3 ms·

Spotify and many other services (Netflix, Youtube) began on the web. There's no reason to lock it behind an app store on mobile other than "if we don't do it,

• lxgr 3y ago
  > Spotify and many other services (Netflix, Youtube) began on the web. Spotify didn't have a web player available in the first few years of its existence. > There's no reason to lock it behind an app store on mobile other than "if we don't do it, Tidal/Deezer/Apple will". A webapp-only music streaming service sounds like a nightmare on a smartphone, considering offline playback, integration with the OSes native playback controls, wearable support etc.
  • rchaud 3y ago
    Progressive Web Apps have access to persistent storage. I'd be curious to know how much of Spotify listening happens offline; my guess is that it's very little. Either way, once sideloading is allowed on iOS I expect companies to aggressively renegotiate app store fees.
    • lxgr 3y ago
      To gigabytes worth of persistent storage? Last time I looked into it, that was not the case. > I'd be curious to know how much of Spotify listening happens offline; my guess is that it's very little. Then you haven't lived in a country with bad cell coverage, primarily metered/limited data plans, or both.
• yencabulator 3y ago
  Have you tried making a mobile music player as a web page? Does it work in the background, does it remain playing when the phone is locked?
  • rchaud 3y ago
    Background audio works in PWAs; see this project for an example: https://github.com/minht11/local-music-pwa/ https://github.com/minht11/local-music-pwa/