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Do not download the app, use the website

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Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#651

Post by rock_artist »

I’m also (old enough? to) avoid apps when I can. Sadly the history made it a thing. And while it’s not only Apple. As the early incarnation of mobile web. Apple has a lot of it on its name.

1. Original iPhone aimed for that. No AppStore. But developers especially when web stack was poor, wanted native access. It did make sense back then to ideas like WhatsApp or some audio and video apps.

2. Then Apple understood they can get a cut if they operate the AppStore.

3. Then companies understood they can benefit from more data….

I’ve recently moved country and that’s real lame. Almost any supermarket or restaurant here wants me to become a “member” and enforce me to download their app (no web!). I’ve ended up creating another Apple account since those apps weren’t available in my origin country AppStore.

Most of those apps can pretty much be web apps (they actually are :) ) but insist of me downloading something with more data.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#652

Post by zelphirkalt »

thiht wrote: post #579
zelphirkalt wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't know how to use a computer well. Most people are just slightly above computer-illiterate. They were introduced to phones which have apps. Now in their minds that's how everything must be. Anything else induces fear into their minds. While technically competent people might go: "Oh neat, I don't even need to install an app, if I just put the website icon onto my home screen." Most users are like: "Oh…

Why do you think people have to be "computer illiterate" to prefer apps? That’s pretty narrow, and obviously just an explanation you came up with to fit your mental model. I just find apps more practical and convenient than websites in a browser most of the time, on my phone.

If you read my comment with more attention to detail, you will see, that I did not claim, that one has to be computer illiterate to prefer apps.

But aside from that, even if I had claimed that, it wouldn't imply, that anyone preferring an app must be computer illiterate.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#653

Post by squarefoot »

prmph wrote: post #627
kelthuzad wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We had instructions for how to pin the site to your home screen, and would explain to users how the website does everything an app can do. Still, constant requests for an app. This is the result of the inconsistent user experience to which gatekeepers like Apple have been actively contributing through active sabotage of web apps, such that all profitable apps can be more effectively and reliably taxed through Apple'…

Exactly, web apps are superior in most ways to mobile apps for the user experience, but only if vendors support the web and stop actively trying to make it like apps are the better option. The preference for apps is a learned behavior, not something fundamental. The vast majority of people with real understanding would prefer the web

I couldn't agree more. If vendors decided to give the web development the resources it deserves, the experience would turn out vastly superior for the users: no apps to download (browser is usually bundled), well standardized consistent interface where you know what a control does and how does it look like, more control on security and safety, and a lot less resources consumption. Unfortunately heavy advertising, catchy effects, colorful interfaces, and not caring for the web side, convinced most users that the apps approach is the best one, while it's actually the other way around. Apps also give vendors a tool to more easily infiltrate users devices and grab much of their personal data so I guess the motivation to change that is less than nil.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#655

Post by sprior »

ljm wrote: post #222
rustystump wrote: post #134

I cannot agree more and this has always been a pet peeve of mine. Most native apps are some half gig large where even the heaviest website is a few mb. They dont let you highlight text and have other bizarre design choices. Even worse, they request importing contacts list which isnt even an option on the web. Native apps could be butter but more often than not they are like margarine. Smooth, oily, and not good for y…

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.

Your comment got me a bit curious and so I spent time playing around creating a simple Android app using webView for my personal website and got it working, the only permission I added was INTERNET. So what's the next level of awfulness - do I add additional permissions and then additional information can be presented to my website server, or would I actually have to implement an additional path to collect the kind of info these apps are trying for?

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#657

Post by tempnew »

happyopossum wrote: post #577
Einenlum wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember when ChatGPT was released. I talked about it to a friend who is not technical. She said "oh wow, I really need to try it". She later said "I couldn't find the app in my AppStore". I kept saying they had a website and why would you need an app. She couldn't understand what I was saying. Seems like indeed the general public really likes apps and even thinks you can't do so many things in the browser.

> She couldn't understand what I was saying I don’t buy this for one second. The web is well known, and well understood - I’ve never run into anyone, in any age group, with any level of education, who wouldn’t understand what a website is. Either you’re being overly dramatic and exaggerating here, or you had a very difficult time pronouncing the words you were intending to say.

It’s not a given that “web page” has any particular meaning to people who don’t own a computer or laptop. Even people with only a cell phone, many don’t browse the web on mobile. Is the google sign in screen that pops up on a google tv a webpage, is not a question a lot of people can answer with confidence.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#658

Post by burnte »

rustystump wrote: post #134

I cannot agree more and this has always been a pet peeve of mine. Most native apps are some half gig large where even the heaviest website is a few mb. They dont let you highlight text and have other bizarre design choices. Even worse, they request importing contacts list which isnt even an option on the web. Native apps could be butter but more often than not they are like margarine. Smooth, oily, and not good for y…

I totally agree. So many sites nag me to use an app, nope, your website is perfect, I don't need your code running on my device 24/7.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#659

Post by Einenlum »

happyopossum wrote: post #577
Einenlum wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember when ChatGPT was released. I talked about it to a friend who is not technical. She said "oh wow, I really need to try it". She later said "I couldn't find the app in my AppStore". I kept saying they had a website and why would you need an app. She couldn't understand what I was saying. Seems like indeed the general public really likes apps and even thinks you can't do so many things in the browser.

> She couldn't understand what I was saying I don’t buy this for one second. The web is well known, and well understood - I’ve never run into anyone, in any age group, with any level of education, who wouldn’t understand what a website is. Either you’re being overly dramatic and exaggerating here, or you had a very difficult time pronouncing the words you were intending to say.

You might be surprised. I can assure you it happened. And my friend is a 35yo physiotherapist who uses a website on a daily basis to manage her appointments. I guess what was confusing to her was the fact that it was not just a "simple" website where you would find information (blogs, Wikipedia, whatever). It was something where you would say something and it would respond dynamically. As a software engineer, we know there's no difference. It's just a few POST endpoints anyway. For a user without technical background? The way I described it sounded like it should be an app.

Now, you would say that these people (35yo) used to use Facebook (and maybe Google meet) and such on desktop. So they should know that many things can be achieved through a browser. But it seems like when thinking about mobile, people think differently. A website that "does something" other than displaying information (which is a weird and blurry definition) must be an app. I'm absolutely sure my friend has never thought it could be possible to use Facebook on through her mobile browser. If you access something with your mobile, it must be through an app.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#660

Post by beached_whale »

dontlaugh wrote: post #540
beached_whale wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Aliexpress is annoying as heck because they keep trying to redirect to app owned URI's for things like tracking. I'm already there to buy. The privacy of apps is just not as good as web with no benefit to me.

I think that's more cultural. Mobile apps are very much the default in China and websites are rarely used through a browser, but rather as mini-apps inside other apps.

Could be, I shop there despite it but it is annoying.
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