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The argument was, the web and its tech is too slow for phones, we need apps. This is no longer true and apps are a pain in the rear when it comes to all the in

by Sloppy 6y ago

The argument was, the web and its tech is too slow for phones, we need apps. This is no longer true and apps are a pain in the rear when it comes to all the integrations you have for mobile aware sites. How can app content be crawled, don't ask it's a major pain. How do you track usage like site clicks, ouch! How about integrations like commenting or site support chat, good luck, there might be one for your app. Not to mention the 30% vig to Apple and Google, or the lock-in. Many thought apps would bring money back into what sites were giving away and ok, it did -- for Apple and Google. Can we please stop making "apps" now?

diegof79 6y ago
The lock-in and the App Store/Play store rules are not nice. But, a world of PWAs only is not the panacea. How you are going to monetize your PWA? I imagine a few options: 1. Your “app” is a SaaS 2. Your app is paid by ads 3. Your app is free Guess who loves no. 2... that’s why Google loves PWAs, it’s part of their business strategy. Not every app fits in the SaaS model, and sadly there is a trend now to use more and more subscriptions. I love to have a viable “option 4”: I pay for an app version once, without selling my data or attaching my CC to a subscription. So please don’t stop making wonderful apps like ProCreate, MindNode, Affinity... and others that don’t have a subscription model and are great.
MrDresden 6y ago
None of these points make any sense, so lets go through them one by one. 1. First of I don't even understand what you mean here. Crawling the content of your own application? Or you mean that all content should be crawlable by others and if so, why should that be a given? 2. Mobile analytical software has come a long way since the early days (I know, I was there and am here now). There are suites available now that do automatic click capturing out of the box, or you could simply roll your own small viewhierarchy interaction listener and feed events from there. It is honestly real easy to do when you know what you are doing. 3. Like point 2, there is a ton of suites that cater to this aspect with mobile first SDKs ready for use. There is also nothing wrong with rolling your own (it is only real time messaging between two parties after all) or simply send the user to your external web page's support chat when needed (not every feature under the sun needs to be in the mobile app). 4. Not all mobile apps run on subscriptions or fees that would be paid through the Apple App Store. As an example I point to the whole field of financial applications. And on Android you are free to do payments through other means than the Google Play services, and thus not pay 30%. Yes it is a inconvenience to the user, but it is possible (just like payments on a website will usually take the user through a flow previously not used by him before, instead of all webpage payments going through PayPal) To conclude, I think there is plenty of room and velocity in the mobile application space. And I think the same can be said about the web space. The two can coexist, as each has aspects to it that superceed the others. We just need to stop making slow, ad clogged, non mobile friendly web pages as well as lowest bar, slow and insecure mobile applications. [edit: minor spelling edits]

by Sloppy 6y ago

diegof79 6y ago

The lock-in and the App Store/Play store rules are not nice. But, a world of PWAs only is not the panacea. How you are going to monetize your PWA? I imagine a few options: 1. Your “app” is a SaaS 2. Your app is paid by ads 3. Your app is free Guess who loves no. 2... that’s why Google loves PWAs, it’s part of their business strategy. Not every app fits in the SaaS model, and sadly there is a trend now to use more and more subscriptions. I love to have a viable “option 4”: I pay for an app version once, without selling my data or attaching my CC to a subscription. So please don’t stop making wonderful apps like ProCreate, MindNode, Affinity... and others that don’t have a subscription model and are great.

MrDresden 6y ago

None of these points make any sense, so lets go through them one by one. 1. First of I don't even understand what you mean here. Crawling the content of your own application? Or you mean that all content should be crawlable by others and if so, why should that be a given? 2. Mobile analytical software has come a long way since the early days (I know, I was there and am here now). There are suites available now that do automatic click capturing out of the box, or you could simply roll your own small viewhierarchy interaction listener and feed events from there. It is honestly real easy to do when you know what you are doing. 3. Like point 2, there is a ton of suites that cater to this aspect with mobile first SDKs ready for use. There is also nothing wrong with rolling your own (it is only real time messaging between two parties after all) or simply send the user to your external web page's support chat when needed (not every feature under the sun needs to be in the mobile app). 4. Not all mobile apps run on subscriptions or fees that would be paid through the Apple App Store. As an example I point to the whole field of financial applications. And on Android you are free to do payments through other means than the Google Play services, and thus not pay 30%. Yes it is a inconvenience to the user, but it is possible (just like payments on a website will usually take the user through a flow previously not used by him before, instead of all webpage payments going through PayPal) To conclude, I think there is plenty of room and velocity in the mobile application space. And I think the same can be said about the web space. The two can coexist, as each has aspects to it that superceed the others. We just need to stop making slow, ad clogged, non mobile friendly web pages as well as lowest bar, slow and insecure mobile applications. [edit: minor spelling edits]