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by thekyle 2378 days ago
> If the user can't interact with their bank, whatchu YouTube, talk to their friends and parents over Snapchat or Skype, call Uber, play Spotify, etc etc etc, it doesn't matter in the least if your phone is 100% open source.

Most of this should be available on the PinePhone at launch (albeit not as nicely as on Android).

Bank - should have a website (and if they don't have a website they most likely don't have an app anyway)

YouTube - website again (youtube.com)

Skype - has a web app and a Electron app available for Linux (web.skype.com)

Uber - has a PWA that can be used for booking rides (m.uber.com)

Spotify - has a web app and a Electron app available for Linux (open.spotify.com)

4 comments

My bank app has significantly better usability than the website because it can mostly cache credentials and support a short login procedure. Or use the fingerprint scanner.
Your web browser can fully cache credentials.
.. but the bank sets them to expire after five minutes of inactivity, because it (correctly) doesn't consider it to be all that secure.
Why is it secure when an app does it?
> Bank - should have a website (and if they don't have a website they most likely don't have an app anyway)

In my experience mobile banking is more often than not provided via app exclusively.

Not really, among "normal" banks. This does seem to be the case with the new "challenger" banks like Monzo and Starling, which are all "mobile first" and are basically impossible to use if you don't have an Android/iPhone. But every regular bank in the UK has a website with online banking, often with more functionality than the apps, but maybe this is different in other countries - online banking in the UK has been commonplace since before mobile apps were really a thing.
Funnily enough, my last bank and two current ones, the app is increasingly a front for a mobile web version. With each new update I see more functionality moving to web.
What are some American banks that don't have a website but have an app? I'm curious.
BofA, the bank that most Americans use, doesn't support mobile check deposit outside of the native app.
I have an account with Bank of America and was not aware of this so thanks. That said, you can do pretty much everything else via the website. The opposite is also probably true, that there are some features on the website not available on the app (for example can you open a new CD in the app?).
> Spotify - has a web app

Doesn't that require Widevine DRM?

No whatsapp = dead in the water in Europe.
And Viber, which is quite famous on Balcan countries.