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Here's what I would do. 1. Make it QR code scanning instead of tapping so it can be a PWA. 2. Make it a PWA. This will make it accessible to many more people.
by chr15m 6mo ago
Here's what I would do.
1. Make it QR code scanning instead of tapping so it can be a PWA.
2. Make it a PWA. This will make it accessible to many more people. Nobody wants to install an app. Nobody wants to install a PWA either but they will at least use a "web site" (a surprising number will install it if it's good).
3. Save yourself a lot of money by building it on top of the Nostr protocol. Run a relay yourself if you want guaranteed reliability. Run a Blossom server for media. Use email for auth and store people's keys for them if you want a traditional UX. Don't worry about what's on Nostr already, just build your own thing on the protocol.
Let people come and go as they please and don't lock them in. They will love you for it later.
Cool project. Have fun!
- thepasch 6mo ago> 1. Make it QR code scanning instead of tapping so it can be a PWA. Misses the point completely. The entire idea is that this enforces in-person meetings, which QR codes do not.
- stkdump 6mo agoYou could make the qr code extremely short lived, like 2 seconds or so.
- navigate8310 6mo agoone could video call and scan
- Happily2020 6mo agoIf one is going through the hassle of joining a video call on a different device to then scan it with their smartphone, all to just connect with another person, you could reasonably assume that they're friends. Maybe if there's a "celebrity" that displays it on a live stream, that's a bigger issue, but there could be other mechanisms to dissuade this behaviour. Perhaps you could only add one friend with one QR code.
- derwiki 6mo agoNobody wants to install an app?
- ripped_britches 6mo agolol I was going to say this too! I think the inverse is true: nobody wants to install a PWA
- danilocesar 6mo agoI always avoid apps if I can. But yeah, that comment is a bit disconnected to majority of the population.
- albedoa 6mo ago[flagged]
- Invictus0 6mo ago[flagged]
- derwiki 6mo agoI’m not saying that I disagree personally, but for most folks, installing an app does not cross any line in the sand
- sgt 6mo agoGranted, there's a lot of crap apps out there. But properly built apps are a world apart from your typical PWA's or web sites (or even really good ones)
- paulnpace 6mo agoIf it requires Play Store, I will only put it on my work phone.
- retired 6mo agoI have a handful of 3rd party apps on my phone and none on my computer. Prefer to just use browser.
- weird-eye-issue 6mo agoIf somebody wouldn't even bother to download an app for a social network they probably wouldn't stick around for very long either
- probably_wrong 6mo agoWhat about the opposite situation? I'm not installing an app without first having taken a look at what the network has to offer.
- weird-eye-issue 6mo agoYes, of course some people will feel that way, but also having less friction is not always necessarily a good thing because it requires less of a time investment for the user to get started, so therefore they are actually more likely to just churn. It is a balance
- jgtrosh 6mo agoAfter a quick search, there is an NFC web API, but with no general support https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_NFC_API https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_NFC_API
- JimDabell 6mo ago> Make it a PWA. This will make it accessible to many more people. Nobody wants to install an app. Nobody wants to install a PWA either but they will at least use a "web site" (a surprising number will install it if it's good). I’ve worked on a platform for social media apps. When the social network had a native iOS app, a native Android app, and a PWA, users chose iOS about two thirds of the time, Android about a quarter of the time, and PWA about 10% of the time. That’s across all users, including desktop, so the PWA actually had an unfair advantage. People strongly prefer native apps to PWAs, especially for social media.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- pbasista 6mo ago> People strongly prefer native apps to PWAs Such a conclusion cannot reasonably be made from the data you have presented. It merely means that your web app was not preferred over your native app.
- JimDabell 6mo ago> Such a conclusion cannot reasonably be made from the data you have presented. I’m responding to somebody who presented the following with absolutely nothing to back it up: > Make it a PWA. This will make it accessible to many more people. Nobody wants to install an app. Nobody wants to install a PWA either but they will at least use a "web site" (a surprising number will install it if it's good). The stats I’ve seen point in the opposite direction and I see no reason not to share that. Why are you giving them a free pass to share their opinion with zero stats but pull me up when I actually base my opinion on real stats? Looking past somebody saying “a surprising number” to complain about somebody sharing actual numbers is bizarre. > It merely means that your web app was not preferred over your native app. No, I’m talking about hundreds of apps hosting a wide range of independent communities. It wasn’t a single app for a single demographic. This should not be a controversial stance. Saying that people prefer native to PWA on the desktop is not a controversial stance and the advantages for native on mobile are even more pronounced. The very existence of the App Store came about because when Steve Jobs told everybody if they wanted to build apps for the iPhone they should be web apps, the market demanded native apps. PWA uptake is dismal. People strongly prefer native apps.
- dgellow 6mo agoThat’s empirically wrong. All statistics say that people do install apps way more than PWA
- LEDThereBeLight 6mo agoWhat bizarre advice. It completely misses the point.