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Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? I get the cynicism with apps like threads, being mobile-app only. But OpenAI's business model is sellin

Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? I get the cynicism with apps like threads, being mobile-app only. But OpenAI's business model is selling API access to a LLM - chatGPT is just a basic consumer front end. They've given no indication that they would want to deprecate the very actively developed web front end - and I see no motivation for them to do that. Unlike social media platforms - OpenAI doesn't need to control the consumer UI - they make money either way. Alternative UI's and adblockers aren't a threat to them. They also don't have "engagement stats" to worry about. I'm just saying we shouldn't get pitch forks out just yet, "native app" is often a selling point.

webstrand 3y ago
> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? Yeah, pretty much. The privacy controls on Android, at least, are very poor and you leak tons of private data to native apps that doesn't leak to web apps.
joshmn 3y ago
> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? I personally am only against apps that give me zero utility or value over what a website can do. If I want to add you to my home screen, I will; if I care enough I'll certainly remember the website.
- cglong 3y ago
  I too would've preferred a PWA, but in its absence, at least now I'll have easy access from my apps list.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Well, on my iPhone being able to activate Siri and saying “Ask ChatGPT” is utility.
version_five 3y ago
I'm not saying and app shouldn't exist, I couldn't care less. I'm concerned based on a precedent that I've seen of either harassing or forcing users onto an app as I personally don't want to use one nor be constantly dismissing modal windows telling me how much better it is.
- pedroma 3y ago
  There's a plethora of UIs available already. Really you just need to accept user text input and output text input, so it's not that complicated to build a UI for their API (which appears to be their main product).
unethical_ban 3y ago
Suddenly? When haven't HNers had skepticism about native apps when the mobile experience is sufficient? What does a native app bring to the table?
charcircuit 3y ago
>They also don't have "engagement stats" to worry about. ChatGPT's engagement stats are the whole reason the latest LLM hype cycle began.
- classified 3y ago
  Not the only reason, they also want to sell shovels to gold diggers. Keeping the hype alive helps with that.
lolinder 3y ago
My concern with native apps is only sometimes about privacy. Mostly it's that they're typically bloated and take up a huge amount of space. If I install every 50-500MB app that every single company wants me to install, I run out of space on my phone pretty fast. With a web app I can pretty much trust the browser to keep the cache at around 500MB for all pages I visit.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  So exactly how is an app more invasive of privacy than a website? What information vs they get about you that you don’t explicitly allow? In fact, it’s easier to be tracked across the web than by individual apps without permission
  - lolinder 3y ago
    I think you missed the point of my comment, which is that my concern about apps is mostly about bloat, not privacy. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who will be happy to explain why an app is more invasive (it is), but this is an odd reply to my comment.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      Your words > My concern with native apps is only sometimes about privacy An app at least on iOS has no more access to information on your phone than a website unless you give it permission.
JohnFen 3y ago
> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? Not suddenly. I turned against mobile apps a long time ago, for privacy reasons. That said, I'm not upset about OpenAI releasing one. They can do whatever they like, obviously.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  How can apps invade your privacy without explicitly giving them permission?
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    In a bunch of ways. Even ignoring that the Android permissions system is full of holes, apps don't need permission to engage in telemetry. Of course, web sites or web apps aren't really any better when it comes to Android. On a desktop, I prefer native applications over web sites or web apps because I can at least firewall off native applications.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      > apps don't need permission to engage in telemetry. What type of “telemetry” is available to an app connecting to remote servers without your permission that isn’t available to a website?
scarface_74 3y ago
> they make money either way I mean I wouldn’t say they make money. They are losing millions and only surviving because of subsidies from Microsoft

webstrand 3y ago

> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? Yeah, pretty much. The privacy controls on Android, at least, are very poor and you leak tons of private data to native apps that doesn't leak to web apps.

joshmn 3y ago

> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? I personally am only against apps that give me zero utility or value over what a website can do. If I want to add you to my home screen, I will; if I care enough I'll certainly remember the website.

cglong 3y ago
I too would've preferred a PWA, but in its absence, at least now I'll have easy access from my apps list.
scarface_74 3y ago
Well, on my iPhone being able to activate Siri and saying “Ask ChatGPT” is utility.

version_five 3y ago

I'm not saying and app shouldn't exist, I couldn't care less. I'm concerned based on a precedent that I've seen of either harassing or forcing users onto an app as I personally don't want to use one nor be constantly dismissing modal windows telling me how much better it is.

pedroma 3y ago
There's a plethora of UIs available already. Really you just need to accept user text input and output text input, so it's not that complicated to build a UI for their API (which appears to be their main product).

unethical_ban 3y ago

Suddenly? When haven't HNers had skepticism about native apps when the mobile experience is sufficient? What does a native app bring to the table?

charcircuit 3y ago

>They also don't have "engagement stats" to worry about. ChatGPT's engagement stats are the whole reason the latest LLM hype cycle began.

classified 3y ago
Not the only reason, they also want to sell shovels to gold diggers. Keeping the hype alive helps with that.

lolinder 3y ago

My concern with native apps is only sometimes about privacy. Mostly it's that they're typically bloated and take up a huge amount of space. If I install every 50-500MB app that every single company wants me to install, I run out of space on my phone pretty fast. With a web app I can pretty much trust the browser to keep the cache at around 500MB for all pages I visit.

scarface_74 3y ago
So exactly how is an app more invasive of privacy than a website? What information vs they get about you that you don’t explicitly allow? In fact, it’s easier to be tracked across the web than by individual apps without permission
- lolinder 3y ago
  I think you missed the point of my comment, which is that my concern about apps is mostly about bloat, not privacy. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who will be happy to explain why an app is more invasive (it is), but this is an odd reply to my comment.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Your words > My concern with native apps is only sometimes about privacy An app at least on iOS has no more access to information on your phone than a website unless you give it permission.

JohnFen 3y ago

> Are we suddenly against native mobile apps altogether? Not suddenly. I turned against mobile apps a long time ago, for privacy reasons. That said, I'm not upset about OpenAI releasing one. They can do whatever they like, obviously.

scarface_74 3y ago
How can apps invade your privacy without explicitly giving them permission?
- JohnFen 3y ago
  In a bunch of ways. Even ignoring that the Android permissions system is full of holes, apps don't need permission to engage in telemetry. Of course, web sites or web apps aren't really any better when it comes to Android. On a desktop, I prefer native applications over web sites or web apps because I can at least firewall off native applications.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    > apps don't need permission to engage in telemetry. What type of “telemetry” is available to an app connecting to remote servers without your permission that isn’t available to a website?

scarface_74 3y ago

> they make money either way I mean I wouldn’t say they make money. They are losing millions and only surviving because of subsidies from Microsoft