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I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

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Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#271

Post by KellyCriterion »

Zak wrote: post #204
KellyCriterion wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure many people here got into programming precisely because abstract thinking came easily to them. Counter here: When I wanted to switch from TurboPascal during school (14y/15y) to C++ (because it was "more cool" and that was the tool that the 'big boy' game-dev-pros were, we thought), it was so damn hard for me - really! I was struggling so massivly, I head massive problems with this pointer stuff - it took m…

Pointers are famously difficult to learn and reason about even though the basic principles are simple. Programming in a style that requires direct manipulation of pointers when it's not actually necessary is usually regarded as unwise because it's so hard to get right.

...thats the reason why I love managed environments like C#/Java/etc :-))

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#272

Post by AnimalMuppet »

8cvor6j844qw_d6 wrote: post #13

Web browser is a sandbox by default. Worst a sketchy site does is eat a tab, less if you run an adblocker. Native app? Background processes, hardware ID shenanigans, your contacts, location. The whole buffet.

I think it's more than that. It's a walled garden. If you want to leave go somewhere else, it's further away than just a tab. That increases stickiness.

For example, let's say I'm an airline. I don't want you in the browser, where you're going to have my competitors in the adjacent tabs. I want you in my app, where all you see is my version of the world. (I mean, yes, you can have multiple apps open, too, and switch between them. It's still a bit more friction than moving between tabs. Or maybe that's just my mental model, and young people see apps as just another kind of tab?)

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#273

Post by dudu24 »

josephcsible wrote: post #249

Hall of shame: * Reddit won't let you read "unreviewed" content on mobile web (but will on desktop web) * PayPal won't let you pick your 5% rewards category, or set up balance auto-replenish without their app * Robinhood Banking won't let you see your credit card statement or pay your balance without their app * Instagram won't let you share posts as stories without their app * SeatGeek won't let you attend events wi…

old.reddit.com

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#274

Post by mathgeek »

nkrisc wrote: post #131
KellyCriterion wrote: post #49

What most people dont get: Most of folks on HN here are much older than todays "first customers" of 16y/17/18 For them: The "Smartphone is the internet", while for most of us the "Smartphone is an extension of the internet from our desktops" that we were used to (remember the years before dot com bubble, saying: "I will be down in the basement at the computer to surf on the net little bit" ? :-) But today, the very f…

> But today, the very first touchpoint with "the internet" for younger folks is a smartphone display. The even do homework on this small screens! I saw a tweet recently that perfectly encapsulates this: for most people over 30, certain things are "big screen tasks". I use my phone for a lot, but for some things I put the phone down and use my computer instead. I am most comfortable using a large screen and a keyboard…

For many kids, they have one device and it’s a phone or tablet. They may have access to a computer, but not on demand. Much like when many of us were growing up and had one computer.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#275

Post by 8note »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #49

What most people dont get: Most of folks on HN here are much older than todays "first customers" of 16y/17/18 For them: The "Smartphone is the internet", while for most of us the "Smartphone is an extension of the internet from our desktops" that we were used to (remember the years before dot com bubble, saying: "I will be down in the basement at the computer to surf on the net little bit" ? :-) But today, the very f…

this where i think any claims that an iphone is not a full computing experience as justification for disallowing freedom on it to build and run your own software as you see fit as a bit ridiculous.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#278

Post by firefoxd »

Last year the same idea made it to the front page [0]. I understand that the apps can be faster, or easier to use. But that's intentional. Developers are deliberately making the web experience worst to force you to use the app. The reason is they have control over the experience in the apps. For example, blocking ads on the apps is much harder, and they can extract things like your contacts, GPS data, and run in the background.

At this point, the only apps on my phone are bank apps. Even that is something I'm trying to get rid off.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44689059

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#279

Post by weitendorf »

sdfjkhdfjkdhs wrote: post #252
sumtechguy wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question do you really use all of those tabs? As a small handful of tabs user I use the bookmark feature to hold things I want to keep for later. ctrl-d and it is in the list. Even then 99% of the time I open it again and go 'why did I keep this'. I get it that it is your workflow. Just sort of curious why you would consider that a 'power user' thing? Would not saving them to the bookmark list be more of 'powe…

The whole bookmark/tab system really needs to be completely revised. I have a new system I'm thinking about for my Chromium fork which will be radically different. More like a full-page "new tab" screen where everything can be visualized and sorted into different projects etc. Just look at how most people do a search, for instance. These days for me it often involves 20-30 tabs, or even more, due to the horrific stat…

I agree with this a lot tbh. I think we need to have better support for tiling or something iframe-like in web interfaces. Probably for deep research or focused work, we need something more tree-shaped than the flat tabs-with-back-button structure web browsers expose.
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