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Comment by jorblumesea | Hacker News Reader

I really think having a dedicated native app is a huge hassle for most businesses today. The web has come a long way and is no longer plagued by the perf issues of old. I'd imagine having to support both, sync up features and styles would get extremely difficult both logistically and financially. Far easier to just have a responsive site and be done with it. Probably save a bit of money on the payroll side too, frontend engineers are usually cheaper.

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Yeah, no more working offline or in places with poor internet connectivity. Instead of small efficient applications we run multiple instances of web browsers, each instance consuming at least 1-2 Gb of RAM (even just to show text chat, like Slack), and they constantly do something even when they are not used. My CPU indicator is always at 5-10% CPU load even when I'm not doing anything, because all these apps are constantly downloading something or doing some mysterious background work that I don't need. My notebook cooler is almost always spinning.

Thanks, that's a great future!

This comment is so off the mark for this context.

1) Responsive site == a site you visit in your native browser, no one is talking about Electron or similar technologies. ecomm/retailers would never use that.

2) Electron is missing the point...why even use native at all of you're a retailer when you can have a website that does both?

HN...always missing the point and going off on some off topic rant.

The problem is most of the companies think that what they are doing is too important for the user not to use the app. They think that Push Notifications are the holy grail to keep people engaged and bring the users back.

It will be good if Google allows developers to list pure progressive apps in the AppStore. Since for many non-technical users, PlayStore is how one is supposed to install apps, decision makers think it's important to have the apps.

It's a good point about listing progressive apps in the AppStore, and I think Microsoft has done a great job at taking the lead here. I imagine a world where users don't have worry about the tech behind the UX they're experiencing, they go to the AppStore, a 3rd party site, a URL simply to find "experiences".

I also wonder if we can move from the Store-Driven model on phones to something more transient perhaps that leverages the URL and natural links of them (since obv. don't want to be typing urls). Thought experience: What if your homescreen icons were managed by the OS (and can be Apps, PWAs, etc.) ordered by last accessed. You can then overide and "pin/install" the experiences you want.

One thing I can't firgure out is why reddit is pushing me to use their app when the site is better. I dont even understand why they want to.

A reason might be because it's harder to block ads in an app than it is in a browser?

As far as I know it isn't possible to block ads inside the Android Chrome browser? Only way to do that is using your own DNS, but that would work both on native and progressive apps.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to block ads inside my Chrome browser.

It's not possible in Chrome on Android, but it is in Firefox.

Ah right. I don't know about Android, but it's possible on Safari on my iPhone.

Idk, it actually prompted me to download a new browser to try to block the 'ads' for their app.

You get more ad targeting and messaging powers via native apps than web apps.

I doubt that's going to last much longer now that they're rewriting the whole website, or at least I hope that's the case. (see the huge pro/contra CSS discussion)

Generally this is true. Apps are for situations where the user has a higher level of engagement.

Shopping is one of those things - such as Amazon or RedBubble - but Threadless is too specific for that use case. The majority of people simply do not shop for clothing online frequently enough to justify it.

I think that problem persists even with a progressive web app - it just does not warrant the real-estate on your phone. Technically the app launcher on Android makes this cheap but I think that's where apps often go to die - out of sight, out of mind.

On iOS or the sadly near-death Windows Phone, it's just eating more space than it can justify.

I don't think this is a problem of tech or cost but a problem of viable engagement.

Threadless just doesn't need a spot on anyone's phone.

Personally, I'm waiting for Apple to include push notifications via browser. I'd much rather receive them via my browser than need yet another native app for it. And it feels like it isn't as widely used as it could be because iOS doesn't provide this feature.

Example: I removed the Facebook native app, but still get my push notifications via the Chrome browser.

For small teams, this can definitely be true. At least in the beginning.

For better or worse, the native app UX advantage still pays off massively in real dollars. And with walled gardens like Facebook and Google AMP growing so quickly, building a native app of your own is often the best chance to capture an audience.

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