3 ms·
> you really want to give the user a build for the right CPU architecture, but due to this lie you have to either ship a fat app to Safari users (much slower do
by jstanley 5y ago
> you really want to give the user a build for the right CPU architecture, but due to this lie you have to either ship a fat app to Safari users (much slower downloads), or give up and ask the user which to pick.
But the computer they download the application on isn't necessarily the computer they'll run it on anyway, so you still need to give the user the option to pick.
- lupire 5y agoFine, but 99% of the time the user does want the locally compatible version, and this is especially true for naive users who don't understand the differences and need more help to make a good choice. So they benefit from a well-chosen prominent default.
- Wowfunhappy 5y agoI agree, but I suspect GP is reacting to something else: a surprising number of sites outright will not let you download software for a platform that doesn't match your user agent. In the most egregious case, companies that don’t even support your platform will throw up a message like: “we’re still working on [platform] support, sign up for our mailing list to get notified when we launch!” The only way to download anything is to fake your browser’s user agent. This is bad. There should always be an override link.
- mike_hearn 5y agoThat's often true when people are downloading stuff for servers but how many are downloading on an M1 Mac and then moving it to an Intel Mac? It seems like an extreme edge case.
- Wowfunhappy 5y agoI think it's an edge case, but not necessarily an extreme edge case. Lots of people have both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and app bundles make it easy/natural to move apps between computers.