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Serious question, what PWAs are worth using on Android that don't work on iOS?

rchaud 3y ago
It's not about whether it's worth using, it's about having the mere option of building an app without the overhead of paying developer fees to Apple.
- evilduck 3y ago
  So it's not about PWAs at all then, it's just a handy complaint?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
spogbiper 3y ago
I don't think we can really know the potential of PWA, since most developers aren't going to put effort into PWAs if they won't work for a big chunk of the market. Apple is effectively strangling the technology on all platforms by refusing to support it on theirs.
- evilduck 3y ago
  If PWAs had any merit at all, why would anyone build a native Android app today where all these magic features are inhibited? What's actually missing that's stopping this from working?
  - beeboobaa 3y ago
    > What's actually missing that's stopping this from working? Proper support on all platforms. No point working on PWAs that have janky tooling (reason: see previous sentence) when they're only going to work decently on Android devices anyway.
    - evilduck 3y ago
      So why would you build a native Android app if PWAs work better? There’s way more web developers than Android developers, and you would avoid the Play Store fees. Sound cheaper to me. What part of iOS is invalidating the value proposition for Android here? You also didn’t answer what is missing. What is missing? What’s this insurmountable problem that’s solved everywhere else? Why is janky tooling attributable to Apple?
      - beeboobaa 3y ago
        Try reading my post again, maybe? The tooling is pretty janky because no one does this yet. No point to torture yourself with janky tooling when you only get to target android anyway...
        evilduck 3y ago
        Again, not answering a thing but a making up a claim you aren't willing or able to support. How is this supposed web development tooling jankiness attributable to Apple today? Feature detection is a solved problem. What tooling are you even referring to? You aren't even trying to support this with a concrete claim. This is nonsense and you know it. PWAs are the perfect scapegoat of infinite nebulous whining. The definition of a progressive web app might as well be "whatever Chrome has but Safari doesn't, no matter what year it is or how those features change, and no matter how terrible of an idea they might be even on Chrome".
        beeboobaa 3y ago
        > Proper support on all platforms. No point working on PWAs that have janky tooling (reason: see previous sentence) when they're only going to work decently on Android devices anyway. If you need it spelled out for you: * WebUSB * WebBLE * WebSerial * WebGL * Many more standards Apple refuses to implement because it would let developers break free of their walled garden Without being able to target apple devices why would I, or anyone, bother using these technologies and invest in their tooling? Just make a native android app with quality tooling that's been around for a decade and be done with it.

It's not about whether it's worth using, it's about having the mere option of building an app without the overhead of paying developer fees to Apple.

evilduck 3y ago
So it's not about PWAs at all then, it's just a handy complaint?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

spogbiper 3y ago

I don't think we can really know the potential of PWA, since most developers aren't going to put effort into PWAs if they won't work for a big chunk of the market. Apple is effectively strangling the technology on all platforms by refusing to support it on theirs.

evilduck 3y ago
If PWAs had any merit at all, why would anyone build a native Android app today where all these magic features are inhibited? What's actually missing that's stopping this from working?
- beeboobaa 3y ago
  > What's actually missing that's stopping this from working? Proper support on all platforms. No point working on PWAs that have janky tooling (reason: see previous sentence) when they're only going to work decently on Android devices anyway.
  - evilduck 3y ago
    So why would you build a native Android app if PWAs work better? There’s way more web developers than Android developers, and you would avoid the Play Store fees. Sound cheaper to me. What part of iOS is invalidating the value proposition for Android here? You also didn’t answer what is missing. What is missing? What’s this insurmountable problem that’s solved everywhere else? Why is janky tooling attributable to Apple?
    - beeboobaa 3y ago
      Try reading my post again, maybe? The tooling is pretty janky because no one does this yet. No point to torture yourself with janky tooling when you only get to target android anyway...
      - evilduck 3y ago
        Again, not answering a thing but a making up a claim you aren't willing or able to support. How is this supposed web development tooling jankiness attributable to Apple today? Feature detection is a solved problem. What tooling are you even referring to? You aren't even trying to support this with a concrete claim. This is nonsense and you know it. PWAs are the perfect scapegoat of infinite nebulous whining. The definition of a progressive web app might as well be "whatever Chrome has but Safari doesn't, no matter what year it is or how those features change, and no matter how terrible of an idea they might be even on Chrome".
        beeboobaa 3y ago
        > Proper support on all platforms. No point working on PWAs that have janky tooling (reason: see previous sentence) when they're only going to work decently on Android devices anyway. If you need it spelled out for you: * WebUSB * WebBLE * WebSerial * WebGL * Many more standards Apple refuses to implement because it would let developers break free of their walled garden Without being able to target apple devices why would I, or anyone, bother using these technologies and invest in their tooling? Just make a native android app with quality tooling that's been around for a decade and be done with it.