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I've bailed on multiple sites that do the interstitial "Get Our App" page as well as multiple sites that show a sticky banner ad that takes up 1/4 of the viewpo

I've bailed on multiple sites that do the interstitial "Get Our App" page as well as multiple sites that show a sticky banner ad that takes up 1/4 of the viewport and have an X button that doesn't work. Seriously, none of us want your poorly made app that needs 100 different permissions to install and sucks up our battery. Pinning the bookmark to our homescreen generally works better (seriously, try it with Facebook and enjoy your 10% longer battery).

soylentcola 11y ago
Yep. As much as people lament the sorry state of some mobile web browsing, I find that with modern smartphones with up to date specs and a nice big screen, I'd almost always prefer to use the bookmarked website over a dedicated mobile app for each site. Aside from the fact that many are just wrappers for their mobile site (and often do a worse job at rendering the site than the mobile Chrome or Firefox I already have installed), you get stuff like the aforementioned Facebook app which love to run more background processes and pester you to install additional apps for messaging or other features that work perfectly well in the browser. When I got my most recent phone I didn't install the Facebook app and instead just use either the bookmarked mobile site or one of several third party apps that "sandbox" your website login so Facebook can't pull other info from your device. My battery lasts longer and I can continue to open Facebook when I want to look at Facebook and ignore it when I'm doing other things. Additionally, I would need to grant superuser permissions to run a system-wide adblocker but in a browser, I can just install Adblock Plus/Edge/etc. and avoid the ads on mobile where they suck up limited data and generally get in the way on the smaller screen.
- click170 11y ago
  There are other reasons why you shouldn't install apps from Facebook and LinkedIn[0], but one thing I do wish is that there was an easier way to tell Chrome to default to requesting Desktop sites[1]. The state of most mobile websites is just abysmal and I find myself tapping the Request Desktop Site option multiple times a day. [0] http://lifehacker.com/5921095/facebook-just-changed-your-email-without-permission-heres-how-to-get-it-back http://lifehacker.com/5921095/facebook-just-changed-your-ema... [1] http://www.guidingtech.com/16169/desktop-mode-websites-chrome-android-permanently/ http://www.guidingtech.com/16169/desktop-mode-websites-chrom...
bphogan 11y ago
The biggest thing is that people don't want to install an app to do a single thing. That''s where the mobile web excels, when done right. Apps are great if you are a repeat user. But if I just want to get some quick information, let me get the information. I'll decide if I want to stick around.
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  That is exactly why they want you to download the app.
  - bphogan 11y ago
    Exactly why people hate them. You want to get people to come back? Make it easy for them to accomplish something. Don't add an extra step where I have to switch contexts and download your app over a slow connection after I've already downloaded your 8mb of js over a slow connection :)

soylentcola 11y ago

Yep. As much as people lament the sorry state of some mobile web browsing, I find that with modern smartphones with up to date specs and a nice big screen, I'd almost always prefer to use the bookmarked website over a dedicated mobile app for each site. Aside from the fact that many are just wrappers for their mobile site (and often do a worse job at rendering the site than the mobile Chrome or Firefox I already have installed), you get stuff like the aforementioned Facebook app which love to run more background processes and pester you to install additional apps for messaging or other features that work perfectly well in the browser. When I got my most recent phone I didn't install the Facebook app and instead just use either the bookmarked mobile site or one of several third party apps that "sandbox" your website login so Facebook can't pull other info from your device. My battery lasts longer and I can continue to open Facebook when I want to look at Facebook and ignore it when I'm doing other things. Additionally, I would need to grant superuser permissions to run a system-wide adblocker but in a browser, I can just install Adblock Plus/Edge/etc. and avoid the ads on mobile where they suck up limited data and generally get in the way on the smaller screen.

click170 11y ago
There are other reasons why you shouldn't install apps from Facebook and LinkedIn[0], but one thing I do wish is that there was an easier way to tell Chrome to default to requesting Desktop sites[1]. The state of most mobile websites is just abysmal and I find myself tapping the Request Desktop Site option multiple times a day. [0] http://lifehacker.com/5921095/facebook-just-changed-your-email-without-permission-heres-how-to-get-it-back http://lifehacker.com/5921095/facebook-just-changed-your-ema... [1] http://www.guidingtech.com/16169/desktop-mode-websites-chrome-android-permanently/ http://www.guidingtech.com/16169/desktop-mode-websites-chrom...

bphogan 11y ago

The biggest thing is that people don't want to install an app to do a single thing. That''s where the mobile web excels, when done right. Apps are great if you are a repeat user. But if I just want to get some quick information, let me get the information. I'll decide if I want to stick around.

wodenokoto 11y ago
That is exactly why they want you to download the app.
- bphogan 11y ago
  Exactly why people hate them. You want to get people to come back? Make it easy for them to accomplish something. Don't add an extra step where I have to switch contexts and download your app over a slow connection after I've already downloaded your 8mb of js over a slow connection :)