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It's so frustrating that they deliberately make shitty web apps in order to force you to install an app on your phone (e.g. reddit, instagram) It should be ill

It's so frustrating that they deliberately make shitty web apps in order to force you to install an app on your phone (e.g. reddit, instagram) It should be illegal imo

CyberRabbi 6y ago
Yeah I agree with the spirit of that. There should be a name for that practice, something that makes it sound as bad as it is but catchy. Maybe, something like webhostaging. Reddit’s webapp on mobile is notorious for webhostaging you into downloading their native app. It’s literally unusable. There should also be a name for ostensibly public social media sites that webhostage you into signing up. Instagram comes to mind. It’s a reprehensible dark pattern.
- egeozcan 6y ago
  Maybe webhijacking? Maybe I should purchase a domain and document it... Who knows, maybe it catches on and people start linking to it.
  - CyberRabbi 6y ago
    Yes there needs to be a single use site for this. Everyone is familiar with this , it just needs a catchy name so people on Twitter spread this and easily shame websites en masse for doing it. Webhijacking is too similar to webjacking IMO https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/web-jacking/ https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/web-jacking/
    - egeozcan 6y ago
      I knew it sounded familiar from somewhere, thanks! :)
- Y_Y 6y ago
  "webhostaging" is a much catchier name than the other suggestions in sibling comments, I think, and more memorable because it sounds weird (a bit like "webhosting"?). It's so clever I think I'll start using it, and also telling people I came up with it by myself.
  - CyberRabbi 6y ago
    It does sound too Much like web hosting and in that sense it’s a fail. Steal it all you want, I win if companies start feeling shame anyway.
- _Qeomash_ 6y ago
  App + Oppression = Appression
- kubanczyk 6y ago
  Appforcing? The industry term is "web-to-app conversion" by the way.
  - CyberRabbi 6y ago
    I like this suggestion, I think it needs to be more catchy and roll off the tongue a bit easier. Here are some other suggestions: Appholing Appstunting Nativebaiting
- prox 6y ago
  Webcrapp Has both web and app in it, and it says what it does. Could also be webcrapping as verb.
  - CyberRabbi 6y ago
    I think a verb-oriented word is more powerful at shaming than a noun-oriented word. I think Crap is a little too vulgar to appeal to most people, some might feel uncomfortable at work saying crap for Instance. But try it out!
KptMarchewa 6y ago
At least reddit allows third party apps.
- malikNF 6y ago
  Well how long before they tell us they are "a very different company" [1] and decide to pull the plug on 3rd party apps. [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/6xfyfg/an_update_on_the_state_of_the_redditreddit_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/6xfyfg/an_update...
- krtkush 6y ago
  I think the eventual limitations on 3rd party apps are coming. A major part of the community has used/ is using the superior 3rd party alternatives, and they need to figure out how to nullify those advantages. It is inevitable because they want that sweet advertisement money for which 3rd party apps are a barrier.
rplnt 6y ago
I'm fairly certain Jira does this as well. At least the first step of making the web app deliberately shitty.
- nicoburns 6y ago
  JIRA just has poor-quality engineering all round. Their native apps are just as bad.
lima 6y ago
Slack, too. Slack has a perfectly good workspace sidebar in their web app, but they hide it unless you're on a Chromebook (where you can't install their native app).
- jooize 6y ago
  Does spoofing user agent help?
- spockz 6y ago
  Can you spoof the user agent to get it to show?
  - lima 6y ago
    Yes. There's a Chrome extension that does it and a couple user scripts: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/144258/slacks-web-version-shows-workspace-switching-sidebar-but-only-on-chromebooks https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/144258/slacks-we...
- bierjunge 6y ago
  Depends on your Chromebook, I have a Acer R13 and it's installed and running (just checked it). Android app's don't have a designated "runs on Chromebook" Flag as far I know, so you can't really block it. But Chromebooks are sometimes a little bit special. I'm working on a app right now which is designed for tablets and wanted to check if I could run it on my Chromebook, because of the bigger screen (13" compared to Samsung S5/S6 with ~10") and I couldn't install it from the alpha channel. The thing was, it has a camera, a front camera, but the Manifest.xml required the default camera permission which was missing and this prevented me from even finding the app in the PlayStore. And Slack as app is basically only the website. All the "native" apps seem to just render it (Linux, MacOs and Windows are Electron apps, the Android version feels like a WebView)
brianzelip 6y ago
See everything google related.
DavidPeiffer 6y ago
Facebook is the #1 offender in my opinion. I absolutely refuse to install any Facebook app. Back in the day, you could message people in the mobile browser without issue. Heck, it even loaded new messages without needing to refresh. Then they decided you should need the app to message people. Then they decided you should use a completely separate app to message people versus browse Facebook. Now I have to use mbasic.facebook.com to message people. The quality of the experience dropped so much because, but I'm glad they don't have access to my contacts, text messages, location, etc. They get enough info about me from other sources.
- soverance 6y ago
  Yup, this exact timeline of degraded experience on Facebook led me to disable my account. I haven't reactivated it in over a year, and I'm happier for it.
  - DavidPeiffer 6y ago
    What kills me is I recall the mobile browser experience being better in the 2012 era than 2021. We've moved from alright 3G to widely available 4G with populous areas having 5G, and with home internet connections generally being much faster. The same website code could provide a much better experience simply from more bandwidth availability. Instead we've regressed because everything needs an app now. Some forum software allows the owners to create an app then prompts you to install their app. Not sure which it is, but it's super annoying. Over the last couple, reddit has significantly limited their mobile website utility, requiring login (like Instagram) and nagging you to download the app. Marketing metrics seem to have overcome usability in terms of relative importance. It's really frustrating to see what the movie computing environment has become.
- coding123 6y ago
  I asked my dad to send me a picture of his shed recently. He asked if I have WhatsApp. I reminded him I don't use any social media. And he said, uh, it's going to be very hard for me to figure out how to send it without WhatsApp.. No shed picture. But no compromises here either. Also I find it totally hilarious that I'm 42 and I have never even seen WhatsApp's interface yet my 80 year old father is a social media expert in a lot of ways.

It's so frustrating that they deliberately make shitty web apps in order to force you to install an app on your phone (e.g. reddit, instagram) It should be illegal imo

CyberRabbi 6y ago

Yeah I agree with the spirit of that. There should be a name for that practice, something that makes it sound as bad as it is but catchy. Maybe, something like webhostaging. Reddit’s webapp on mobile is notorious for webhostaging you into downloading their native app. It’s literally unusable. There should also be a name for ostensibly public social media sites that webhostage you into signing up. Instagram comes to mind. It’s a reprehensible dark pattern.

egeozcan 6y ago
Maybe webhijacking? Maybe I should purchase a domain and document it... Who knows, maybe it catches on and people start linking to it.
- CyberRabbi 6y ago
  Yes there needs to be a single use site for this. Everyone is familiar with this , it just needs a catchy name so people on Twitter spread this and easily shame websites en masse for doing it. Webhijacking is too similar to webjacking IMO https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/web-jacking/ https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/web-jacking/
  - egeozcan 6y ago
    I knew it sounded familiar from somewhere, thanks! :)
Y_Y 6y ago
"webhostaging" is a much catchier name than the other suggestions in sibling comments, I think, and more memorable because it sounds weird (a bit like "webhosting"?). It's so clever I think I'll start using it, and also telling people I came up with it by myself.
- CyberRabbi 6y ago
  It does sound too Much like web hosting and in that sense it’s a fail. Steal it all you want, I win if companies start feeling shame anyway.
_Qeomash_ 6y ago
App + Oppression = Appression
kubanczyk 6y ago
Appforcing? The industry term is "web-to-app conversion" by the way.
- CyberRabbi 6y ago
  I like this suggestion, I think it needs to be more catchy and roll off the tongue a bit easier. Here are some other suggestions: Appholing Appstunting Nativebaiting
prox 6y ago
Webcrapp Has both web and app in it, and it says what it does. Could also be webcrapping as verb.
- CyberRabbi 6y ago
  I think a verb-oriented word is more powerful at shaming than a noun-oriented word. I think Crap is a little too vulgar to appeal to most people, some might feel uncomfortable at work saying crap for Instance. But try it out!

KptMarchewa 6y ago

At least reddit allows third party apps.

malikNF 6y ago
Well how long before they tell us they are "a very different company" [1] and decide to pull the plug on 3rd party apps. [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/6xfyfg/an_update_on_the_state_of_the_redditreddit_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/6xfyfg/an_update...
krtkush 6y ago
I think the eventual limitations on 3rd party apps are coming. A major part of the community has used/ is using the superior 3rd party alternatives, and they need to figure out how to nullify those advantages. It is inevitable because they want that sweet advertisement money for which 3rd party apps are a barrier.

rplnt 6y ago

I'm fairly certain Jira does this as well. At least the first step of making the web app deliberately shitty.

nicoburns 6y ago
JIRA just has poor-quality engineering all round. Their native apps are just as bad.

lima 6y ago

Slack, too. Slack has a perfectly good workspace sidebar in their web app, but they hide it unless you're on a Chromebook (where you can't install their native app).

jooize 6y ago
Does spoofing user agent help?
spockz 6y ago
Can you spoof the user agent to get it to show?
- lima 6y ago
  Yes. There's a Chrome extension that does it and a couple user scripts: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/144258/slacks-web-version-shows-workspace-switching-sidebar-but-only-on-chromebooks https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/144258/slacks-we...
bierjunge 6y ago
Depends on your Chromebook, I have a Acer R13 and it's installed and running (just checked it). Android app's don't have a designated "runs on Chromebook" Flag as far I know, so you can't really block it. But Chromebooks are sometimes a little bit special. I'm working on a app right now which is designed for tablets and wanted to check if I could run it on my Chromebook, because of the bigger screen (13" compared to Samsung S5/S6 with ~10") and I couldn't install it from the alpha channel. The thing was, it has a camera, a front camera, but the Manifest.xml required the default camera permission which was missing and this prevented me from even finding the app in the PlayStore. And Slack as app is basically only the website. All the "native" apps seem to just render it (Linux, MacOs and Windows are Electron apps, the Android version feels like a WebView)

brianzelip 6y ago

See everything google related.

DavidPeiffer 6y ago

Facebook is the #1 offender in my opinion. I absolutely refuse to install any Facebook app. Back in the day, you could message people in the mobile browser without issue. Heck, it even loaded new messages without needing to refresh. Then they decided you should need the app to message people. Then they decided you should use a completely separate app to message people versus browse Facebook. Now I have to use mbasic.facebook.com to message people. The quality of the experience dropped so much because, but I'm glad they don't have access to my contacts, text messages, location, etc. They get enough info about me from other sources.

soverance 6y ago
Yup, this exact timeline of degraded experience on Facebook led me to disable my account. I haven't reactivated it in over a year, and I'm happier for it.
- DavidPeiffer 6y ago
  What kills me is I recall the mobile browser experience being better in the 2012 era than 2021. We've moved from alright 3G to widely available 4G with populous areas having 5G, and with home internet connections generally being much faster. The same website code could provide a much better experience simply from more bandwidth availability. Instead we've regressed because everything needs an app now. Some forum software allows the owners to create an app then prompts you to install their app. Not sure which it is, but it's super annoying. Over the last couple, reddit has significantly limited their mobile website utility, requiring login (like Instagram) and nagging you to download the app. Marketing metrics seem to have overcome usability in terms of relative importance. It's really frustrating to see what the movie computing environment has become.
coding123 6y ago
I asked my dad to send me a picture of his shed recently. He asked if I have WhatsApp. I reminded him I don't use any social media. And he said, uh, it's going to be very hard for me to figure out how to send it without WhatsApp.. No shed picture. But no compromises here either. Also I find it totally hilarious that I'm 42 and I have never even seen WhatsApp's interface yet my 80 year old father is a social media expert in a lot of ways.