Correct link to pwabuilder is https://www.pwabuilder.com/
I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
11–20 of 415 posts
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#12I know your pain about the D&B issue. That was a huge slap in the face when I saw that. Apple, one of the largest companies in the world, has presented some random company as the face of their Developer portal? "Couldn't be... No way... wait a sec they are that stupid... goddammit". Then, at the end of the day, all it ended up being was a phone call that verified the information I entered on the D&B webpage. Stupid w…
Yeah. That was actually one of the most painful points, and it had nothing to do with the software itself.
And to make matters worse, D&B have a client-side validation bug on their site when updating your profile. I actually had to set a JS breakpoint in their code and change .isValid = true. Just so I could update my profile. Unbelievable.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#13I feel you, every time i have to work with anything apple it's painful. Even their dev tools, i wasn't expecting much from XCode and i was still let down.
In this regard Microsoft is way superior.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#14Author here. Thanks all for bringing this to the HN front page. The jist of the article is getting a PWA into the app stores is harder than it needs to be, especially on iOS. Between Google, Apple, and Microsoft, I found Google's Play Store to be the simplest and quickest store to get a PWA published in. Another interesting bit is that web technologies haven't caught up to native. My PWA isn't super complex -- it's a…
There's a reason why is more difficult to publish an app onto the App Store
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#15Correct link to pwabuilder is https://www.pwabuilder.com/
Thanks. I'll fix that in the article.
Yeah, PWABuilder is amazing. A web page that analyzes your PWA, tells you any additional things you need to do to your PWA before submission, then generates packages for iOS, Google Play, and Windows Store. Awesome. More web devs need to know about this.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#16Author here. Thanks all for bringing this to the HN front page. The jist of the article is getting a PWA into the app stores is harder than it needs to be, especially on iOS. Between Google, Apple, and Microsoft, I found Google's Play Store to be the simplest and quickest store to get a PWA published in. Another interesting bit is that web technologies haven't caught up to native. My PWA isn't super complex -- it's a…
I'm interested to know how did you actually integrate with the lock screen? Did you use a wrapper of some kind to access native functionality?
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#17I feel you, every time i have to work with anything apple it's painful. Even their dev tools, i wasn't expecting much from XCode and i was still let down. In this regard Microsoft is way superior.
The dev experience was better with MS's tools, of course. They created PWABuilder, and it *actually generates a Windows Store package (.appx) that can be submitted to the store. No other steps required. Pretty amazing.
Google wasn't bad; PWABuilder generated an Android Studio project. You open in Android Studio, build, and it generates the package to be submitted to the store.
iOS was sadly the most painful. Not least of which is because it requires a Mac, with XCode and dev frameworks, to build.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#18We're definitely at the point in history where we have to get out of these app stores. I get it if you're doing a game or something that's fine, stay in the app store. But I don't know how many times I've been extremely frustrated with a website telling me to get their app.
* They break my in-browser password store
* They introduce extremely complicated "app-only" device links for Oauth
* Updating your UI for most apps shouldn't require an app-store push (don't talk to me about ionic)
This is the same fight but different players that we're currently facing in getting away from Social Platforms.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#19Author here. Thanks all for bringing this to the HN front page. The jist of the article is getting a PWA into the app stores is harder than it needs to be, especially on iOS. Between Google, Apple, and Microsoft, I found Google's Play Store to be the simplest and quickest store to get a PWA published in. Another interesting bit is that web technologies haven't caught up to native. My PWA isn't super complex -- it's a…
I excited by the combination webassembly+pwa, which should enable truly cross platform, language agnostic, client development.
Re: I built a progressive web app and published it in three app stores
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why build an app and not just live on the web? I answered that in the article, 2nd paragraph. The answer is two-fold: 1. That's where users are. We've trained a generation of users to find apps in app stores. 2. Some mobile platforms (read: iOS) are hostile to web apps. For example, Apple doesn't let you play audio in the background on iOS. (Or rather, they suspend JS execution if the web app is in the background, or…
> Some mobile platforms (read: iOS) are hostile to web apps. I'm OK with that. Web apps are clunkier and provide a worse experience. That Google makes this easier speaks to the sort of UX you get with Android.
I am not. That reinforces a iOS/Android ecosystem lock in. I personally want to see web apps succeed so it would be easier to move off of those platforms. If that happens, then I would foresee that web apps get first rate treatment and won't be "clunkier"