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Comment by cryptoz | Hacker News Reader

I avoid this problem by instantly boycotting any site that does this. They clearly have absolutely no interest in serving me content or helping me do what I want to do, and there is always an alternative.

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I understand the frustration w/the manner in which some mobile apps are advertised, but wrt this statement in particular ...

They clearly have absolutely no interest in serving me content or helping me do what I want to do

... coming from the site owner side of things, I'll offer a friendly counter argument (which has been rephrased in light of down votes): site owners are interested in serving you content, or helping you do what you want to do ... just in a better way.

I agree ads or prompts can be annoying, but to say site owners go through the trouble of developing a mobile app and advertising it b/c they have no interest in serving content or helping the user experience doesn't quite fit. To me, a site that offers a mobile app says the exact opposite.

Oh definitely. The mobile app is almost always a better experience than using the site. But that's not the point. The point is that I'm on my phone with limited time on a slow internet connection, I have requested content from a site and that site has chosen to not show me the content that was expected, but instead display an advertisement. This is unacceptable to me, and rather than deal with it I usually just leave and never come back.

A link at the top would suffice. Or the bottom. Or anywhere, really, that doesn't prevent me from viewing the content I was trying to view.

Edit: In case it's not clear, I think the article is written about full screen overlays that I'm describing. If not, I'm all wrong here and my posts probably don't make sense. I'm totally cool with a site mentioning that they have an app and that I should get it. What I'm not okay with is when you are prevented from accessing the site until you agree or disagree to get their app.

I see, thanks for elaborating. I suppose I took your comment ...

They clearly have absolutely no interest in serving me content or helping me do what I want to do

... too literally. I believe the trouble of developing and offering a mobile app supplements their motivation to serve content, in a better way.

But your point was well stated, and it's clear you're not against a better mobile experience, but rather the manner in which it's advertised. In which case I agree ... shoving a full screen ad down a user's throat is frustrating.

Let's say you're walking along and you want to find an XYZ franchise (and don't use Google/X Maps)? You could visit XYZ's site and get a simplified mobile interface, tap in your zip and go. Or, like the aforementioned sites, you could find their app in the app store/market. Wait for it to download and install (hope you're on 3G). Launch the app. Wait while it gets a GPS fix and shows you banners, and then finally find a location.

I've experienced this a number of times. The UX is more than just the App. It is how people get your app and more.

They both suck like Citysearch in their own ways, but the Yelp app is marginally worse than just going straight to the browser site.

There is really no alternative to Linked In - there is other software that does the same thing but since no one in my network uses it, that would be worthless to me.

LinkedIn does this?! Yuck. I wonder if they A/B tested and found that this improves some sort of conversion ratio.

People use LinkedIn website?? LinkedIn is a recruiting database. No one with a network needs to use the website.

> There is really no alternative to Linked In

Since I moved to Android and saw the permissions their app wants (access to my phone calls and calendar, among others), I've found a great alternative: they can wait until I get to my desktop, if I bother remembering.

Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea; just uninistalled the app.

I just use it in the mobile Web browser; I wish I didn't have to say "no thanks" every time.

Yelp app seems like a tough one compared to their site on a mobile browser - they cache previously viewed places, your location, some graphics, embedded native maps, more streamlined search, and just overall offer a better experience.

But yeah, they're in 1% of the world where app is more useful than the site.

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