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I hate web apps with a passion. Has anyone ever used the iOS YouTube app? This thing is hailed as a marvelous examples of web apps working "like native." Bolloc

I hate web apps with a passion. Has anyone ever used the iOS YouTube app? This thing is hailed as a marvelous examples of web apps working "like native." Bollocks. It's an absolute mess. If one of the wealthiest companies in the world can't build a decent web app, there is no hope for anyone else. Web apps get the user 80% of what they want with 50% of the cost, so the business case is clear. That's why these apps are proliferating. They are not proliferating because they're good, as good, or better. They're just not.

biztos 4y ago
The trillion-dollar company is often less able to produce quality products than a small shop, because of bureaucracy and hubris and dead weight. So while I agree that the business case for web apps incentivizes mediocrity, there is still plenty of hope for everyone else. If your startup has a really great web app with awesome UX, you will have a pretty big advantage.
- ratww 4y ago
  True, but not so fast: small shops are also constantly trying to copy the bureaucracy, the hubris and dead weight. Eventually I expect all of them to get there.
julianbuse 4y ago
By web app, I believe the author meant apps served in a browser, not a mobile app made from html/css/js with a cordova/capacitorjs wrapper. Also, google has problems delivering functionality in general. Have you tried using google home? It never works properly for me, and for some reason I can't log in to my family's home with my google workspaces account. Most things except for search are a mess there, and search is getting worse as well.
plaff 4y ago
I think it's because most apps are influenced way too much by "standards" that people expect but actually sucks. I have 2 examples of web apps working really fucking well: Missive (https://missiveapp.com/ https://missiveapp.com/) is an email client web app with features that should be standard in every other email client. I run it via Firefox and it's the best damn email client I've ever used. It uses JS extensively but they use it very well. Migadu (https://migadu.com/ https://migadu.com/) is the absolute golden standard of email inbox services. It's not fancy but oh my days, does it work and it's so damn easy to use. Every time I have to set up emails I get happy because these guys spent exactly 0 seconds on trying to appeal to people who equates parallax-scrolling with competence. Migadu does not use JS as far as I can tell. As a counterpoint to both, Office 365/Outlook is a gigantic, floppy donkey dick of a web app that makes all sorts of assumptions, has 3 different interfaces and is generally just a pain in the ass to use. Somthing as simple as logging in/out is a muddled, technical mess that makes it a god damned chore to change accounts.
1023bytes 4y ago
I'm pretty sure the iOS YouTube app is native.
Silica6149 4y ago
Exactly. Money's always the answer behind why large companies seemingly make bad software. There's always some cost-benefit analysis behind every decision.

biztos 4y ago

The trillion-dollar company is often less able to produce quality products than a small shop, because of bureaucracy and hubris and dead weight. So while I agree that the business case for web apps incentivizes mediocrity, there is still plenty of hope for everyone else. If your startup has a really great web app with awesome UX, you will have a pretty big advantage.

ratww 4y ago
True, but not so fast: small shops are also constantly trying to copy the bureaucracy, the hubris and dead weight. Eventually I expect all of them to get there.

julianbuse 4y ago

By web app, I believe the author meant apps served in a browser, not a mobile app made from html/css/js with a cordova/capacitorjs wrapper. Also, google has problems delivering functionality in general. Have you tried using google home? It never works properly for me, and for some reason I can't log in to my family's home with my google workspaces account. Most things except for search are a mess there, and search is getting worse as well.

plaff 4y ago

I think it's because most apps are influenced way too much by "standards" that people expect but actually sucks. I have 2 examples of web apps working really fucking well: Missive (https://missiveapp.com/ https://missiveapp.com/) is an email client web app with features that should be standard in every other email client. I run it via Firefox and it's the best damn email client I've ever used. It uses JS extensively but they use it very well. Migadu (https://migadu.com/ https://migadu.com/) is the absolute golden standard of email inbox services. It's not fancy but oh my days, does it work and it's so damn easy to use. Every time I have to set up emails I get happy because these guys spent exactly 0 seconds on trying to appeal to people who equates parallax-scrolling with competence. Migadu does not use JS as far as I can tell. As a counterpoint to both, Office 365/Outlook is a gigantic, floppy donkey dick of a web app that makes all sorts of assumptions, has 3 different interfaces and is generally just a pain in the ass to use. Somthing as simple as logging in/out is a muddled, technical mess that makes it a god damned chore to change accounts.

1023bytes 4y ago

I'm pretty sure the iOS YouTube app is native.

Silica6149 4y ago

Exactly. Money's always the answer behind why large companies seemingly make bad software. There's always some cost-benefit analysis behind every decision.