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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

#91

Post by Vachyas »

happytoexplain wrote: post #64

My experience might be the minority, but I have found that 95% of the time, when an app is available on both web and native mobile, the native mobile version is significantly better - usually not because it's a fantastic app or has more features, but rather because the web version is more buggy/slow/confusing. Whether I prefer an app to be web or native is purely based on the use case (I probably would choose native…

Yea, webapps (even PWAs) still can't compete with native apps when it comes to responsiveness, but I still don't know why. I've yet to see even a demo PWA that passes the "native turing test" where I can't tell whether it's a native app or not.

Even native apps that were built with cross-platform frameworks feel a bit "off" sometimes.

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

#92

Post by Aperocky »

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…

I am spoiled by big screen and tmux, I objectively cannot work with small screens any more.

I can tolerate chatting with a gateway agent, but that only last for maybe a single hour before I seriously need to vet all of the work that it and the underlying horde of agents has done.

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

#93

Post by jliptzin »

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…

I still remember when everyone was saying the only way to access a service would be through its AOL keyword.

There is still no better interface than the command line.

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

#94

Post by mrweasel »

EMM_386 wrote: post #75
moffers wrote: post #45

It’s a little tough these days. With AI and scraping, running an open webapp/website is now more expensive than ever before. My friends and I have launched a product in the last few months and decided to focus on mobile first and wait to develop a webapp simply because we couldn’t feel we could optimize the costs of open webapp while we have so few resources.

How expensive can it be? I just randomly looked at Railway and for $20 a month you get a whole lot. I've hosted many a web project (successful personal projects and enterprise projects alike) and I don't see a large barrier to entry on "hosting a website" here. Blocking AI scrapers and crawlers is not a huge ordeal. Planning for a unicorn before just putting a product up isn't the way to go. https://railway.com/prici…

> Blocking AI scrapers and crawlers is not a huge ordeal.

If you have content they want, then it is a huge ordeal. You can pay some one like CloudFlare to take care of it for you, but if you can't or won't make a deal with those types of companies, it's going to take up a significant chunk of your time.

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

#95

Post by beardyw »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #54
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.

Location can also be extracted by JS on a website with these geo functions, IIRC?

Requires permission.

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

#96

Post by everdrive »

Larrikin wrote: post #52
everdrive wrote: post #2

And if the only option is an app, then I'm not interested in your product / store / company.

If the app can be replaced by a website the app is useless. The web is not as powerful as an app and you will miss out on emerging tech. Facebook doesn't actually need an app, but I can not unlock my door, tap to pay, or connect to a specific selection of speakers in my home on a website.

100% of the emerging tech you listed either allows for a hacking / warrant / data leakage risk or is else so decadent I don't know how to respond. I don't want any of it.

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

#97

Post by mghackerlady »

karimf wrote: post #79
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. I posted this on my other comment, but there's a meme that "Gen Z Kids Don't Understand How File Systems Work" [0]. There seems to be a disconnect between some developers and the younger folks. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30253526

I can say for certain this is true. People my age look at me like I have 3 heads if I ask them to do anything more complex than open a web browser

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

#98

Post by Lihh27 »

jedberg wrote: post #24

While I sympathize with the author, and feel the same way, I think Apple/Google have some blame here. They make certain simple things only possible in the apps, because the APIs are not exposed via the web. Notifications is a big obvious one. Not sure if they've changed it since I last looked into it, but having an app installed was the only way to send a notification to someone for a long time.

> having an app installed was the only way to send a notification

that used to be true, especially on ios. but web push has existed there for a while now for home screen web apps.

so that explains some of the history... doesn't really excuse today's habit of shipping the web as a second-class client.

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

#99

Post by stvltvs »

happytoexplain wrote: post #64

My experience might be the minority, but I have found that 95% of the time, when an app is available on both web and native mobile, the native mobile version is significantly better - usually not because it's a fantastic app or has more features, but rather because the web version is more buggy/slow/confusing. Whether I prefer an app to be web or native is purely based on the use case (I probably would choose native…

Whether or not the UX is better, from a security standpoint I choose the web version because of browser sandboxing unless I'm forced to use the app. If I'm forced to use the app, I probably choose not to use the service.

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

#100

Post by socalgal2 »

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…

I’d be happy to use the app if they didn’t suck. The websites have more info and the browser is more capable by default. Like by default I can select any text I see, an address to copy into a calendar, a phone number to send to someone else, a name I want to paste into a search engine. an app is the opposite, by default nothing is selectable and I’m at the mercy of the nearly universally bad UX designer’s whims
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