6 ms·

I have been replacing traditional apps with PWA's or mobile websites wherever possible (on Android). They hardly take up any space and also seem to behave well

I have been replacing traditional apps with PWA's or mobile websites wherever possible (on Android). They hardly take up any space and also seem to behave well (drains less battery) compared to traditional apps. I could replace the following with PWAs: - Twitter - Uber - Lyft - Google news - Instagram - Flipboard - Shopping sites like Walmart, Wish and many more. Facebook and Amazon have no PWA's but have mobile websites. (Facebook mobile web works well with Opera. On other browsers it annoyingly redirects to play store to install messenger)

Twirrim 9y ago
PWAs? Public Welfare Assistance schemes?
- Piccollo 9y ago
  interesting how Google’s personalized search results gave me the right definition of that
- spcelzrd 9y ago
  Progressive Web Applications It's the new name for a home screen bookmark.
- jessaustin 9y ago
  https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/ https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/
- hutattedonmyarm 9y ago
  Progressive Web Apps
- groby_b 9y ago
  Pretty^W Progressive Web Apps (https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/ https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/) Essentially, apps on the web that feel and behave like a native app.
- neogodless 9y ago
  Progressive Web Apps - basically HTML5 web sites that work well on a phone, and take advantage of some newer browser features to make a web page more "app-like." Not sure if there's a distinction to be made between PWA and Single Page Applications (SPA), but in either case, you can use Service Workers, local storage, offline mode etc as well as "app" features like notifications and a homepage shortcut. The experience ends up being very much like that of an app, without a huge install.
  - djKianoosh 9y ago
    ... without a huge install if you watch the weight of the initial page load and optimize for that. ;)
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    So sounds like the promise of web-based "apps" from pre-app store iOS to WebOS to Firefox OS... finally about to be realized thanks to official Google backing. RIP to all the minor players who came before and failed.
013a 9y ago
I think that's a fine solution, but its looking at the wrong problem. Consider an app like Discord [1], which is built using React Native and is thus a "native" app with some additional cruft like a JS runtime. It clocks in at a relatively small 30mb. Not bad. Then consider Slack [2]. For nearly intents and purposes it does the same exact thing. Discord has far more functionality than Slack. Yet, it is 129mb. Tweetbot [3]? 12mb. Twitter [4]? 204mb. The issue has little to do with the technologies used. PWA, React Native, full native, it doesn't matter. The issue is truly that these large companies have horrible, bloated engineering teams and that bloat comes through in the size of the apps produced. It is Conway's Law in action. [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discord-chat-for-gamers/id985746746?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discord-chat-for-gamers/id98... [2] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-business-communication-for-teams/id618783545?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-business-communication... [3] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-4-for-twitter/id1018355599?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-4-for-twitter/id101... [4] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8
speg 9y ago
I've been doing this too; but annoyingly I usually am in Private Browsing mode and when I go to launch one of these apps it doesn't work because I'm no longer logged in.
rayiner 9y ago
But those websites suck down enormous amounts of data each time they load.
- allannienhuis 9y ago
  Not if they use caching (whether service worker based or not) aggressively.
  - s73ver 9y ago
    If an organization isn't taking the time and effort to make sure their app isn't bloated full of stuff, what makes you think they'll do that?
    - allannienhuis 9y ago
      caching can be done reasonably well for straightforward cases with yet-another-library https://serviceworke.rs/ https://serviceworke.rs/ oh, the irony!
rayiner 9y ago
But those websites suck down enormous amounts of data each time they load.
Theodores 9y ago
Well here is an application that defies your approach: the Android clock. 17Mb update to that just now, vanilla android. Plus Google do some diff. style updates so that is probably a lot more and for a clock. Presumably it has 17Mb of updated alarms in surround sound and presumably these are needed however I can't see any other obvious bloat potential as the clock should use Android UX. How can a clock need the equivalent of a box of floppies? Windows 3 and 3.1 together comes to the same Mb and that comes with a clock.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  These clocks did not have high fidelity long ringtones and billion of options. And especially no Google calendar support. ;)
Kiro 9y ago
What exactly is the difference between a PWA and a mobile website?
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  Branding, obviously. :)
- abdulmuhaimin 9y ago
  I can say that I use it accidentally without realising(at first) it was a PWA website. So, Im just gonna tell it in layman term. From what I can tell, its a website, but definitely felt more like an app rather than a website. the best way to understand it is just to try it. Its just a website(PWA) pinned to your homescreen, so theres not much cost to try it.
  - Kiro 9y ago
    Sounds very diffuse. I can pin any mobile website to my homescreen but I presume that alone doesn't make it a PWA.
    - Tom4hawk 9y ago
      PWA apps can run from home screen without address bar, with splashscreen and you can use things like ServiceWorkers (some things can run in background, better caching/storage, you can even run your app offline showing information/data/whatever from last time you synced with backend server).
gtramont 9y ago
For the developers out there, here's one option for native applications that leverages the beauty of the web: http://jasonette.com/ http://jasonette.com/

Twirrim 9y ago

PWAs? Public Welfare Assistance schemes?

Piccollo 9y ago
interesting how Google’s personalized search results gave me the right definition of that
spcelzrd 9y ago
Progressive Web Applications It's the new name for a home screen bookmark.
jessaustin 9y ago
https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/ https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/
hutattedonmyarm 9y ago
Progressive Web Apps
groby_b 9y ago
Pretty^W Progressive Web Apps (https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/ https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/) Essentially, apps on the web that feel and behave like a native app.
neogodless 9y ago
Progressive Web Apps - basically HTML5 web sites that work well on a phone, and take advantage of some newer browser features to make a web page more "app-like." Not sure if there's a distinction to be made between PWA and Single Page Applications (SPA), but in either case, you can use Service Workers, local storage, offline mode etc as well as "app" features like notifications and a homepage shortcut. The experience ends up being very much like that of an app, without a huge install.
- djKianoosh 9y ago
  ... without a huge install if you watch the weight of the initial page load and optimize for that. ;)
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  So sounds like the promise of web-based "apps" from pre-app store iOS to WebOS to Firefox OS... finally about to be realized thanks to official Google backing. RIP to all the minor players who came before and failed.

013a 9y ago

I think that's a fine solution, but its looking at the wrong problem. Consider an app like Discord [1], which is built using React Native and is thus a "native" app with some additional cruft like a JS runtime. It clocks in at a relatively small 30mb. Not bad. Then consider Slack [2]. For nearly intents and purposes it does the same exact thing. Discord has far more functionality than Slack. Yet, it is 129mb. Tweetbot [3]? 12mb. Twitter [4]? 204mb. The issue has little to do with the technologies used. PWA, React Native, full native, it doesn't matter. The issue is truly that these large companies have horrible, bloated engineering teams and that bloat comes through in the size of the apps produced. It is Conway's Law in action. [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discord-chat-for-gamers/id985746746?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discord-chat-for-gamers/id98... [2] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-business-communication-for-teams/id618783545?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-business-communication... [3] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-4-for-twitter/id1018355599?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-4-for-twitter/id101... [4] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8

speg 9y ago

I've been doing this too; but annoyingly I usually am in Private Browsing mode and when I go to launch one of these apps it doesn't work because I'm no longer logged in.

rayiner 9y ago

But those websites suck down enormous amounts of data each time they load.

allannienhuis 9y ago
Not if they use caching (whether service worker based or not) aggressively.
- s73ver 9y ago
  If an organization isn't taking the time and effort to make sure their app isn't bloated full of stuff, what makes you think they'll do that?
  - allannienhuis 9y ago
    caching can be done reasonably well for straightforward cases with yet-another-library https://serviceworke.rs/ https://serviceworke.rs/ oh, the irony!

rayiner 9y ago

But those websites suck down enormous amounts of data each time they load.

Theodores 9y ago

Well here is an application that defies your approach: the Android clock. 17Mb update to that just now, vanilla android. Plus Google do some diff. style updates so that is probably a lot more and for a clock. Presumably it has 17Mb of updated alarms in surround sound and presumably these are needed however I can't see any other obvious bloat potential as the clock should use Android UX. How can a clock need the equivalent of a box of floppies? Windows 3 and 3.1 together comes to the same Mb and that comes with a clock.

AstralStorm 9y ago
These clocks did not have high fidelity long ringtones and billion of options. And especially no Google calendar support. ;)

Kiro 9y ago

What exactly is the difference between a PWA and a mobile website?

ocdtrekkie 9y ago
Branding, obviously. :)
abdulmuhaimin 9y ago
I can say that I use it accidentally without realising(at first) it was a PWA website. So, Im just gonna tell it in layman term. From what I can tell, its a website, but definitely felt more like an app rather than a website. the best way to understand it is just to try it. Its just a website(PWA) pinned to your homescreen, so theres not much cost to try it.
- Kiro 9y ago
  Sounds very diffuse. I can pin any mobile website to my homescreen but I presume that alone doesn't make it a PWA.
  - Tom4hawk 9y ago
    PWA apps can run from home screen without address bar, with splashscreen and you can use things like ServiceWorkers (some things can run in background, better caching/storage, you can even run your app offline showing information/data/whatever from last time you synced with backend server).

gtramont 9y ago

For the developers out there, here's one option for native applications that leverages the beauty of the web: http://jasonette.com/ http://jasonette.com/