4 ms·

Gotta love the HN bubble. Users want apps, not PWAs.

frollogaston 1y ago
If Apple wanted to make PWAs look like apps, users wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Except that's not what Apple wants at all.
- dpkirchner 1y ago
  If apps were interchangeable with PWAs we'd just call PWAs apps. What would be the difference, besides distribution?
  - frollogaston 1y ago
    That would be good too, "progressive web app" is a silly name
- cosmic_cheese 1y ago
  I don’t think that’d be possible without a considerably different web engine than currently exists. Even on desktop with Chrome which is the best case scenario currently, web apps are visibly different from their native counterparts due to differences in things like click handling, latency, etc.
  - frollogaston 1y ago
    Most apps nowadays are already websites inside a thin wrapper, and that part is just so it can go on the App Store and have certain OS integrations, not for the UI. Like yeah React Native implements a button with UIButton, but Safari also implements a button with native code. Good example is Discord. Complex app, only really difference for native is something about push-to-talk.
    - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
      Not quite, at least on iOS. React Native is the dominant non-native framework there. I run into web shells on occasion but they’re unusual relative to desktop.
      - frollogaston 1y ago
        Oh, I meant React Native, not an actual full-page UIWebView rendering the entire app (though there is that too). Yeah RN is a totally different renderer, but if something works in RN then I expect the same to work in web. Discord did both.
        cosmic_cheese 1y ago
        RN isn’t quite a web shell, it’s more of a hybrid, though I have seen RN apps use webviews to inject web app bits here and there.
Zak 1y ago
I don't think the average non-technical person would know one from the other aside from the installation process. This situation didn't come about because users demanded native apps, but because companies profit more from them.

If Apple wanted to make PWAs look like apps, users wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Except that's not what Apple wants at all.

dpkirchner 1y ago
If apps were interchangeable with PWAs we'd just call PWAs apps. What would be the difference, besides distribution?
- frollogaston 1y ago
  That would be good too, "progressive web app" is a silly name
cosmic_cheese 1y ago
I don’t think that’d be possible without a considerably different web engine than currently exists. Even on desktop with Chrome which is the best case scenario currently, web apps are visibly different from their native counterparts due to differences in things like click handling, latency, etc.
- frollogaston 1y ago
  Most apps nowadays are already websites inside a thin wrapper, and that part is just so it can go on the App Store and have certain OS integrations, not for the UI. Like yeah React Native implements a button with UIButton, but Safari also implements a button with native code. Good example is Discord. Complex app, only really difference for native is something about push-to-talk.
  - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
    Not quite, at least on iOS. React Native is the dominant non-native framework there. I run into web shells on occasion but they’re unusual relative to desktop.
    - frollogaston 1y ago
      Oh, I meant React Native, not an actual full-page UIWebView rendering the entire app (though there is that too). Yeah RN is a totally different renderer, but if something works in RN then I expect the same to work in web. Discord did both.
      - cosmic_cheese 1y ago
        RN isn’t quite a web shell, it’s more of a hybrid, though I have seen RN apps use webviews to inject web app bits here and there.

Zak 1y ago

I don't think the average non-technical person would know one from the other aside from the installation process. This situation didn't come about because users demanded native apps, but because companies profit more from them.