> An App Store developer license costs $99/year, whereas a Namecheap domain is less than $10/month.
I think you mean $10/year.
Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
11–20 of 587 posts
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. But if you are trying to start a business and the $100 a year you would have to pay to distribute your app will make or break you, you have bigger issues.
Too many applications abuse notifications and background processing anyway. If you need those features, you have to convince of far more value before I'll install a thing.
If you want an iOS app not to “abuse” background processing, there is a setting that will disable the ability on an app by app basis. Of course you have granular control over notifications and how they are presented on a per app basis.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#13A handful of social media platforms have launched that I've wholly missed because they didn't bother to have a web version. As a Windows Mobile user, I couldn't install your app if I wanted to, and I spend a lot more time at my desk than staring at my phone.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#14IMHO, the reasons mentioned are not very convincing. Your goal, when starting a product, is to find whether you serve a real user need or not. So, start with a website or a mobile app depending on what suits your users needs better. Where would a user naturally go (web or mobile) for that need? That's the platform you start with.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#15finally, someone said it.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#16Given the fact that most people are already maxed out on apps on their device with just things like facebook and youtube, you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it out. With a progressive web app if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen without installing via the app store and without using up space on their device. Also don't need to pay Apple $100 a ye…
On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. But if you are trying to start a business and the $100 a year you would have to pay to distribute your app will make or break you, you have bigger issues.
For now. PWAs keep improving. Give it a year.
They're already basically fully-fledged apps on Android.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#17Given the fact that most people are already maxed out on apps on their device with just things like facebook and youtube, you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it out. With a progressive web app if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen without installing via the app store and without using up space on their device. Also don't need to pay Apple $100 a ye…
> Given the fact that most people are already maxed out on apps on their device with just things like facebook and youtube.
I don't even have those apps. If I did, my battery would be dead in a couple of hours. If I need to use those platforms, I do it through a web browser and usually I use a different browser (e.g. duckduckgo) isolated from my other browsing habits.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. But if you are trying to start a business and the $100 a year you would have to pay to distribute your app will make or break you, you have bigger issues.
On iOS you won’t get notifications or be able to run anything in the background. Ok, but what are the downsides?
As a user notifications are a problem, but as an app developer they absolutely work to drive engagement, which is why so many apps use them. So if you’re trying to run a business that’s a pretty important thing.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#19On technical aspect, it definitely web first. Before a native apps, it need web app --> web services --> native apps.
Re: Start with a Website, Not a Mobile App
#20Given the fact that most people are already maxed out on apps on their device with just things like facebook and youtube, you're going to be hard pressed to get people to install your app just to try it out. With a progressive web app if they like your app they can add it to their device home screen without installing via the app store and without using up space on their device. Also don't need to pay Apple $100 a ye…
To add a progressive web app to the home screen on iOS, doesn't the user have to use the share menu (and even then, it's buried a bit -- the user has to page the share options at least once to find it)? There's no way to display a prompt to add it, like with Chrome/Firefox on Android? That's how it was the last time I checked, and it was enough for my employer to say no.
Yes. There is no way to prompt the user and, to make it worse, it can only be done from Safari. If the user is using a browser from the app store (like Chrome) it can't be done at all.