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PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

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81–90 of 268 posts

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#81
post #34

In my opinion, it is always the same "cross-platform" discussion. If you hire an iOS/Android mobile dev to write a native iOS/Android app, it means that you hire someone specialized in apps for mobiles . The whole point of a cross-platform framework is the hope that it won't need the specialization: "any web dev can now write a mobile app". But every cross-platform framework has the same problem: platforms are differ…

> If PWAs win

That's like saying if Linux on the desktop wins in 2024.

PWAs have been around for about a decade now. The excuses have run out.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#82

Understandable... PWAs are ultimately an alternative path from traditional mobile apps which will take away money from apple/google. But as a web dev community we need to stand firm and build PWAs regardless. If we treat pwas on iOS like we did Internet explorer (i.e. giving it special attention and hack solutions as opposed to just not developing for it) we will lose the fight. I suggest you call out the issues with…

Can't we just give up on the "Progressive" branding and just say we are making Web Apps? There are just so many things that make "PWA" a bad smell. I mean, have you ever asked a user if they need more spam spamifications in their life? (Yeah, your app does and 95% say "hell no") Personally I find it much easier to find web sites with Safari (until last week I would hit "1" and Safari would automatically show me my RS…

I'm also not fond of the PWA branding or the confusion around implementing one.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#84
post #56
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your free app will get popular with new rules then your free app will cost a lot for a developer. For example 2.5M installs/updates a year will cost you Total monthly fees $ 67,935 https://developer.apple.com/support/fee-calculator-for-apps-...

It looks like Apple found a loop hole. I don’t think this loop hole will stay open for long. Edit: I really think that we will soon get an addendum to this law that will limit those fees. In a similar way mobile phone roaming fees got regulated.

There is no loop hole.

Apple is able to charge a per-sale license fee for using their SDKs same as Epic, Microsoft etc.

There isn't a single court or government in the world who has disagreed with this.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need to 'install' a restaurant app/website? That's the perfect usecase for like... a website.

For quick access without cluttering browser tabs and bookmarks.

You value real-estate on your home screen less than in your bookmarks?

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#86
post #34

In my opinion, it is always the same "cross-platform" discussion. If you hire an iOS/Android mobile dev to write a native iOS/Android app, it means that you hire someone specialized in apps for mobiles . The whole point of a cross-platform framework is the hope that it won't need the specialization: "any web dev can now write a mobile app". But every cross-platform framework has the same problem: platforms are differ…

> If PWAs win That's like saying if Linux on the desktop wins in 2024. PWAs have been around for about a decade now. The excuses have run out.

I think Apple's failure to provide sufficient capabilities for PWAs is a valid excuse here.

If PWAs are limited competitively on the platform with the highest ROI for developers … that's a problem.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need to 'install' a restaurant app/website? That's the perfect usecase for like... a website.

For quick access without cluttering browser tabs and bookmarks.

You're able to add websites to your home screen without it being a PWA, but this is on Android. Assuming this is not the case on iOS

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#89
post #56
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your free app will get popular with new rules then your free app will cost a lot for a developer. For example 2.5M installs/updates a year will cost you Total monthly fees $ 67,935 https://developer.apple.com/support/fee-calculator-for-apps-...

It looks like Apple found a loop hole. I don’t think this loop hole will stay open for long. Edit: I really think that we will soon get an addendum to this law that will limit those fees. In a similar way mobile phone roaming fees got regulated.

In response to your edit: I doubt it.

1. Remember, the EC feels that American tech companies are unfairly stifling competition from European tech companies. They’re not going to just wholesale ban monetization of intellectual property, which is what banning the core technology fee would do—that’s not a useful precedent if you’re trying to boost the euro tech scene.

2. It really feels like most of the arguments against Apple’s DMA compliance plan come from a place of “I hate Apple, what alternative reality can I imagine in which they make no money?” If Apple’s profits are regulated out of existence in Europe, they’re simply going to stop offering products for the European market. Problem solved, I guess?

But like another commenter wrote, be careful what you wish for. I don’t think that’s actually what devs want, mainly because today iOS is the self-selected, lucrative market for independent software. That’s where the customers are who will pay you for Apps. That’s why nobody cares that Google charges just as much as Apple.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#90
> That means that if you’re viewing a chat thread on your PWA and you get a new message, you can’t suppress the new-message push. This is incredibly annoying for users.

Am I confused, or can't you just have the client tell the server you are viewing the thread, and suppress the push at the server side? If everything is encrypted maybe it reveals a bit of extra metadata about what you are looking at at the time though.

They went with a 10 second delay or something, but just keeping track of the user's state could be easier (you might have connectivity gaps, requiring some keepalive logic too and then something like the delay to avoid spamming them with notifications they didn't need).

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