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PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

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Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#91

Post by willsmith72 »

A better title would've been, "PWAs aren't a replacement for native iOS apps right now"

The drawbacks in the article are good to know, but in my circles it's common knowledge that Apple is putting less than 0 effort into supporting them. Right now, they are absolutely not a drop-in replacement for a native app

But that says nothing about the future. In 10 years, why should we still be building separate apps per platform when we have an amazing and open web? The losers are the app stores, because it gets harder to take their cut. As PWAs get closer to feature parity, and once apple gives up their horrendous pushback, it will only make more and more sense to ditch the native app

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#92

Post by usrusr »

BadHumans wrote: post #46
xd1936 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can think of it like a web app that's been coded to have extra features when "added to the homescreen". When added, the app can work offline, doesn't have an address bar/back button/etc, gets the ability to access device sensors, can send push notifications, etc. A well-made PWA usually looks and feels just like a native app.

What if I only want an app that works offline? Is there a reason to use a PWA? For example, I want to make a simple notes app that has no reason to need connectivity.

If you don't have a complete Apple development environment, PWA is the best shot you have getting that little offline note taking to run on an iPhone.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#93

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

BandButcher wrote: post #6

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…

I for one would much rather have native mobile apps that use platform-appropriate controls rather than web apps that use whatever some designer came up with. We’ve already lost this battle on computers because of electron, but iOS is nice precisely because there isn’t an easy way to just ship web technology “apps”.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#94

Post by burnerthrow008 »

PenguinCoder wrote: post #78
burnerthrow008 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so charge each user $1? Problem solved.

Abs then your 2.4M install base turns into 50k installs, instead.

Well, gee, if users think the app isn’t worth even $1 (what can you even buy for a dollar these days?), it sounds like not much was lost by limiting its distribution.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#95

Post by smallerfish »

andix wrote: post #71
mvdtnz wrote: post #13

The solution is simple beyond belief. Stop supporting Apple devices.

Last time I looked into alternatives (it’s been a while) there was no manufacturer that provided updates to latest Android without any delays for longer than 2 years. And manufacturers constantly broke their promise to keep delivering updates as long as possible. I usually buy 2 year old high end iPhones. So this is very relevant for me. Also from an ecological perspective, smartphones should last at least 5 years.

Google Pixels are now shipping 7 years of updates.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#96

Post by imachine1980_ »

willsmith72 wrote: post #91

A better title would've been, "PWAs aren't a replacement for native iOS apps right now " The drawbacks in the article are good to know, but in my circles it's common knowledge that Apple is putting less than 0 effort into supporting them. Right now, they are absolutely not a drop-in replacement for a native app But that says nothing about the future. In 10 years, why should we still be building separate apps per plat…

They won't that's the point,why they do, even if we allow third party stores, apple will be still the defaut

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#97

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

addicted wrote: post #79
matwood wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are constant complaints about electron apps being bad and people wanting native apps, except in the case of PWAs. I can't keep all the complaining straight lol

Electron apps are getting much better. VS Code is considered the best app in its class by a distant margin and it’s an electron app. The first round of Electron apps were created by people who were simply trying to get some cross platform native version of their apps out. It’s only been recently that companies are now creating electron apps as first class products and now those apps are doing very well.

The popularity of VSCode is mystifying to me: IntelliJ is a much nicer application and VSCode always ends up lagging randomly for me.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#98

Post by usrusr »

layer8 wrote: post #70
usrusr wrote: post #65

I expect PWA to remain noticeably limited relative to native, and probably with a noticeable gradient between Google and Apple. But I also expect PWA to steamroll all conventional app development nonetheless: PWA optionally bundled with some native components for filing the gaps, as in Tauri. Progressive will just grow another stage beyond manifest and serviceworker: manifest and serviceworker running in a customized…

> a customized variant of the browser installed through the app store On iOS, apps can only run a single app instance. Which means that, if you want to run multiple PWAs in parallel, you’d need a separate browser app per PWA.

A separate app per PWA that is little more than a tiny shim for whatever API Apple refuses to provide in the browser (many of them for very good reasons) and a script for spinning up another instance of the system browser with the API shims available. That's the Tauri model: you wouldn't install tens of browsers, but tens of configurations for the browser that is already there.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#99

Post by moooo99 »

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #93
BandButcher wrote: post #6

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…

I for one would much rather have native mobile apps that use platform-appropriate controls rather than web apps that use whatever some designer came up with. We’ve already lost this battle on computers because of electron, but iOS is nice precisely because there isn’t an easy way to just ship web technology “apps”.

Is it though?

A large portion of apps on the mobile app stores are already built using cross-platform technologies like React Native, Ionic or Flutter. In some instances it is very easy to tell, in other it's not. You can create quality experiences using cross-platform, you can create awful experiences using native tooling.

In many instances, I'd rather have the not totally native app that exists than the absolutely perfectly native app that does not exist.

As for PWAs, I am personally all for it. I have so many apps on my phone that don't need to be an app in the first place. Why not make a great PWA experience rather than a mediocre mobile app? In terms of capabilities, PWA are perfectly suitable for the majority of usecases.

Re: PWAs wont replace native iOS apps

#100

Post by jwells89 »

julianlam wrote: post #87
jwells89 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You can on iOS too, but it opens a browser tab which is undesirable. Sites have to be marked as PWAs to open in their own process.
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