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Comment by esseph | Hacker News Reader

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esseph

You know what I just realized?

I couldn't tell you the last time I installed a new app on my phone.

Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store.

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> Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store.

As a shining bright light of hope, I will list some apps I have installed which do not appear to me to fall into those buckets.

1. Anki - Flash cards app, I can memorize stuff. It's really good.

2. KDE Connect - Zero exploitation, open source, even sorta works

3. Peakfinder - So far this app has seemed okay. "I programmed PeakFinder during the day and danced Tango during the night" - Peakfinder's creator

Also, about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ are fine. This is what I miss most about android.

I do think that by percentage more of the iOS apps are exploitative crap or full of ads, probably because you need to pay $100/year for the app to keep existing at all.

One of tricks to get fewer exploitative apps is to avoid iPhone and never install anything that needs google play services.

Also, delete any app that has an ad instantly unless it's really important.

>This is what I miss most about android.

oh don't worry, Google is trying to kill that too. you won't have to miss Android soon. https://developer.android.com/developer-verification discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028

> about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ are fine

Wait, what's wrong with the other 30%?

There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul.

There's also games and blockchain apps which are bad for the soul

> There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul.

You do get to pick the videos, and have none imposed to you (through ads), so unless you're saying the entire video medium is awful for the soul, I'm thinking one could pick content that they find "good" for their soul?

Its really sad to search for some basic functionality like "use phone as wireless mic for PC" only to be hit with wall of in-app pirchases and ads. I understand that the main reason is keeping app on store requires paying ransom to google, which is the worst reason one could imagine.

I had the same realisation about game app specifically - in the early days of the App Store, I’d buy several games a year, and play dozens more free games. I can’t remember the last game I bought.

I experienced deja vu today when an upcoming festival’s website encouraged me to install a custom app for the event on my phone. Felt very 2010(ish).

Compile it yourself https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox

Unfortunately GH has an older version. The latest official releases don't have the code published, contrary to the licence.

On average 90% of time spent on mobile devices is in native apps.

That's.. how is that relevant?

This is a site mostly centered around startups and building products. I notice a common anti-mobile-app sentiment here, and the criticisms are valid, but I think that it’s important to keep in mind that for many apps having a mobile app is important to the success of your business because the vast majority of people prefer mobile apps to mobile websites.

Users want apps and it’s important not to assume that the majority of users will think like HN users. Even if your app is mostly just a webview wrapping your website, being in the App Store matters.

So what you're telling me is I shouldn't talk about my abandonment of native phone apps with other people because it might prevent someone at YC for giving someone else a job for a startup? Do I have that right?

There’s nothing wrong with discussing moving away from native apps and their very real downsides. I was merely offering data showing that the vast majority of people do not share this sentiment, and one would be wise when launching a product to do market research and find out if the evidence shows that the business will be best served by offering users a native app.

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