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Speaking as a dev, the benefits sound great. But as a user, I just don't care. As a user I want these things from an app, in order: 1. It does what it claims t

Speaking as a dev, the benefits sound great. But as a user, I just don't care. As a user I want these things from an app, in order: 1. It does what it claims to do. 2. It does those things quickly. 3. It looks and works like an app designed for the OS on which it lives. Number 1 is standard, since I won't use your app if it doesn't do something I want. PWAs, in my experience, struggle with #2 and absolutely fall down on #3. For example, and I'm not picking on you here, your app looks like an Android app even when I installed it on my iPhone. I don't want to context switch between visual styles or wait for JS performance delays just so you can save some time in development. This is the primary reason I very much dread apps I depend on deciding to go the PWA route since despite being technically capable of emulating platform look and feel it seems very few do so.

osrec 8y ago
Regarding point 3, is that really what we want? That for each platform your app looks and feels different? I sort of like the fact that my app looks the same regardless of whether it's accessed on an iPhone or an Android phone. It kinda provides consistency for my users should they ever switch between platforms. In fact, we actually get a lot of positive feedback on this from our users.
- LeoNatan25 8y ago
  Yes, that’s what we want. Only web “devs” and lazy designers want something that looks the same.
- jakebasile 8y ago
  I can of course only speak for myself, but having an app feel at home on my platform is very important to me. Being consistent means I have to spend less time adjusting to your design. The "New" or "Create" button should be in the upper right, "OK"/"Cancel" buttons on dialogs should be in the right order and location. Apple spent quite a lot of time and money creating a design that feels at home on their devices, and I think most developers should defer to their expertise in this regard. More emotionally, I chose iOS in part because I like the design. In general, I don't want any app I use to try to reinvent the wheel with their own design language unless it is very much warranted, and I never want to see material design on any product I use since it was one of the reasons I chose to discontinue using Android.
  - osrec 8y ago
    I think you make a very fair point, and I appreciate your intelligent and measured response. For now, our users are reasonably happy with the look and feel (dare I say, they like it!). Having said that, I am tempted now to develop a library that can render iOS or Android specific components once my budget allows, so that users can select a "skin" they prefer (and we would default to the right one based on the accessing platform). I know we can't always please everyone, but we'll certainly give it our best shot! P.S. This is not meant to sound patronising - I think your points are valid and need addressing in PWAs. I don't think it's insurmountable, but it does need some work.
coding123 8y ago
Yeah from my experience I've never cared about 3. If I did I wouldnt be a troll on hn

osrec 8y ago

Regarding point 3, is that really what we want? That for each platform your app looks and feels different? I sort of like the fact that my app looks the same regardless of whether it's accessed on an iPhone or an Android phone. It kinda provides consistency for my users should they ever switch between platforms. In fact, we actually get a lot of positive feedback on this from our users.

LeoNatan25 8y ago
Yes, that’s what we want. Only web “devs” and lazy designers want something that looks the same.
jakebasile 8y ago
I can of course only speak for myself, but having an app feel at home on my platform is very important to me. Being consistent means I have to spend less time adjusting to your design. The "New" or "Create" button should be in the upper right, "OK"/"Cancel" buttons on dialogs should be in the right order and location. Apple spent quite a lot of time and money creating a design that feels at home on their devices, and I think most developers should defer to their expertise in this regard. More emotionally, I chose iOS in part because I like the design. In general, I don't want any app I use to try to reinvent the wheel with their own design language unless it is very much warranted, and I never want to see material design on any product I use since it was one of the reasons I chose to discontinue using Android.
- osrec 8y ago
  I think you make a very fair point, and I appreciate your intelligent and measured response. For now, our users are reasonably happy with the look and feel (dare I say, they like it!). Having said that, I am tempted now to develop a library that can render iOS or Android specific components once my budget allows, so that users can select a "skin" they prefer (and we would default to the right one based on the accessing platform). I know we can't always please everyone, but we'll certainly give it our best shot! P.S. This is not meant to sound patronising - I think your points are valid and need addressing in PWAs. I don't think it's insurmountable, but it does need some work.

coding123 8y ago

Yeah from my experience I've never cared about 3. If I did I wouldnt be a troll on hn