Most recent offender: Quora.
Quora has refused to allow casual viewers for some time now. I've removed them from my search results and my online experience is better for it.
No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
31–40 of 222 posts
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#32Download Atomic Web Browser for iOS. In the settings, select Identify browser as... choose Firefox. Changes your User-Agent. Problems solved.
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#33It's a strategy to dismantle the Web, which had the "disadvantage" of being simultaneously free and a level playing field, and replacing it with a loose network of fiefdoms, each a walled garden (a term often used to describe Apple in its entirety). Most of these apps are advertising delivery mechanisms masquerading as utilities. Another role they have is to prevent copying of content or links from one fiefdom to ano…
> Another role they have is to prevent copying of content or links from one fiefdom to another. I have a hard time believing that considering the prevalence of the "share" button in apps. There is certainly a "walled garden" problem on iOS, with all the jailbroken nonsense linked to it, but on Android (don't know about MS phones) I can run whatever I want. The app store is just curation, not limitating. Granted there…
>> Another role they have is to prevent copying of content or links from one fiefdom to another.
> I have a hard time believing that considering the prevalence of the "share" button in apps.
But a "share" button in a dedicated app isn't remotely a hyperlink. A hyperlink only tells the reader about the destination, but a "share" button also tells the recipient about the source.
>> I think this idea works best with relatively young people who don't clearly understand what they're giving up when they download a proprietary app in order to read what should be a public document.
> Could you cite an example where this is really true?
Sure -- paywalls are a classic example. As soon as we accept paywalls and read articles behind paywalls, we can't share content any more. These dedicated apps are like paywalls taken to the next level.
But young, inexperienced people often don't see the problem with paywalls when compared to a public forum. The same logic applies to these dedicated apps -- they make it harder to share information. Their existence only serves the interests of the companies that create them.
> I'm just wondering what app locks out what would in another world be completely open info.
A browser gives you access to all content. A dedicated app only gives you access to that fiefdom's content. So such an app is not open in the way that a browser is, and you're limited to that app's purview.
Consider a cell phone as an more extreme example. It's a way to take conversation and make it into a product. A cell phone is sort of like one of these dedicated apps, in the sense that you can't freely move between fiefdoms -- and if you try, you have to pay "roaming charges".
The global issue is the commoditization of information -- turning information into property, into a commodity. The idea is to take a public forum like the Web, privatize it, and sell it back to what are now captive information consumers.
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is at stake? It's not exactly a step into the future but it's not really a step back either, when you consider apps that access phone capabilities (notifications, for example). For me there's also this notion of apps being registered on my phone for specific actions (want to share a photo? Use the facebook app). There are also places where I don't have net access, so having o…
There's nothing preventing the implementation of sharing via a website (or posting to a URL) instead of an app. There's nothing preventing standard interactions with your phone to be delivered by checking an API instead of requiring an app. You can still use many websites in offline mode. They are right, pushing for apps can a way to silo data and prevent you from using your phone as a general purpose device. How can…
> prevent you from using your phone as a general purpose
> device
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of those tablet apps suck, because the priorities driving them aren't the readers . This means that they'll either lose in the long run, or adapt to serve reader's needs.
I see your point, but if this were true, then cell phone service (another walled garden of separate fiefdoms) would gradually get better instead of worse. But it's getting worse.
Huh? As far as I can tell, cell phone service is getting better at a good clip. Were you routinely getting 10-20 Mbps of bandwidth three years ago? I wasn't.
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#36I absolutely agree with this, I recently removed a bunch of news apps from my phone because I found myself using the browser to read news websites even when I had their app already installed. One of the few advantages of a news app is the occasional notification and even then most the time they are implemented in an annoying fashion. It'd be nice if there was a standard that allowed users to subscribe to push notific…
> It'd be nice if there was a standard that allowed users to subscribe to push notifications directly from websites without having to install an app.
Is using a single RSS app for all content feeds not sufficient?
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Sorry, but I see way way way less ads in apps than on the web. Yes, because these "walled-garden" apps are just being introduced, and they want to be on their best behavior for the moment. Sort of like a drug dealer, who gives the addict his first hit free. Also, I think you meant to say "fewer ads", not "less ads": http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/less-or-fewer
How about adds taking less space?
> How about adds taking less space?
Or fewer ads requiring less space.
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#38I find the default iOS popup advertising an app the worst part, by large the app offers extra functionality over the web. the popup disrupts the experience and I also have the same feelings of rage on random site for some random stupid bullshit app.
The compass in the iPhone for example, does device allow a web server query the phones heading through browser? Offline modes and caching are features not really possible with the browser.
As for the giving something up, open public web access to proprietary apps, this is very true. I don't see big content moving away from the web though, the app ecosystem seems to compliment it.
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#39> Be told you aren’t allowed to read the website. Is this true? I've never seen that. Many times the app is heavily suggested, but I've never been locked out of the regular website just because I'm on mobile. I also believe Mobile Chrome lets you fake a desktop user agent so there's no way for a website to lock out a mobile user. That said, I totally agree with the OP, these "content apps" are ridiculous and very ann…
Quora does exactly that, or at least it did on 14.1.2013 (dd-mm-yyyy) https://plus.google.com/106938703242944328523/posts/4CopSTtW...
I just tested this in Chrome on Android and it's not true; I'm able to browse Quora all I want without downloading any app (although there is a prominent button that says "View in Quora App").
To be really sure I also tested it in Safari on iOS and the experience is the same.
I can post pictures if you don't believe me! ;-)
Re: No, I'm not going to download your bullshit app
#40I absolutely agree with this, I recently removed a bunch of news apps from my phone because I found myself using the browser to read news websites even when I had their app already installed. One of the few advantages of a news app is the occasional notification and even then most the time they are implemented in an annoying fashion. It'd be nice if there was a standard that allowed users to subscribe to push notific…
> It'd be nice if there was a standard that allowed users to subscribe to push notifications directly from websites without having to install an app. Is using a single RSS app for all content feeds not sufficient?
> Is using a single RSS app for all content feeds not sufficient?
Yes, true, but companies can't sell you RSS, it's free in the same way that a browser is free, so that's right out.
The basic idea is to take what already exists and is free, and think of a way to capture it and sell it back to people.