Hacker News Reader

Comment by ntlve | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious as to why you think it is a bad experience?

Off the top of my head: The back button doesn't work right, saved passwords don't move over, clicked links (if they work at all) keep you in the new application instead of your browser, the places you're taken are left out of your browsing history, you can't bookmark the destinations. Basically all browser functionality that isn't "render the page" gets lost -- it's the same problem you'd run into if you use Chrome for everything and a link from Outlook pops up the page in IE: It _works_, but the ecosystem you've built up for yourself is gone.

Why would you think it's a good experience?

I can't count the number of times I'm annoyed when I click on a link to a website - say, clicking a link on news.google.com or a link here - get moved to that website and BAM there is a "you want to use our app. Click here to download it."

No. I don't want your F(!&^NG app. I want your website. Don't show me that.

The next time I go to the same website? BAM! Go To Our App page again!

A news page, blog or a forum doesn't need an app. I don't need to be constantly badgered to use said sh&%^y app.

Just my 2c rant.

That's not the same thing that is being discussed here. What's being discussed is that you click, for example, a youtube link in your web browser and android opens up the youtube app to view the video. Android will give you the choice to open it up in a variety of supported applications, including the browser, you can set your permanent preference if you want to not be asked again.

"The great thing about the web is links. Some times you click them and they take you places. If the place it takes you asks you to open an app instead... that's a bad experience"

This is the grandparents quote to the person I replied to. Looking over the quote, I think there's some ambiguity.

One one hand....

there is clicking a link in say Messenger that someone texts you... and "Which app do you want to use? Firefox, Chrome, Youtube, ...". That, I think, its a necessary "evil" and not inherently bad. If you have 5 browsers and youtube, where do you want that link to go? "Use this app every time with this kind of link... or just this time?" is a minor annoyance but expected.

This is to be expected in an environment where you have options. It would be jarring, in say iOS, because they don't give you options. Links open in Safari. Videos open in iVideo (or whatever it's called).

In Android, you have apps installed that make you have to choose - and generally you only have to choose when you say "This time only" or after you install something new.

On the other hand...

How I read it initially: there is clicking a web link, having it open in the browser and having a "You should really install our app. No really." box pop up every time. Not a redirect to an app, but a web page that points you to super-awesome-zomg-your-so-stupid-for-not-using-it app.

It's bad user experience, in my not so humble experience, to constantly be badgered to install apps - whether it's Youtube, LinkedIn (one of the worst offenders, again IMNSHO) or on a link leaving Google.

How does one override this? It's especially annoying with e.g. youtube links in twitter - twitter hides it behind a URL shortener, takes me to the browser to load the URL, discovers it's youtube and tries to bounce me into the app. I'd much prefer to be left in the browser.

You can clear it in settings for the app that currently holds the default.

That's not what is happening in this case. The app is not opening when you go to the play store in Firefox. It just goes to this page that says "this browser is not supported".

http://m.xkcd.com/1174/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com