4 ms·

I'm also curious about apps vs native. Here on HN it seems people often hate on the web "you're the product, not the customer" vs native. But, half the websites

by nox101 2y ago

I'm also curious about apps vs native. Here on HN it seems people often hate on the web "you're the product, not the customer" vs native. But, half the websites I visit say "download the app!!!!". If all the spying on the web is so great for them but they're pushing you to an app, that to me suggests they get more spying on the app. Even if the app is just a webview, they get to set the policy so no blocking the 950+ companies they're letting spy on you. And, even better, the app will require you to login in so they can magically get even better data. It feels like we (the HN crowd?) should be pushing for more web (the one place where you can inject more control like ad blockers, etc), than native apps (where you have no control)

yonatan8070 2y ago
The modern web sucks, with all the tracking, etc. But it's still a lot better than apps, which give the developer more control without (in most cases) any tangible UX benefit. Just as an example, Reddit doesn't need to have an app, all they do is display text and images, along with some interaction, and they especially don't need to lock some content behind the app (I recently got a popup when trying to view a post saying that "unreviewed content" is only available in the app, despite the post clearly loading for a split second before the popup).
- rejhgadellaa 2y ago
  Yeah so native apps have some unique abilities to track you that websites do not. On top of that, platforms like Reddit and Facebook tend to prefer native apps because it's easier to keep you within the app. Even if you click a link to an external website, for example, Facebook will open that link in an in-app browser (unless you find the opt-out). A few years ago, a researcher found out that these apps often inject their own javascript into that in-app browser. In theory, that means FB can track you even on external sites, even if you do not accept cookies for that website. You just brought your own tracker. Facebook then decided they should ship their own entire browser engine, giving them even more control. https://webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2022/in-app-browsers-are-tracking-you/ https://webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2022/in-app-browsers-are-tr...
  - yonatan8070 2y ago
    Oh wow, I had no idea about the in-app browser tracking

by nox101 2y ago

yonatan8070 2y ago

The modern web sucks, with all the tracking, etc. But it's still a lot better than apps, which give the developer more control without (in most cases) any tangible UX benefit. Just as an example, Reddit doesn't need to have an app, all they do is display text and images, along with some interaction, and they especially don't need to lock some content behind the app (I recently got a popup when trying to view a post saying that "unreviewed content" is only available in the app, despite the post clearly loading for a split second before the popup).

rejhgadellaa 2y ago
Yeah so native apps have some unique abilities to track you that websites do not. On top of that, platforms like Reddit and Facebook tend to prefer native apps because it's easier to keep you within the app. Even if you click a link to an external website, for example, Facebook will open that link in an in-app browser (unless you find the opt-out). A few years ago, a researcher found out that these apps often inject their own javascript into that in-app browser. In theory, that means FB can track you even on external sites, even if you do not accept cookies for that website. You just brought your own tracker. Facebook then decided they should ship their own entire browser engine, giving them even more control. https://webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2022/in-app-browsers-are-tracking-you/ https://webventures.rejh.nl/blog/2022/in-app-browsers-are-tr...
- yonatan8070 2y ago
  Oh wow, I had no idea about the in-app browser tracking