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The other, largely unspoken, downside to PWAs are that the user cannot block the tracking and ads in them when launched natively. Even though they might run on

by chippy 8y ago

The other, largely unspoken, downside to PWAs are that the user cannot block the tracking and ads in them when launched natively. Even though they might run on your android where you have firefox mobile with all the adblocking extensions enabled, and run that PWA in the browser. I'm sure this might be another reason why PWAs are being supported by the advertising industry platform suppliers.

oneeyedpigeon 8y ago
That's not a downside versus native apps, though.
enz 8y ago
I've "installed" this PWA via Brave on Android. So it now runs upon the Brave engine when I launch it, I suppose. I hope Brave continues to block trackers when executing "installed" PWAs.
- Klathmon 8y ago
  I didn't think it worked like that, but I could be super wrong. Last I saw things launched from the home screen or in a webview from another app use the "Android System Webview" as it's rendering engine. IIRC there was some work done to make that runtime swappable, but I'm not sure how far that went.
  - callahad 8y ago
    It's possible. E.g., PWAs installed via Firefox on Android use Gecko, not the system WebView.
    - Klathmon 8y ago
      Oh wow that's awesome I had no idea, thanks!
    - enz 8y ago
      Thanks for confirming. It is indeed great if things works that way!
Eli_P 8y ago
Speaking of Firefox, there was Firefox OS which appeared to be a stillborn child. It's app distribution model likely was close to PWA's. There's also Chrome OS which has lived longer than its foxy twin, and is going to be incorporated into Android according to wiki. I think PWA is about tooling, like Google's chrome dev tools or Workbox, and frameworks. The good side of it is sharing the codebase/API between app and website. The bad side is you may bet on the stillborn/transient tech and will have to rewrite or monkey-patch everything. And ads were never the only business model, it's developer's choice. There are apps for Android w/ decent prices and w/o annoying banners. PWA is no different. The convergent evolution leaves nothing untouched. I think if proliferate rate of web frameworks continues to grow exponentially, we'll have to deploy docker images right into the browser. I mean, it was a joke. Was it?
- kkarakk 8y ago
  doesn't that live on as KaiOS. kai is heavily controlled by some indian company(to the point where you can't even publish apps on it's store without that company's approval) but atleast it's alive
- ergothus 8y ago
  I was completely distracted from your point when you mentioned the "foxy twin" of the "stillborn child". I know foxy had a double entendre here, but...uh...disturbing choice of words.

by chippy 8y ago

oneeyedpigeon 8y ago

That's not a downside versus native apps, though.

enz 8y ago

I've "installed" this PWA via Brave on Android. So it now runs upon the Brave engine when I launch it, I suppose. I hope Brave continues to block trackers when executing "installed" PWAs.

Klathmon 8y ago
I didn't think it worked like that, but I could be super wrong. Last I saw things launched from the home screen or in a webview from another app use the "Android System Webview" as it's rendering engine. IIRC there was some work done to make that runtime swappable, but I'm not sure how far that went.
- callahad 8y ago
  It's possible. E.g., PWAs installed via Firefox on Android use Gecko, not the system WebView.
  - Klathmon 8y ago
    Oh wow that's awesome I had no idea, thanks!
  - enz 8y ago
    Thanks for confirming. It is indeed great if things works that way!

Eli_P 8y ago

Speaking of Firefox, there was Firefox OS which appeared to be a stillborn child. It's app distribution model likely was close to PWA's. There's also Chrome OS which has lived longer than its foxy twin, and is going to be incorporated into Android according to wiki. I think PWA is about tooling, like Google's chrome dev tools or Workbox, and frameworks. The good side of it is sharing the codebase/API between app and website. The bad side is you may bet on the stillborn/transient tech and will have to rewrite or monkey-patch everything. And ads were never the only business model, it's developer's choice. There are apps for Android w/ decent prices and w/o annoying banners. PWA is no different. The convergent evolution leaves nothing untouched. I think if proliferate rate of web frameworks continues to grow exponentially, we'll have to deploy docker images right into the browser. I mean, it was a joke. Was it?

kkarakk 8y ago
doesn't that live on as KaiOS. kai is heavily controlled by some indian company(to the point where you can't even publish apps on it's store without that company's approval) but atleast it's alive
ergothus 8y ago
I was completely distracted from your point when you mentioned the "foxy twin" of the "stillborn child". I know foxy had a double entendre here, but...uh...disturbing choice of words.