Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I don't want to download your app

newcome.wordpress.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 225 posts

Re: I don't want to download your app

#161

Post by arn »

Evbn wrote: post #120
arn wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you are just projecting your own underinfomed feelings about it on everyone else. Is there no situation where you see an app as being superior to the website? For AppShopper.com, yes the app is the superior experience to the mobile web. There were overwhelming requests for an app. We made the app to serve our users. Our goals and user goals are not always mutually exclusive.

Don't accuse parent of projecting for taking your words at face value. You stated development budget as a reason for wanting users to download your app. That has no relevance to any user's needs.

Not really. It was a pratically throwaway phrase that people can't seem to get past to read the point of my message.

If i say that you spend time and money on your startup, and you want people to see it, it does not mean that the reason I want people to use my startup is primarily for budgetary reasons.

In retrospect I should have left the word money out of it because it gets people worked up.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#162

Post by arn »

notatoad wrote: post #124
arn wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you are just projecting your own underinfomed feelings about it on everyone else. Is there no situation where you see an app as being superior to the website? For AppShopper.com, yes the app is the superior experience to the mobile web. There were overwhelming requests for an app. We made the app to serve our users. Our goals and user goals are not always mutually exclusive.

If you maintain an app that offers the same core functionality as the website, and the user can accomplish their Immediate goal on the website, adding the unnecessary step of transferring over to the app is never a superior experience . Simple as that. The only valid case for prompting a user to open your app is when their goal can't be accomplished on the web. Anything else is promotion serving your goals, not the u…

Again, I agree. Read my original post.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#163

Post by jeremyjh »

edoloughlin wrote: post #118
jeremyjh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is really no alternative to Linked In - there is other software that does the same thing but since no one in my network uses it, that would be worthless to me.

> There is really no alternative to Linked In Since I moved to Android and saw the permissions their app wants (access to my phone calls and calendar, among others), I've found a great alternative: they can wait until I get to my desktop, if I bother remembering.

I just use it in the mobile Web browser; I wish I didn't have to say "no thanks" every time.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#164

Post by dkarl »

jrockway wrote: post #150
dkarl wrote: post #54

The Delta iPhone app saved my ass and let me check in right before the cut-off for flight I needed to make, while I was stuck in traffic in a cab outside the airport. However, downloading the app was preceded by ten minutes of trying desperately to check in using the Delta web site on my iPhone. I was stymied by a combination of strangely sized fonts (which forced me to zoom way in on a huge page in order to locate a…

> In any other circumstance, I would have given up, gone to a competitor, and filed the company and brand name in my brain under "fuck you." (Actually, I did that last part anyway.) This is why I never want to own an airline: you get blamed when your customer leaves his house too late to be at the airport on time.

Checking in is rarely done in person anymore. Checking in online is the norm, and I normally do it first thing in the morning, from home, wearing my bathrobe and sipping coffee. I don't know what practical purpose it serves for the airline, but for passengers it's just a formality you have to complete by a certain time to make sure they don't cancel your reservation. It has nothing to do with being at the airport on time, except that in this particular case I had to check in using my phone because I was in a cab on the way to catching my flight.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#166

Post by mark_l_watson »

+1 Right on. At least we should have something similar to a global opt out list for nagging to install apps. Most companies have become much better at making it easy to opt out of emails after you have done business with them. Web portals should learn the same lesson with nags for app installations.

I am firmly in the HTML5 camp on rich web apps instead of custom apps. A tangent, but: our purpose in life is to make life better for those we love and also the world in general. Assuming that you are producing good content, do you feel like you better serve people with a universal web + mobile HTML5 web app, or some custom Android and/or iOS app?

One of my projects for the new year is to take my old cookingspace.com hack and add "AI" for suggesting alternative recipes, generating recipes based on ingredients on hand, etc. Yesterday I started to flesh out a simple UI in an Android app, basically just having fun. This morning I had one of those "what was I thinking" moments, and then saw the linked article which I agree with.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#167

Post by Cowen »

I once had an idea for an "app-aggregating app."

I realized that a lot of apps that I get prompted to download have effectively one-off usage patterns and I'd delete them immediately after downloading and using them. This app would've essentially just allowed for very basic functionality for layouts, buttons, and form input from however many companies built these basic interfaces. That way I wouldn't have to download any more super-special apps, I could just load up the interface and work with that.

As I started thinking about this app more, I realized it was called a "web browser." I wish more companies put stronger emphasis on their mobile site.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#168

Post by TeMPOraL »

rhizome wrote: post #95
TeMPOraL wrote: post #3

Just an example of people thinking profit-first and value-to-users-second. Unfortunately very common, and while in many cases it could be justified, I still think many products would improve if their authors thought a little bit more about maximizing user value before their own profit.

Does it really result in profit, though?

I guess not, but explain it to them.

Re: I don't want to download your app

#169

Post by LnxPrgr3 »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #166

+1 Right on. At least we should have something similar to a global opt out list for nagging to install apps. Most companies have become much better at making it easy to opt out of emails after you have done business with them. Web portals should learn the same lesson with nags for app installations. I am firmly in the HTML5 camp on rich web apps instead of custom apps. A tangent, but: our purpose in life is to make l…

You know what's funny?

I like native apps for a lot of things. They feel and act, well… native! Maybe I just haven't seen enough well executed HTML5 apps, but every one I've used so far is a far cry from what a native app can be. It's often pretty obvious when a "native" app is just a glorified Web view.

But… I don't want to download an app to access your Web forum or read your news articles. I don't need a new app for every freaking Web site I visit. My phone has a perfectly capable Web browser, and I'm not afraid to use it. It works surprisingly well even on a lot of sites that obviously weren't designed for it.

"I do like having the option of a higher-fidelity experience if I want it. If you provide a lot of value, I’ll grab the app on my own accord and enjoy it that much more, thanks."

Exactly! For sites I access super frequently, and where the app actually makes it easier to use, I'm all for it! But with rare exceptions, I just don't spend enough time on a given news site or forum to warrant downloading an app for it, no matter how amazing that app is.

HTML5 is a fine medium for content delivery. Please get out of my face and let me browse your damn site!

(On a related note: sites pretending to be iPhone apps in the browser are… usually more irritating than useful. I know Apple did it with their iPhone manual, but I think even their attempt is kinda lame. If you look like a native app, I start expecting your UI to respond like a native app, and I'm usually very disappointed.)

Re: I don't want to download your app

#170

Post by mje__ »

LnxPrgr3 wrote: post #169
mark_l_watson wrote: post #166

+1 Right on. At least we should have something similar to a global opt out list for nagging to install apps. Most companies have become much better at making it easy to opt out of emails after you have done business with them. Web portals should learn the same lesson with nags for app installations. I am firmly in the HTML5 camp on rich web apps instead of custom apps. A tangent, but: our purpose in life is to make l…

You know what's funny? I like native apps for a lot of things. They feel and act, well… native! Maybe I just haven't seen enough well executed HTML5 apps, but every one I've used so far is a far cry from what a native app can be. It's often pretty obvious when a "native" app is just a glorified Web view. But… I don't want to download an app to access your Web forum or read your news articles. I don't need a new app f…

What's even worse is when you get to a website pretending to be an iphone app... using an android device.
Post reply on HN