7 ms·

AMP is one of the most frustrating experiences I've had with Google. the fact that it's foisted on users, with no option to disable it, makes it borderline infu

by freyir 10y ago

AMP is one of the most frustrating experiences I've had with Google. the fact that it's foisted on users, with no option to disable it, makes it borderline infuriating. If you're stuck on an AMP page in your mobile browser, you can click on the browser's "Request desktop site" option to load the full page.

rashkov 10y ago
I get the frustration, but mobile sites in general also have this problem. "Request desktop site" should be a more prominent feature, at least in safari which is what I'm familiar with. It's quite buried unfortunately and I think that more non-techies would benefit from knowing about it.
- pryelluw 10y ago
  Firefox on Android does have this feature as well.
  - zem 10y ago
    as does chrome on android
- ChrisClark 10y ago
  It's right on the main menu in Chrome on Android. A checkbox item on the menu, so you know you can turn it on and off. So at least it isn't that hidden, same level as the other main features.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- m-p-3 10y ago
  And websites should honor the "Request desktop version" at all time. It's frustrating when you enable the option and it still bring up the mobile version.
  - samat 10y ago
    That is responsive layout! Something people love
    - NTripleOne 10y ago
      A poorly made responsive layout* If it was any good, it would be showing the desktop scaling/layout/whatever instead of the mobile when 'show desktop version' is on. It's also not always about being on a responsive sites, a lot of places still do a m.website.com redirect when visiting the main site from a mobile device, but with no backwards redirect when visiting the mobile site (which is almost certainly non-responsive, otherwise there'd be essentially no need for the m.* site) as a desktop client - so you hit 'show desktop version', the m.* page refreshes and you just get the mobile site with funny scaling.
      - saurik 10y ago
        The website has no way of knowing you did that: this is actually Apple's fault for not changing the logical browser dimensions when you use this feature.
        macandcheese 10y ago
        Well, no, it's not - it's just weirdly labeled. Request mobile site is really only applicable to the small amount of websites that serve a m.domain.com. Now, they could have an option to "request desktop SIZE" that would result in sites that are responsively built rendering in "desktop size" mode.
        saurik 10y ago
        You can argue that any limitation is simply due to the feature being mislabeled, but in this case it seems pretty clear what people both expect this feature to do as currently named, and that happens to match what people also seem to want, and that would include changing the viewport to make certain you actually get the desktop site functionality.
- lmm 10y ago
  Mobile web browsers should just never allow a site to disable zoom. That would fix the main thing I end up requesting desktop site for.
  - NTripleOne 10y ago
    That's an option in android chrome.
flukus 10y ago
> If you're stuck on an AMP page in your mobile browser, you can click on the browser's "Request desktop site" option to load the full page. So you have to load the AMP page and then a potentially bloated normal page. That's AMP doing the exact opposite of it's intended (or at least stated) purpose. Noscript, flashblock and adblock have done far more for page speeds than than AMP ever will.
- freyir 10y ago
  Worst of all, many AMP pages won't load for me unless I disable Adblock. So now I have to degrade my browsing experience everywhere else to cater to AMP.
  - sitkack 10y ago
    DING! The sound of google getting their ad money back.
tehlike 10y ago
I am really curious if an ordinary user gets frustrated with AMP as much as an HN reader does. PS: Not intending to be sarcastic. PS2: I work for google, but not on something amp related.
- jshen 10y ago
  I've seen ordinary users get frustrated with it, but they don't understand why. They don't know what AMP is, and they don't realize they are on an AMP page. For example, the URL bar says they are on Google but they are reading a Slate article. The web is already confusing enough, and AMP makes it worse. Many ordinary users think they are reading content from Google, like that famous CNN interview where a lady said, "I read it in Facebook" Which leads to the question, why is google doing this? They, you, could easily promote AMP pages while not masking the real URL! The answer is simple, profits over what's best for users. Edit: I just did a search to find the CNN interview I mentioned, copied the URL to share here, and look it's a google URL. WHY? https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/trump-voter-fraud-facebook-cnn-2016-12?client=safari https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/trump-v...
  - paradite 10y ago
    Ah I didn't know this. I run a WordPress blog. From the documentations of Google and WordPress AMP plugins, I have always thought that the user will be directed to "originalurl/amp" on my domain when they click on the Google link on their phone. Now that I see it's a Google domain, this is really weird.
    - jshen 10y ago
      It's not an AMP thing per se, it's how Google handles AMP in search results.
      - wheelerwj 10y ago
        No, its explicitly an AMP thing. Google serves the user a cached version of your page directly from its servers, hence the google.com/amp/ url
m-p-3 10y ago
AMP is the reason why I stopped using Google News on mobile. They butchered again one of their product. I'm glad that RSS feeds are still a thing.
- noisem4ker 10y ago
  Old versions still work like they should. I'm on v. 2.5.2 myself to avoid AMP.
sfifs 10y ago
I actually find AMP an excellent user experience reading articles on mobile internet connections in India. Thr pages load snappily and are very responsive. The ads are not distracting etc. Among news articles, if there's AMP option, I always prefer to click it vs. others.
- geowa4 10y ago
  I agree, and I live in the US. I couldn't care less about seeing the original URL and have never run into a broken page.
gwu78 10y ago
amphtml links on non-google domains, e.g., newspapers, etc., are great for text only browsers. If I didn't know this was for mobile browsers I would think it was a gift to blind users who do not use GUIs. amphtml links also provide an easy way around paywalls, most of the time. I have no idea what is the true purpose of these amphtml links. It sounds like it's some advertising nonsense. As a text-only browser user I see no ads and experience no page load delays, but I do see how overstuffed web pages have become. In this regard, amphtml is a breath of fresh air.
tomrod 10y ago
User here. I didn't realize I had an option to get the full site. As far as mobile web goes, I'm appreciative I don't have to slog through broken websites, CSS mishmash, flash ads, etc. Just the text, some basic structure, and fast loading times? I'm downright thankful to Google for this! The bar has been set. Can you find a way to both resolve personal frustration and provide a better experience? Maybe a browser plugin?

by freyir 10y ago

rashkov 10y ago

I get the frustration, but mobile sites in general also have this problem. "Request desktop site" should be a more prominent feature, at least in safari which is what I'm familiar with. It's quite buried unfortunately and I think that more non-techies would benefit from knowing about it.

pryelluw 10y ago
Firefox on Android does have this feature as well.
- zem 10y ago
  as does chrome on android
ChrisClark 10y ago
It's right on the main menu in Chrome on Android. A checkbox item on the menu, so you know you can turn it on and off. So at least it isn't that hidden, same level as the other main features.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
m-p-3 10y ago
And websites should honor the "Request desktop version" at all time. It's frustrating when you enable the option and it still bring up the mobile version.
- samat 10y ago
  That is responsive layout! Something people love
  - NTripleOne 10y ago
    A poorly made responsive layout* If it was any good, it would be showing the desktop scaling/layout/whatever instead of the mobile when 'show desktop version' is on. It's also not always about being on a responsive sites, a lot of places still do a m.website.com redirect when visiting the main site from a mobile device, but with no backwards redirect when visiting the mobile site (which is almost certainly non-responsive, otherwise there'd be essentially no need for the m.* site) as a desktop client - so you hit 'show desktop version', the m.* page refreshes and you just get the mobile site with funny scaling.
    - saurik 10y ago
      The website has no way of knowing you did that: this is actually Apple's fault for not changing the logical browser dimensions when you use this feature.
      - macandcheese 10y ago
        Well, no, it's not - it's just weirdly labeled. Request mobile site is really only applicable to the small amount of websites that serve a m.domain.com. Now, they could have an option to "request desktop SIZE" that would result in sites that are responsively built rendering in "desktop size" mode.
        saurik 10y ago
        You can argue that any limitation is simply due to the feature being mislabeled, but in this case it seems pretty clear what people both expect this feature to do as currently named, and that happens to match what people also seem to want, and that would include changing the viewport to make certain you actually get the desktop site functionality.
lmm 10y ago
Mobile web browsers should just never allow a site to disable zoom. That would fix the main thing I end up requesting desktop site for.
- NTripleOne 10y ago
  That's an option in android chrome.

flukus 10y ago

> If you're stuck on an AMP page in your mobile browser, you can click on the browser's "Request desktop site" option to load the full page. So you have to load the AMP page and then a potentially bloated normal page. That's AMP doing the exact opposite of it's intended (or at least stated) purpose. Noscript, flashblock and adblock have done far more for page speeds than than AMP ever will.

freyir 10y ago
Worst of all, many AMP pages won't load for me unless I disable Adblock. So now I have to degrade my browsing experience everywhere else to cater to AMP.
- sitkack 10y ago
  DING! The sound of google getting their ad money back.

tehlike 10y ago

I am really curious if an ordinary user gets frustrated with AMP as much as an HN reader does. PS: Not intending to be sarcastic. PS2: I work for google, but not on something amp related.

jshen 10y ago
I've seen ordinary users get frustrated with it, but they don't understand why. They don't know what AMP is, and they don't realize they are on an AMP page. For example, the URL bar says they are on Google but they are reading a Slate article. The web is already confusing enough, and AMP makes it worse. Many ordinary users think they are reading content from Google, like that famous CNN interview where a lady said, "I read it in Facebook" Which leads to the question, why is google doing this? They, you, could easily promote AMP pages while not masking the real URL! The answer is simple, profits over what's best for users. Edit: I just did a search to find the CNN interview I mentioned, copied the URL to share here, and look it's a google URL. WHY? https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/trump-voter-fraud-facebook-cnn-2016-12?client=safari https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/trump-v...
- paradite 10y ago
  Ah I didn't know this. I run a WordPress blog. From the documentations of Google and WordPress AMP plugins, I have always thought that the user will be directed to "originalurl/amp" on my domain when they click on the Google link on their phone. Now that I see it's a Google domain, this is really weird.
  - jshen 10y ago
    It's not an AMP thing per se, it's how Google handles AMP in search results.
    - wheelerwj 10y ago
      No, its explicitly an AMP thing. Google serves the user a cached version of your page directly from its servers, hence the google.com/amp/ url

m-p-3 10y ago

AMP is the reason why I stopped using Google News on mobile. They butchered again one of their product. I'm glad that RSS feeds are still a thing.

noisem4ker 10y ago
Old versions still work like they should. I'm on v. 2.5.2 myself to avoid AMP.

sfifs 10y ago

I actually find AMP an excellent user experience reading articles on mobile internet connections in India. Thr pages load snappily and are very responsive. The ads are not distracting etc. Among news articles, if there's AMP option, I always prefer to click it vs. others.

geowa4 10y ago
I agree, and I live in the US. I couldn't care less about seeing the original URL and have never run into a broken page.

gwu78 10y ago

amphtml links on non-google domains, e.g., newspapers, etc., are great for text only browsers. If I didn't know this was for mobile browsers I would think it was a gift to blind users who do not use GUIs. amphtml links also provide an easy way around paywalls, most of the time. I have no idea what is the true purpose of these amphtml links. It sounds like it's some advertising nonsense. As a text-only browser user I see no ads and experience no page load delays, but I do see how overstuffed web pages have become. In this regard, amphtml is a breath of fresh air.

tomrod 10y ago

User here. I didn't realize I had an option to get the full site. As far as mobile web goes, I'm appreciative I don't have to slog through broken websites, CSS mishmash, flash ads, etc. Just the text, some basic structure, and fast loading times? I'm downright thankful to Google for this! The bar has been set. Can you find a way to both resolve personal frustration and provide a better experience? Maybe a browser plugin?