I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok • Hacker News Board

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

#281

Post by ethagnawl » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

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…

> SeatGeek won't let you attend events without their app (no mailed tickets, will call, print at home, or mobile web)

Wow. I guess it's been a few years since I've used SeatGeek but this is news to me. Stuff like this and MSG's facial scanning regime (I'm sure the venues are all doing it to differing extents) make me not even want to bother with big concerts. Club shows are almost always a better time, anyways.

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

#282

Post by caminante » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

neuronflux wrote: post #205

scorpionfeet wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My company corporate card requires an app because it has an Authenticator to access the website. I tried the ole “but I only have a flip phone” and they said there was no other option. The bastards forced my hand.

So they issued you a company provided phone for this work specific functionality?

You haven't confirmed WHY they have a flip phone.

If you're using a flip phone in this day and age, then it's not about the money.

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

#283

Post by cainxinth » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

dudu24 wrote: post #273

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

I've been on reddit since the beginning. If they kill old.reddit, I'm gone.

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

#284

Post by bryankaplan » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

moring wrote: post #221

bryankaplan wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they also struggle to understand that some people have the same name yet are not the same person?

By that logic, operating system developers struggle to understand that putting two files with the same name into the same folder(1) is very much possible in the physical world. (1) or referencing them from the same directory, which was the earlier metaphor.

Hardly. That would be analogous to two people having the same name _and_ the same spacetime coordinates; they would indeed be the same person.

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

#285

Post by CivBase » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

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…

You're right... but I think you have incorrectly conflated "web" with "desktop". Websites work perfectly fine on smartphones when they are designed to do so. I'm using HN on my phone's web browser right now to type this comment. I don't need an app for HN.

I don't have many apps on my phone because I've found I simply don't need them. There are basically only two cases where I use apps:

1. When I want push notifications

2. When I want to use local files

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

#286

Post by Afftar » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

Yes, the TC is right and I completely agree, but we all know the reason for forcing users to install an app: retention, ARPU and other metrics grow for this audience, and push notifications also help with that.

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

#287

Post by water-drummer » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

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…

Linkedin is the worst offender of them all. My feeds don't get updated for days when I use the web mobile version and I start seeing new posts only when I switch to desktop mode (switching to mobile shows the same old feed). They also don't even let you reply to comment replies or see reactions. They even scroll you all the way to the top if you dismiss their annoying "linkedin is better on app" pop-up just to punish you for not using their app. I'll never install apps of these companies that are actively hostile towards those that don't want to be constantly spied on by them.

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

#288

Post by ethagnawl » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

tuckerman wrote: post #70

The site that irks me the most here is New York Times. Opening an article in the mobile browser often has a toast over the bottom third of the article to open it in their app for "a better experience". I struggle to think how nytimes isn't a perfect fit for a site over an app. The only frustrating experience I have with the web version that would be better in the app is not seeing that that pop-up.

I recently signed up for a membership (you can now supposedly cancel without making a phone call; WaPo has officially died in darkness) and this has been driving me mad, too.

If I'm paying for your service, you should not be degrading my experience using UX anti-patterns in any way, for any reason.

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

#289

Post by pnexk » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

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…

It is also the case that PCs are still more expensive than phones. Had a work colleague in one of my first customer facing service jobs who relied almost completely on an android phone to get everything done from mortgage applications to entertainment before I gifted them one of my lesser used laptops.

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

#290

Post by joshstrange » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 5:03 PM UTC

The sad reality is people _want_ apps and the people paying for web/apps to be built also want apps (even before we talk about tracking/ad-blocking reasons).

I too love the web, but throughout my career the idea of web-first/web-only has been DOA. There is some level of perceived prestige from having an app.

I've told this story countless times but on multiple occasions I've written cross-platform apps using web technology. Throughout the development process, I have urged or even begged the stakeholders to try out the web-based version on their phone. It's almost identical. You just see the browser chrome in the web version. And yet it's not until I provide native builds that some people will even bother to look at.

I provide web interfaces as part of the package but I could probably skip that and no one would bat an eye (I won't though, it's practically free to do that alongside the native apps and I prefer it).

There are a handful of things you can only do, or only do well, in an app so I do understand that argument. Also, I find some PWA-advocates to clearly not be living in reality: "You can do X in a PWA" - only if you hate yourself and enjoy silly limitations that clients do not and will not understand or care about ("Just make it work, an app can do this!").