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Do not download the app, use the website

idiallo.com

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Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#271

Post by teaearlgraycold »

spauldo wrote: post #237
ljm wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of native apps are just wrappers around a JS context with a few bridges into native APIs and they are pure data grabs. Reddit always asks you to use its native app, for example. Why the fuck would I care so much about Reddit that I want it outside of my browser? Same goes for any other website.

Reddit is one of the cases where a native app makes sense. Some of the 3rd party Reddit apps were great. But I'll eat my hat before I'll install Reddit's own app. Reddit killing off 3rd party apps is why I post here and not there.

I use HN+Tildes instead. I left a couple years before the API fiasco because I was sick of the ragebait and toxic culture.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#272

Post by hammock »

Gigachad wrote: post #253
spauldo wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit is one of the cases where a native app makes sense. Some of the 3rd party Reddit apps were great. But I'll eat my hat before I'll install Reddit's own app. Reddit killing off 3rd party apps is why I post here and not there.

How does an app for Reddit make sense? It’s an image and text platform. There’s no weird hardware apis required. Native apps make sense when you need to tap in to platform specific features like the Lidar api and such. They don’t make any sense for most websites.

We’ve forgotten what an “app” was

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#273

Post by msgodel »

frollogaston wrote: post #133
msgodel wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could have just been TOTP.

TOTP standard made sense, but mainstream implementation was user-hostile at the start with stuff like Google Authenticator not letting you copy keys, then afterwards still making it unclear under what circumstances they're backed up. Nowadays it's user-unfriendly at best. I like how we went full-circle to Passkeys which are basically a "remember me FOREVER" button, implemented kinda like SSH keys. Should call it that…

>"remember me FOREVER" button, implemented kinda like SSH keys.

Here's a better idea: just use openssh or at least openssh's key formats since none of the big companies can manage anything better.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#274

Post by benlivengood »

dumbfounder wrote: post #261

Let’s look at a few use cases: Bank app: they use apps for increased security. Map apps: of course they need your location. And wow it works way better than web based. TikTok: in yeah they need access to audio to record audio. And wow the UI is smoother. Games: don’t ask for anything. Except more money through in app payments. Weather, uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart: needs location. Streaming apps: actually sometime…

Even Signal asks for Contacts. Whatsapp asks every other time you open the app.

I can't use Zelle on my bank's web page any more, they just redirect to their app which is literally just their website in an app.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#275

Post by h4ck_th3_pl4n3t »

redbell wrote: post #123

> If you've ever opened Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or practically any popular service on your phone's web browser, you've likely encountered it. Another website that asks to Get The App is https://imgur.com/ , every time you open a link to just view that image you instantly got asked to Get The App. It's really annoying!

I hate imgur with their freaking redirects of deep links that have .jpg or .png in their URLs. They redirect to the HTML and then ask me to download a shitty app and prevent me from looking at the damn content.

If you cannot afford the web traffic, just shut down your webservers instead of this bullshit.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#276

Post by efskap »

dumbfounder wrote: post #261

Let’s look at a few use cases: Bank app: they use apps for increased security. Map apps: of course they need your location. And wow it works way better than web based. TikTok: in yeah they need access to audio to record audio. And wow the UI is smoother. Games: don’t ask for anything. Except more money through in app payments. Weather, uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart: needs location. Streaming apps: actually sometime…

>needs location

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Geolocation...

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#277

Post by frollogaston »

msgodel wrote: post #273
frollogaston wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TOTP standard made sense, but mainstream implementation was user-hostile at the start with stuff like Google Authenticator not letting you copy keys, then afterwards still making it unclear under what circumstances they're backed up. Nowadays it's user-unfriendly at best. I like how we went full-circle to Passkeys which are basically a "remember me FOREVER" button, implemented kinda like SSH keys. Should call it that…

>"remember me FOREVER" button, implemented kinda like SSH keys. Here's a better idea: just use openssh or at least openssh's key formats since none of the big companies can manage anything better.

That would've been nice, cause instead Passkeys are kinda locked into whatever walled garden you chose.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#278

Post by galangalalgol »

Gigachad wrote: post #253
spauldo wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit is one of the cases where a native app makes sense. Some of the 3rd party Reddit apps were great. But I'll eat my hat before I'll install Reddit's own app. Reddit killing off 3rd party apps is why I post here and not there.

How does an app for Reddit make sense? It’s an image and text platform. There’s no weird hardware apis required. Native apps make sense when you need to tap in to platform specific features like the Lidar api and such. They don’t make any sense for most websites.

There isn't even a need for JavaScript for reddit though it does seem to require it. I posted this without JavaScript enabled so it obviously would be fine for reddit too. Using an app for reddit doesn't make any sense to me at all. Banking apps make sense, they are doing some crazy device finger-printing to avoid id theft. But when the goal is to convey information use html and css. If you are taking payments then yeah maybe some JS. If it is a game, try wasm. Apps are for things that need access to hardware that the browser doesn't allow, which these days is a short list.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#279

Post by h4ck_th3_pl4n3t »

mvanbaak wrote: post #156
bitpush wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason I believe the web experience is inferior is because companies put more resources into apps at the expense of the web. The main reason is just a single company - Apple. They have been hell bent on nerfing Safari so that they can continue their rent seeking behavior on App Store. If Spotify has a functional mobile website, they cant take 30% cut from their app. The way Apple does is 2 fold. 1) deliberating…

Google play store is no better

In this discussion, both can be bad faith actors.

It's not a defensive argument about "but he did it too"!

That's not how you get to a better solution to the problem at hand.

On iOS there is no effective way to install sideloaded apps, therefore this rent seeking behavior is even more hostile to the user.

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