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Show HN: Mu – a new Micro app platform

19 points by asim 3y ago

gsuuon 3y ago
Are there any existing web-app stores? I always wondered why that wasn't more of a thing. I like the idea of an all-in-one development platform and app aggregator. As a dev though I'd be concerned about feature parity with say firebase for storage and being limited to bitcoin for payments. I feel like the main value would be as a store front or app aggregator. Some UI feedback - the app sidebar covers a large part of the screen on vertical displays.
- asim 3y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. I don't know why there are no web app stores. It's sort of weird. I guess everyone did commerce on their own sites and then things like Shopify showed up. Will take the comments on board about vertical displays. And totally get the point about firebase and payments in bitcoin. We'll probably have an onramp from credit cards soon.
  - gsuuon 3y ago
    I meant stores like the Apple app store, Google play store or chrome extensions store, but for standalone web apps. Not necessarily commerce, just a place to discover apps but for the browser. Maybe you could take a Brave-like model where the platform collects payments as credits and users can easily distribute them over their favorites without any additional transactions.
    - asim 3y ago
      Ah yea makes sense. I do like the Brave model. Something for us to consider. We actually only do BTC transactions as the first money in and then everything is as you say a credit model but we should make that more explicit with a Mu credit or something rather than a BTC balance
eternityforest 3y ago
Is there some kind of service out there that handles the Bitcoin automatically, so neither users or devs have to actually ever own any and deal. with all the manual tax data entry that can happen if you own any? I remember buying a few dollars of crypto to test something, and spending an hour trying to figure out the taxes on it.
- asim 3y ago
  Personally I don't think you should have to worry about minor transactions in that way but it's a good point and something we'll take into consideration as we continue to build things out.
  - eternityforest 3y ago
    Not having to worry about minor transactions seems reasonable, but it's still a hassle to go looking around for a wallet service, figure out the bank linking, track down whatever ID number they want you to have, etc, people might not go through all the trouble for most services.
valrix 3y ago
With the payments only being in Bitcoin, far less people will be willing to touch it, self included. It would also be nice to have other authentication methods, such as Passkeys, available as well. Looks pretty neat though, reminds me a lot of WeChat.
bithavoc 3y ago
what happened to mu.app?
- asim 3y ago
  It still exists. It's where the actual app lives https://mu.app https://mu.app
  - jslakro 3y ago
    What's the difference then? mu.xyz is going to have an additional offer?
    - asim 3y ago
      Mu.xyz is the main site where we'll put the landing page, blog, content, etc and mu.app is where the actual app will be hosted e.g like the difference between a WhatsApp.com and the actual app you run on your phone.
quickthrower2 3y ago
Apart from the crypto you are building the thing I wanted to build. I was thinking the same things you are saying. The closest thing so far is PHP shared hosting ala 1990s style and a platform that let you code and deploy in the browser (I forgot the name) but it felt limited. We have this bizarre situation where github spaces, github actions and something like vercel is as close as you can get but it is complicated. Well done on the launch!
- asim 3y ago
  Thank you! Great to hear others shared similar ideas.
chillbill 3y ago
[dead]
wenebego 3y ago
Any plans for supporting eth?
- asim 3y ago
  Yea potentially. I don't think we're stuck on BTC but using it as the starting point and then will figure out other kind of onramps too. I don't know if we need to maintain balances in these currencies though. Feedback welcome!
devdao 3y ago
I made a comment on the comments app about accessibility and how cryptocurrency tips are not a real payment layer... Message failed to post. Call me again when it works.

19 points by asim 3y ago

Are there any existing web-app stores? I always wondered why that wasn't more of a thing. I like the idea of an all-in-one development platform and app aggregator. As a dev though I'd be concerned about feature parity with say firebase for storage and being limited to bitcoin for payments. I feel like the main value would be as a store front or app aggregator. Some UI feedback - the app sidebar covers a large part of the screen on vertical displays.

asim 3y ago
Thanks for the feedback. I don't know why there are no web app stores. It's sort of weird. I guess everyone did commerce on their own sites and then things like Shopify showed up. Will take the comments on board about vertical displays. And totally get the point about firebase and payments in bitcoin. We'll probably have an onramp from credit cards soon.
- gsuuon 3y ago
  I meant stores like the Apple app store, Google play store or chrome extensions store, but for standalone web apps. Not necessarily commerce, just a place to discover apps but for the browser. Maybe you could take a Brave-like model where the platform collects payments as credits and users can easily distribute them over their favorites without any additional transactions.
  - asim 3y ago
    Ah yea makes sense. I do like the Brave model. Something for us to consider. We actually only do BTC transactions as the first money in and then everything is as you say a credit model but we should make that more explicit with a Mu credit or something rather than a BTC balance

eternityforest 3y ago

Is there some kind of service out there that handles the Bitcoin automatically, so neither users or devs have to actually ever own any and deal. with all the manual tax data entry that can happen if you own any? I remember buying a few dollars of crypto to test something, and spending an hour trying to figure out the taxes on it.

asim 3y ago
Personally I don't think you should have to worry about minor transactions in that way but it's a good point and something we'll take into consideration as we continue to build things out.
- eternityforest 3y ago
  Not having to worry about minor transactions seems reasonable, but it's still a hassle to go looking around for a wallet service, figure out the bank linking, track down whatever ID number they want you to have, etc, people might not go through all the trouble for most services.

valrix 3y ago

With the payments only being in Bitcoin, far less people will be willing to touch it, self included. It would also be nice to have other authentication methods, such as Passkeys, available as well. Looks pretty neat though, reminds me a lot of WeChat.

bithavoc 3y ago

what happened to mu.app?

asim 3y ago
It still exists. It's where the actual app lives https://mu.app https://mu.app
- jslakro 3y ago
  What's the difference then? mu.xyz is going to have an additional offer?
  - asim 3y ago
    Mu.xyz is the main site where we'll put the landing page, blog, content, etc and mu.app is where the actual app will be hosted e.g like the difference between a WhatsApp.com and the actual app you run on your phone.

quickthrower2 3y ago

Apart from the crypto you are building the thing I wanted to build. I was thinking the same things you are saying. The closest thing so far is PHP shared hosting ala 1990s style and a platform that let you code and deploy in the browser (I forgot the name) but it felt limited. We have this bizarre situation where github spaces, github actions and something like vercel is as close as you can get but it is complicated. Well done on the launch!

asim 3y ago
Thank you! Great to hear others shared similar ideas.

chillbill 3y ago

[dead]

wenebego 3y ago

Any plans for supporting eth?

asim 3y ago
Yea potentially. I don't think we're stuck on BTC but using it as the starting point and then will figure out other kind of onramps too. I don't know if we need to maintain balances in these currencies though. Feedback welcome!

devdao 3y ago

I made a comment on the comments app about accessibility and how cryptocurrency tips are not a real payment layer... Message failed to post. Call me again when it works.