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Why rephrase the question? Lots of apps could have been just a webapp. It doesn’t have to be popular or succesful to prove that point, because it’s the smaller

Why rephrase the question? Lots of apps could have been just a webapp. It doesn’t have to be popular or succesful to prove that point, because it’s the smaller apps / teams like my one man company that would profit the most. Let larger companies spend their money on squeezing out maximum performance via native code. And let me use the browser for the 10k users of my app.

scarface74 6y ago
If the argument is that Apple is holding back PWAs, then there should be a lot of corresponding web only apps on Android that are forced to be native on iOS. The developers would have a web app anyway for the desktop so you should see a lot of apps that are PWA apps with iOS apps.
- spiderfarmer 6y ago
  Why should there be? There are thousands of webdevs who weren't 'forced' to be native on iOS, because they don't have knowledge and budget to be native. You're asking the wrong question.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    Whether there should be or not. The question isn’t why doesn’t every website have a native app. The question is if PWAs are good enough for Android because of its great support and not good enough for iOS. You should see a lot of companies doing iOS + Web instead of iOS + Android + Web. But that’s not the case. Companies have spoken with their budgets. They decided that it was worth the money to have native Android apps. Could it possibly be that HN posters are wrong and PWAs aren’t good enough on Android either?
    - spiderfarmer 6y ago
      Almost all smaller e-commerce websites don't have an app. They rely on their website + e-mail notifications. Would they enable web notifications if it was universally available? Yes. Would they enable it just for Android users? Some do. Does this say something about the quality of PWA's? You tell me. You seem to be adamant that the web sucks, yet literally millions of companies are succesful on the web without accompanying apps.
      - scarface74 6y ago
        I never said the web sucks. The thesis was that Apple was holding PWAs back and given a choice, app developers wouldn’t create native iOS apps and just create web apps. If Apple’s lack of support for the necessary APIs was the deciding factor, the same developers who make native iOS apps wouldn’t go through the trouble of making native Android apps - yet they do.
        spiderfarmer 6y ago
        No the thesis is that Apple is holding the web a a whole back. I’m not the one that says Apps like Youtube are better off or even good enough as a PWA. I’m arguing that if Apple enabled the notification API, a lot of websites and apps can save money by not replicating simple functionality in a native app. Your arguments don’t refute that at all.
        scarface74 6y ago
        If the lack of push notifications on iOS were the only thing forcing developers to create iOS apps, those same developers wouldn’t overwhelmingly be creating Android apps. Where are all the developers who are being forced to create iOS apps but are “saving money” by not creating Android apps because PWA support is so good?
        spiderfarmer 6y ago
        Most skip making apps all together because they rely on email notifications.
        scarface74 6y ago
        I agree. But if PWAs were good enough on Android, you should see, depending on your budget from largest to smallest: 1. Web, iOS, Android 2. Web, iOS - since PWAs are suppose to be “good enough for Android”. 3. Web But you hardly ever see #2. Why is that?

scarface74 6y ago

If the argument is that Apple is holding back PWAs, then there should be a lot of corresponding web only apps on Android that are forced to be native on iOS. The developers would have a web app anyway for the desktop so you should see a lot of apps that are PWA apps with iOS apps.

spiderfarmer 6y ago
Why should there be? There are thousands of webdevs who weren't 'forced' to be native on iOS, because they don't have knowledge and budget to be native. You're asking the wrong question.
- scarface74 6y ago
  Whether there should be or not. The question isn’t why doesn’t every website have a native app. The question is if PWAs are good enough for Android because of its great support and not good enough for iOS. You should see a lot of companies doing iOS + Web instead of iOS + Android + Web. But that’s not the case. Companies have spoken with their budgets. They decided that it was worth the money to have native Android apps. Could it possibly be that HN posters are wrong and PWAs aren’t good enough on Android either?
  - spiderfarmer 6y ago
    Almost all smaller e-commerce websites don't have an app. They rely on their website + e-mail notifications. Would they enable web notifications if it was universally available? Yes. Would they enable it just for Android users? Some do. Does this say something about the quality of PWA's? You tell me. You seem to be adamant that the web sucks, yet literally millions of companies are succesful on the web without accompanying apps.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      I never said the web sucks. The thesis was that Apple was holding PWAs back and given a choice, app developers wouldn’t create native iOS apps and just create web apps. If Apple’s lack of support for the necessary APIs was the deciding factor, the same developers who make native iOS apps wouldn’t go through the trouble of making native Android apps - yet they do.
      - spiderfarmer 6y ago
        No the thesis is that Apple is holding the web a a whole back. I’m not the one that says Apps like Youtube are better off or even good enough as a PWA. I’m arguing that if Apple enabled the notification API, a lot of websites and apps can save money by not replicating simple functionality in a native app. Your arguments don’t refute that at all.
        scarface74 6y ago
        If the lack of push notifications on iOS were the only thing forcing developers to create iOS apps, those same developers wouldn’t overwhelmingly be creating Android apps. Where are all the developers who are being forced to create iOS apps but are “saving money” by not creating Android apps because PWA support is so good?
        spiderfarmer 6y ago
        Most skip making apps all together because they rely on email notifications.
        scarface74 6y ago
        I agree. But if PWAs were good enough on Android, you should see, depending on your budget from largest to smallest: 1. Web, iOS, Android 2. Web, iOS - since PWAs are suppose to be “good enough for Android”. 3. Web But you hardly ever see #2. Why is that?