Live data from Hacker News

“It works better in the app”

shkspr.mobi

191–200 of 496 posts

Re: “It works better in the app”

#191

It's almost impossible to use social networks on mobile without installing their apps

It's impossible for me to use YouTube with the app. Safari + uBlock origin lite and I never see an ad.

DuckDuckGo app and "Duck Player" deletes the ads.

Yes we're solving an app problem with another app, but just highlighting that is a solution for the ads.

Re: “It works better in the app”

#192
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "do something that can be done in a web app" I'll bite. What important features can only be done in an "app" but not a web app nowadays?

A ton of features work only or better on app: - anything privacy sensitive - anything processing intense (using optimized binaries) - widgets - camera and audio based features *can* work, but are more finicky (or outright broken on ios) - local storage (exists in web app, short lifetimes on web site) - performance/latency sensitive work - (I'm less familiar, but probably local sensors, like gps and acceleration)

anything privacy sensitive

You've got that backwards. Web is more private than an app.

Every regulated healthcare company has a web site. None require an "app."

Re: “It works better in the app”

#193
If the barrier to entry is "own a smartphone", there will inevitably be people who will be excluded. Lots of fantastic reasons to unplug in 2026, year of our plague. Even if you don't go so far, conservative allowances for data collection are one of the few digital freedoms left.

Re: “It works better in the app”

#194

In Google's defense, they weren't the ones that championed the "everything must be an app" movement. My memory of the 2010s is that Google (and while they were relevant, Palm) pushed cross-platform web apps, but Apple ran a successful marketing campaign to convince everyone that everything on mobile must be a native app for reasons[1]. So we end up with a walled garden of native apps that must be approved by and pay…

In fairness though, I think its pretty clear that mobile is the future. Something like 40% of Gen Z only access things by mobile. (Source: https://www.emarketer.com/content/search-behavior-being-rede... ) So in the future, when you have those three versions you need to build, its starting to make sense to have the mobile version be the full functionality version. Although, I guess it would be crazy to go to a link on…

The article you linked is about social media as the proxy for information discovery as opposed to search.

> …clear that mobile is the future…

And also, "mobile" is tangential to "app" vs "website".

Re: “It works better in the app”

#195
One thing that annoys me to no end is when a mobile app can't even load without an internet connection. There's a plague of apps that are thin veneers over a web view. I get that this is easier to deploy and manage, but I find it a really poor experience compared to a well-designed mobile app.

Re: “It works better in the app”

#196

In Google's defense, they weren't the ones that championed the "everything must be an app" movement. My memory of the 2010s is that Google (and while they were relevant, Palm) pushed cross-platform web apps, but Apple ran a successful marketing campaign to convince everyone that everything on mobile must be a native app for reasons[1]. So we end up with a walled garden of native apps that must be approved by and pay…

Even Apple, before caving in, didn't want apps. On the original iPhone there was no SDK, Jobs' "sweet solution" to expanding functionality was web apps pinned to the home screen.

Everyone complained, loudly, and they caved in and launched the app store.

Re: “It works better in the app”

#197

This is a constant argument i have with by business partner. He's always asking me "when are we making an app for our " and I always reply back: "We already have an app! It's just a PWA" PWA's are freaking awesome for both users and developers. Users don't have to install a massive app and me as a developer can focus on making one platform better rather than 3. And they are pretty freaking powerful in what you can do…

Imo, you already lost the argument when you have to explain that PWA is the "app". For most users, app is something they install from App Store or Google Play. I get the point of view from developers point of view, but unless the majority of the users are technical people, there's no reason to use PWA these days.

The problem is if we dont have it available, we can't get the users to use it even if we wanted to. <

Re: “It works better in the app”

#198
post #166
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that Apple has been awful here. But there are countries deeply dominated by Android that still heavily use apps when they could be using PWAs. I don’t mean to let Apple off the hook but I also don’t think they’re the only ones to blame.

Again, this is Apple's work. Developers don't make good web apps when they cant work on iOS. https://infrequently.org/series/browser-choice-must-matter/

[dead]

Re: “It works better in the app”

#199
post #68

It's almost impossible to use social networks on mobile without installing their apps

When I rejoined X at the start of this year I consciously decided not to install the app on my phone . It's addicting enough in the web browser on my laptop. So I have zero social media networks on my phone and, looking at everyone around me who does, I'm very pleased with this decision.

The X PWA is very good on both desktop and mobile. I prefer it to the Android app.

Re: “It works better in the app”

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your app is just a webpage that forces me to use an app just so you can spy on me I just won't use your product. I've switched brokers over it, I swapped banks, I stopped shopping at certain stores. I'm done. The only say I have is in how I spend my money. Those companies won't get any of mine if I can help it. I am the customer, not the product dammit.

Twitter is the worst. You go to a page and scroll down and it banners a beater in the app thing and you can’t dismiss it. You either get the app or close the tab. Close the tab.

Who on earth is still using Xitter, and what for?
Post reply on HN