3 ms·
Web apps are much faster to install and update. 1) Your browser is always open, whereas you need to close your current app and open the app store app 2) Googl
by shpx 2y ago
Web apps are much faster to install and update.
1) Your browser is always open, whereas you need to close your current app and open the app store app
2) Google Search is better at giving you what you want in the fewest number of keystrokes than any search from any other company including app store search boxes
3) installing a "web app" is one click after the google search results or if someone posts a link. As you might know from social media, even one click is a lot and most people won't click links in a comment. In the apple app store i have to tap on the app in the search result, tap install, double click the lock button, scan my face then wait many seconds. Some websites load in many seconds but that's not that common and it's considered a bad website
4) software is reinstalled on each use, meaning it's always updated. Native apps update randomly with a big delay and I have to check if there's an update manually sometimes
5) with native software there's a risk it will not support your device. Risk is commonly expressed as a cost, so the fact that in my life I've searched for an app and found out that it's not supported on iPad or not supported in my country can be counted as every single app store download since then took me .1 seconds longer because I now know there's a risk I will waste my time looking for the app. Web apps also don't work sometimes but it's more predictable since it's usually tied to real limitations like the screen size of your device. Another risk is malware, I feel nervous and powerless when installing native software because I don't know who I'm giving access and to and to what, whereas I understand what web apps can track. and also the fact that it's HTML and JavaScript instead of opaque assembly instructions makes ad blockers possible and cheap
Installation is an integral part of using software, and a big the reason the web won and continues to win.
- rTX5CMRXIfFG 2y agoLol stop putting the web on a pedestal like we don’t have to go through hoops just to reject cookies
- stack_framer 2y agoThanks to Brave[0], I can't remember the last time I had to reject cookies. [0] https://brave.com/privacy-updates/21-blocking-cookie-notices/ https://brave.com/privacy-updates/21-blocking-cookie-notices...
- ornornor 2y ago> 2) Google Search is better at giving you what you want in the fewest number of keystrokes than any search from any other company including app store search boxes That seems to be contrary to the general opinion (at least on HN): google has become utterly irrelevant, serving mostly content farm AI generated junk type of blogspam, and google is more concerned about ad revenue than anything else (including results quality)
- edanm 2y agoI mean, this is a very HN-bubble thought. Even if people here actually think that, just look at Google's revenue or usage numbers. Clearly a "few" people are still using it! People here might say that Google has gotten terrible, but I would bet 99% of HNers still user Google dozens of times a day, just like everybody else in the world.
- ornornor 2y agoThe HN-crowd tends to be more demanding and sometimes ahead of the curve, but it's a general trend. I also wonder how much people enjoy using Google vs suffers through it because they don't know any alternatives. I remember reading that even Google is worried about how crappy their results are becoming and at least some of the company sees it as a threat to itself. But yes, you're right, Google is still very much mainstream and the #1 search engine. I'm just not certain it's because it's an amazing experience rather than "no other options".
- edanm 2y agoEh. I've been hearing of this "general trend" for 15 years. I'm pretty sure if you look at HN in 2010, you'd find plenty of people speaking of the decline of Google search results and how they spell the downfall of Google. (It might even be true! I'm just saying it's not new.)