface.

Apple doesn't let other browsers use their own engine on iOS (unless you are located in the EU).

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

#35

Post by pluralmonad »

jorisw wrote: post #20
pluralmonad wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people deciding between delivering their payload via app or web page. Engagement hacking is not something we have to guess that ad companies want.

Ad companies now. Just one sentence earlier you said it's people 'delivering their payload'.

Yes, ad (supported) companies are a large subset of the former. I am not sure what point you are attempting to make.

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

#37

Post by CuriouslyC »

reddalo wrote: post #33
CuriouslyC wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Apps took off because Apple did everything they could to make PWAs work badly, with no reliable notifications, no access to some data, etc. Apple did that because they want their sweet 30% from in-app purchases, which they couldn't enforce in PWAs.

To be fair, apps took off before nice PWAs that masquerade as apps were a thing. The app store was already thriving to the point of oversaturation when the first versions of React were released.

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

#38

Post by reddalo »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #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)”

Luckily tools such as uBlock Origin let you block all those nasty scripts, _including_ the cookie banner themselves.

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

#39

Post by jorisw »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #25
billyp-rva wrote: post #18

> 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.

The App Store took off because of the distribution channel it offers for developers (including being able to charge for the work) and the place of discovery it offers to users.

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

#40

Post by jorisw »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #37
reddalo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apps took off because Apple did everything they could to make PWAs work badly, with no reliable notifications, no access to some data, etc. Apple did that because they want their sweet 30% from in-app purchases, which they couldn't enforce in PWAs.

To be fair, apps took off before nice PWAs that masquerade as apps were a thing. The app store was already thriving to the point of oversaturation when the first versions of React were released.

PWAs (progressive web apps) surely existed before React though
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