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Web Apps don't require an extra installation step, they merely allow the user to "install" the app -- to pin it to the homescreen and have it open without the b

Web Apps don't require an extra installation step, they merely allow the user to "install" the app -- to pin it to the homescreen and have it open without the browser UI.

PaulHoule 3y ago
I’ve never understood that. To me mobile icons all look the same and it is highly stressful to scroll through pages of them. Even Apple is terrible if you just stop and think. Photos are just a meaningless pinwheel, the Settings are hidden behind a movie poster for The Golden Compass, if I had a Hacker News app it would get confused with all the other apps that have an H or N or Y for their icon or that are colored orange. As it is I can type “n” on my iPad and… it is auto suggested. I type “1” and it suggests my web based RSS reader - why are brands shooting themselves in the foot by getting lost in a maze of twisty icons that all look alike? What I don’t understand is that I can frequently ‘grok’ icons on my desktop although I hardly ever use them (so much easier to hit the windows button and type 2 or 3 letters and hit enter). Steam will install icons for games I download an instantly I know that’s Atelier Sophie. I use Microsoft’s RDP client for iPad all the time and think it is great but the icon is completely meaningless, it is just some burnt umber wedges that look like the logo of a multimodal shipping company from the 1970s.
- antihipocrat 3y ago
  Scrolling through the app list stresses me out too, I avoid it and just pin apps I regularly use to the home screens. Authenticator apps are a great example, I don't use them often enough to pin to home and all are identically named and have generic icons. Another pain point is the overuse of material design with similar color schemes (it's not just google apps that use this). Half the app list become lost in a sea of red, blue, green and yellow fragments.
- criddell 3y ago
  I mostly agree with you and that’s why I use a single page with the eight or so apps that I actually use daily. All the rest are in the App Library and I launch them with search. For me, it’s much faster than scrolling and looking for the icon. Typically I only have to type one or two characters to find the app I need.
gpsx 3y ago
I did not know you could do that. I think I show how lazy/non-power-user-ish some people can be. On my iphone I rely on "Frequently Visited" web links because I just don't seem to like "Favorites". I don't know why. I don't use bookmarks on my web browser either. So now I moved some web pages onto my homescreen, inside a folder. (It took a long time to figure out how to make a folder.) I will do this with other web pages too. I don't like installing apps unless it is something I wil really use. I stil have far too many. I should probably delete/move to folders several of those. (And for what it is worth, the (email) inbox on my iphone shows 129,523 message unread)

Web Apps don't require an extra installation step, they merely allow the user to "install" the app -- to pin it to the homescreen and have it open without the browser UI.

PaulHoule 3y ago

I’ve never understood that. To me mobile icons all look the same and it is highly stressful to scroll through pages of them. Even Apple is terrible if you just stop and think. Photos are just a meaningless pinwheel, the Settings are hidden behind a movie poster for The Golden Compass, if I had a Hacker News app it would get confused with all the other apps that have an H or N or Y for their icon or that are colored orange. As it is I can type “n” on my iPad and… it is auto suggested. I type “1” and it suggests my web based RSS reader - why are brands shooting themselves in the foot by getting lost in a maze of twisty icons that all look alike? What I don’t understand is that I can frequently ‘grok’ icons on my desktop although I hardly ever use them (so much easier to hit the windows button and type 2 or 3 letters and hit enter). Steam will install icons for games I download an instantly I know that’s Atelier Sophie. I use Microsoft’s RDP client for iPad all the time and think it is great but the icon is completely meaningless, it is just some burnt umber wedges that look like the logo of a multimodal shipping company from the 1970s.

antihipocrat 3y ago
Scrolling through the app list stresses me out too, I avoid it and just pin apps I regularly use to the home screens. Authenticator apps are a great example, I don't use them often enough to pin to home and all are identically named and have generic icons. Another pain point is the overuse of material design with similar color schemes (it's not just google apps that use this). Half the app list become lost in a sea of red, blue, green and yellow fragments.
criddell 3y ago
I mostly agree with you and that’s why I use a single page with the eight or so apps that I actually use daily. All the rest are in the App Library and I launch them with search. For me, it’s much faster than scrolling and looking for the icon. Typically I only have to type one or two characters to find the app I need.

gpsx 3y ago

I did not know you could do that. I think I show how lazy/non-power-user-ish some people can be. On my iphone I rely on "Frequently Visited" web links because I just don't seem to like "Favorites". I don't know why. I don't use bookmarks on my web browser either. So now I moved some web pages onto my homescreen, inside a folder. (It took a long time to figure out how to make a folder.) I will do this with other web pages too. I don't like installing apps unless it is something I wil really use. I stil have far too many. I should probably delete/move to folders several of those. (And for what it is worth, the (email) inbox on my iphone shows 129,523 message unread)