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Comment by lazyier | Hacker News Reader

> Honestly I think the future of mobile will just be... mobile websites.

This.

Having to install software on my phone to use a service is cringy as hell and is a huge red flag for me. Like when trying to order food from a restaurant or shop somewhere.

It's almost always going to be a automatic no. I just don't trust them. They always want permissions to access things on my phone, which is just pure nonsense.

It's going to take a while for businesses to realize that in order to get a wide audience for the software they are paying for the last thing they want to do is force people to jump through hoops in order to use it.

For every one of 'google maps' there is going to be ten thousand other apps that simply have no benefit from being 'native'.

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I agree with the overall points, less so the pointless vitriol. Installing software is cringey as hell now?

The main issue here isn't native apps. It's the existing framework for installing them.

For instance, would it be that far-fetched to be able to open an app in a single click?

Current extended process: 1) Click link that takes me to app store page 2) Find and click install button 3) wait 4) Click "open app" button

Streamlined process that accomplishes the same: 1) click link 2) wait 3) app opens up (download/install hidden behind spinner)

Even if you have to add a pop-up in there to display permission requests, it's still a much smoother experience.

You'd have to worry about app sizes but that's a solveable problem as well.

https://developer.android.com/topic/google-play-instant

> Installing software is cringey as hell now?

When you know that the features you're interested in can be made easily available by a simple web app.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the logic but doesn't that mean using a fancy pen is "cringey as hell" since you can just use a simple ballpoint pen?

Sorry, it just seems unnecessarily negative to me.

Yes, you are misunderstanding the logic. A normal web app doesn't need to be installed, disappears each time you close it, runs in a tight sandbox. Much better and lighter than have an app installed.

Besides, I do find fancy pens cringey, but that's another story :)

haha fair enough. Thanks for the clarification!

It's like you ask someone if you can borrow their pen, and they say "Sure, but only if I can rifle through your wallet and attach this GPS tracker to you"

This sounds like you're implying that all apps must require invasive permissions which is wholly incorrect.

It's cringy when you see how reddit does it. Or far worse, yelp. I would personally love to meet whoever approved the yelp mobile website and app so I could shake their hand and thank them for making the world just a little bit more horrible in their own small way.

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