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Except it's not a big ask is it? Users routinely download 10-100meg apps on their phones and tablets and update them constantly. Should desktop/laptops be the

Except it's not a big ask is it? Users routinely download 10-100meg apps on their phones and tablets and update them constantly. Should desktop/laptops be the same? Is it only because desktops/laptops started long before the internet was fast enough to support that apps that they don't run like phones/tablets? I don't want a locked down desktop/laptop. I'm only pointing that that more people than own desktop/laptops are constantly downloading and installing 30M bundles

nostrademons 9y ago
A big problem in the mobile app ecosystem is that users don't routinely download 10-100meg apps. Most users have 6-12 apps they've already downloaded and use routinely and then say "Eh, no thanks" to more. This is why it's so hard to break into the App Store as an indie developer. I can think of at least two instances in the last week where I've had a desire for the functionality offered by a big-name product (Groupon and Zillow), went to their mobile website, was confronted with a nearly-nonfunctional mess and a prompt to download their app, and then said, "Eh, I don't care enough to bother and wait for it to download."
- adrianratnapala 9y ago
  The discussion on this thread is confirming the top poster's point, that much of what web developers do is user hostile. People here are aguing that ordinary users don't want to promiscuously use lots of apps downloaded off the internet. Then they call this mindset a "problem" and argue that therefore we need JavaScript to trick them into doing it without noticing. In so far as your web app really is something that should be a full scale app (google maps being the classic example) this is a great trick. But as an industry, we have incentive to shove complex apps down people's throats when the use case requires plain-old-media with just a bit of dynamic stuff for navigation and forms.
- nsgi 9y ago
  Also because when you have an 8GB phone, there are only so many 50-500mb apps you can install, given the space already taken up by personal files and compulsory Android apps. I prefer web apps because when I go to a bar and want to order from my table, or want to see the schedule for a conference I'm attending, I don't want to go to the trouble of installing a new app for something I'm only going to use once. This used to be a lot worse when apps asked for a load of permissions upfront which it wouldn't be sensible to grant, but these apps still often take up around 100mb in storage, which can mean having to find something to uninstall if you have limited space.
bostik 9y ago
> Users routinely download 10-100meg apps on their phones and tablets and update them constantly. That's a pretty horrid mischaracterization. Users may download and install apps that are tens of megabytes per bundle, but at least the downloaded blob is then entirely local. The apps don't redownload themselves on every startup. Let's compare that to a bloated megalith webpage with framework machinery, a dozen trackers and $deity knows what else. "ETag has changed, please wait while we drip feed you this >20MB JS+CSS gob. Oh, and btw - you can't see the page text at all until the download has been processed." Yuck.

nostrademons 9y ago

A big problem in the mobile app ecosystem is that users don't routinely download 10-100meg apps. Most users have 6-12 apps they've already downloaded and use routinely and then say "Eh, no thanks" to more. This is why it's so hard to break into the App Store as an indie developer. I can think of at least two instances in the last week where I've had a desire for the functionality offered by a big-name product (Groupon and Zillow), went to their mobile website, was confronted with a nearly-nonfunctional mess and a prompt to download their app, and then said, "Eh, I don't care enough to bother and wait for it to download."

adrianratnapala 9y ago
The discussion on this thread is confirming the top poster's point, that much of what web developers do is user hostile. People here are aguing that ordinary users don't want to promiscuously use lots of apps downloaded off the internet. Then they call this mindset a "problem" and argue that therefore we need JavaScript to trick them into doing it without noticing. In so far as your web app really is something that should be a full scale app (google maps being the classic example) this is a great trick. But as an industry, we have incentive to shove complex apps down people's throats when the use case requires plain-old-media with just a bit of dynamic stuff for navigation and forms.
nsgi 9y ago
Also because when you have an 8GB phone, there are only so many 50-500mb apps you can install, given the space already taken up by personal files and compulsory Android apps. I prefer web apps because when I go to a bar and want to order from my table, or want to see the schedule for a conference I'm attending, I don't want to go to the trouble of installing a new app for something I'm only going to use once. This used to be a lot worse when apps asked for a load of permissions upfront which it wouldn't be sensible to grant, but these apps still often take up around 100mb in storage, which can mean having to find something to uninstall if you have limited space.

bostik 9y ago

> Users routinely download 10-100meg apps on their phones and tablets and update them constantly. That's a pretty horrid mischaracterization. Users may download and install apps that are tens of megabytes per bundle, but at least the downloaded blob is then entirely local. The apps don't redownload themselves on every startup. Let's compare that to a bloated megalith webpage with framework machinery, a dozen trackers and $deity knows what else. "ETag has changed, please wait while we drip feed you this >20MB JS+CSS gob. Oh, and btw - you can't see the page text at all until the download has been processed." Yuck.