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Whats the advantage of this over Capacitor (https://capacitorjs.com https://capacitorjs.com) from the Ionic team? Capacitor supports notifications and would be

Whats the advantage of this over Capacitor (https://capacitorjs.com https://capacitorjs.com) from the Ionic team? Capacitor supports notifications and would be more extendable going forward I think. Although maybe more work upfront?

riantogo 5y ago
Can you accept in-app payments with Capacitor? Asking because I did not see it listed as an official plugin. My goal is to create a simple kids app that can be monetized via monthly subscription. I can build a traditional website, but don't have much clue on the easiest way to also publish it as an app (both for iOS and Android). Any recommendation on how to go about it if my skill is web development?
- yesimahuman 5y ago
  Absolutely, you can do anything native in Capacitor. In this case we have a guide: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/guides/in-app-purchases https://capacitorjs.com/docs/guides/in-app-purchases
  - riantogo 5y ago
    Awesome. Thanks.
judah 5y ago
I'm no expert in Capacitor, but from what I understand, different goals. Capacitor aims to give expose native functionality via runtimes and plugins. A kind of mixed web/native hybrid. PWABuilder's aim is more limited in scope: to make PWAs great on iOS. We are not so much concerned about exposing native functionality, and more concerned about making PWA functionality work everywhere. We address some of this in our iOS FAQs: https://blog.pwabuilder.com/docs/ios-faq https://blog.pwabuilder.com/docs/ios-faq
- samwillis 5y ago
  Just had a quick look and it seems you can achieve the same thing with Capacitor: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/web/progressive-web-apps https://capacitorjs.com/docs/web/progressive-web-apps
  - judah 5y ago
    Still different goals there. You add Capacitor's JS runtime to your PWA then use plugins and other Capacitor-based capabilities. PWABuilder's goal is more limited in scope: take your existing PWA, no changes, and publish to app stores. For some folks, Capacitor will be the right answer. But we think there's value in making PWAs as-is run well on iOS.
    - yesimahuman 5y ago
      Capacitor creator here: agreed that Capacitor absolutely could be used by the PWA Builder team to power this and still keep their goals/values in mind (we also have a connection through Justin at PWA Builder who was an old Ionic team member!) I am going to chat w/ Judah about this, already have a convo on github
      - gavinray 5y ago
        It has been really cool to watch the evolution from Apache PhoneGap -> Cordova -> Ionic -> Capacitor (where now Ionic is the UI component library) I had strong negative experiences/opinions, all the way up until Capacitor. It's good tech and an undervalued option when compared to React Native. Source: Have built mobile apps with PhoneGap, React Native, NativeScript, and Android. I'm not a fan of React Native -- though my last experiences with it were many years ago so I'm sure much has changed. Also I don't think most "native apps" need to be native apps. They want a place on the homescreen usually, not use of underlying hardware API's like accelerometers. Most "native apps" should really be installable PWA's or using something like Capacitor IMO.
        5y ago
SmileyJames 5y ago
Capacitor is great! At the BBC, we significantly reduced the cost of producing apps for children by adopting Capacitor. We write one React PWA and ship it to the Play Store, iOS App Store, Amazon App store and Amazon Kids+ store. It's native integration helps with push notifications and also reliable persistent storage on device.
- santa_boy 5y ago
  It's very encouraging to hear this. Most content business apps (incl. ours) would likely have similar underlying tech structure. Would you mind sharing the app links and any documentation / blog posts to make the app efficient and approval process smooth.
  - yesimahuman 5y ago
    Here's the medium post the BBC team put together last year. We're huge fans of what they've built! https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/shipping-progressive-web-apps-everywhere-190a421c606a https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/shipping-progressi...

riantogo 5y ago

Can you accept in-app payments with Capacitor? Asking because I did not see it listed as an official plugin. My goal is to create a simple kids app that can be monetized via monthly subscription. I can build a traditional website, but don't have much clue on the easiest way to also publish it as an app (both for iOS and Android). Any recommendation on how to go about it if my skill is web development?

yesimahuman 5y ago
Absolutely, you can do anything native in Capacitor. In this case we have a guide: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/guides/in-app-purchases https://capacitorjs.com/docs/guides/in-app-purchases
- riantogo 5y ago
  Awesome. Thanks.

judah 5y ago

I'm no expert in Capacitor, but from what I understand, different goals. Capacitor aims to give expose native functionality via runtimes and plugins. A kind of mixed web/native hybrid. PWABuilder's aim is more limited in scope: to make PWAs great on iOS. We are not so much concerned about exposing native functionality, and more concerned about making PWA functionality work everywhere. We address some of this in our iOS FAQs: https://blog.pwabuilder.com/docs/ios-faq https://blog.pwabuilder.com/docs/ios-faq

samwillis 5y ago
Just had a quick look and it seems you can achieve the same thing with Capacitor: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/web/progressive-web-apps https://capacitorjs.com/docs/web/progressive-web-apps
- judah 5y ago
  Still different goals there. You add Capacitor's JS runtime to your PWA then use plugins and other Capacitor-based capabilities. PWABuilder's goal is more limited in scope: take your existing PWA, no changes, and publish to app stores. For some folks, Capacitor will be the right answer. But we think there's value in making PWAs as-is run well on iOS.
  - yesimahuman 5y ago
    Capacitor creator here: agreed that Capacitor absolutely could be used by the PWA Builder team to power this and still keep their goals/values in mind (we also have a connection through Justin at PWA Builder who was an old Ionic team member!) I am going to chat w/ Judah about this, already have a convo on github
    - gavinray 5y ago
      It has been really cool to watch the evolution from Apache PhoneGap -> Cordova -> Ionic -> Capacitor (where now Ionic is the UI component library) I had strong negative experiences/opinions, all the way up until Capacitor. It's good tech and an undervalued option when compared to React Native. Source: Have built mobile apps with PhoneGap, React Native, NativeScript, and Android. I'm not a fan of React Native -- though my last experiences with it were many years ago so I'm sure much has changed. Also I don't think most "native apps" need to be native apps. They want a place on the homescreen usually, not use of underlying hardware API's like accelerometers. Most "native apps" should really be installable PWA's or using something like Capacitor IMO.
      - 5y ago

SmileyJames 5y ago

Capacitor is great! At the BBC, we significantly reduced the cost of producing apps for children by adopting Capacitor. We write one React PWA and ship it to the Play Store, iOS App Store, Amazon App store and Amazon Kids+ store. It's native integration helps with push notifications and also reliable persistent storage on device.

santa_boy 5y ago
It's very encouraging to hear this. Most content business apps (incl. ours) would likely have similar underlying tech structure. Would you mind sharing the app links and any documentation / blog posts to make the app efficient and approval process smooth.
- yesimahuman 5y ago
  Here's the medium post the BBC team put together last year. We're huge fans of what they've built! https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/shipping-progressive-web-apps-everywhere-190a421c606a https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/shipping-progressi...