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The first thing that comes to mind is that I can use them offline. I don't need the internet to draw or play most games. EDIT: I do understand you can make web

by naavis 6y ago

The first thing that comes to mind is that I can use them offline. I don't need the internet to draw or play most games. EDIT: I do understand you can make web apps that work offline by jumping through enough hoops. But then again, why would you? Why try to unnecessarily shoehorn everything into the web paradigm? Let's take an iPad drawing app that is super well integrated with Apple Pencil. What benefit would forcing it onto the web bring, considering the performance hit and usage of specialized hardware? Or a recording app that I might use to take voice notes or record other audio. Why does that need to be a web application?

onion2k 6y ago
Web apps can also work offline.
perilunar 6y ago
Web apps are: * platform agnostic * can't be blocked by a central platform gate-keeper * generally much smaller (download size) than native apps * don't take up permanent space on your device (good for things you only use occasionally) * always up-to-date Personally I prefer native apps for tools I use frequently. Everything else I prefer the web.
- Spivak 6y ago
  * The trade-off is that they're alien to the platform either behave entirely different or at worst poorly emulate platform semantics. * this is true-ish. It's not that they can't it's that they aren't. If Apple or Google just up and blocked a site in Safari or Chrome it's basically dead. "Technically accessible in Firefox" isn't exactly a selling point. You're also gate-kept by your ability to get a public cert. * True but download size only really matters on first install. It's absolutely friction but not really something that I've ever seen people care about anymore. Pictures take up almost all of the storage on people's phones now. * True but the trade-off there is that you have to download it every time. Native apps win in the long run if you use it often. * Users have never cared about this. This is only a benefit to the very techy.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- pseudalopex 6y ago
  iOS can offload unused apps.

by naavis 6y ago

onion2k 6y ago

Web apps can also work offline.

perilunar 6y ago

Web apps are: * platform agnostic * can't be blocked by a central platform gate-keeper * generally much smaller (download size) than native apps * don't take up permanent space on your device (good for things you only use occasionally) * always up-to-date Personally I prefer native apps for tools I use frequently. Everything else I prefer the web.

Spivak 6y ago
* The trade-off is that they're alien to the platform either behave entirely different or at worst poorly emulate platform semantics. * this is true-ish. It's not that they can't it's that they aren't. If Apple or Google just up and blocked a site in Safari or Chrome it's basically dead. "Technically accessible in Firefox" isn't exactly a selling point. You're also gate-kept by your ability to get a public cert. * True but download size only really matters on first install. It's absolutely friction but not really something that I've ever seen people care about anymore. Pictures take up almost all of the storage on people's phones now. * True but the trade-off there is that you have to download it every time. Native apps win in the long run if you use it often. * Users have never cared about this. This is only a benefit to the very techy.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
pseudalopex 6y ago
iOS can offload unused apps.