[reaperducer]

I think the app gold rush is over. We've passed the time when every company "needs" an app.

Even marketing managers can look at their phones and realize, "Why do I have all of these apps? I don't even know what half of these things are for anymore?"

I recently moved, and my new building has separate apps for: Package notifications, dry cleaning pick up/drop off, paying rent, the speakers in the ceilings, building bulletin board, reserving a common space, reserving the freight elevators, maintenance requests, pet care service, doorman notifications, self-parking, valet parking, and probably a bunch more that I've forgotten because I'd rather let my wife deal with that stuff than overwhelm myself with apps.

And that's just the building. Nevermind grocery delivery, each individual utility, food delivery, restaurants, and on and on and on.

My wife is a big app person. Hates using mobile web sites. She has at least 200 apps on her phone, all obsessively organized in tiny folders. But even she has started using the web versions of things, just because having so many apps has finally become harder than clicking a bookmark in Safari.

[spoonjim]

I have hundreds or maybe even thousands of apps on my phone but don’t scroll through them. I always use search or Siri to open them

[freedomben]

I agree. I hesitate to use myself as a data point because I'm very sensitive to privacy and security issues (and thus often refuse to use apps that don't have a web version), but it seems like there are a lot more web options than there used to be.

Apps definitely have a place for some use cases, but for most they just have so many downsides, especially invasive privacy violations. I think of running an app as similar to running some unknown/close source binary as root on my machine. Why give an app access to a whole bunch of APIs that can be used to mine me for data when it isn't needed?

Cross platform usability is also a big thing. Any apps that require typing are much better done on a laptop or desktop with a keyboard. Why should I be forced to use my tiny phone screen and super awkward mobile keyboard to fill out a form when I have a perfectly good laptop right next to me? Why should I have to run a specific operating system (apple or android) in order to be able to fill out the form?

Few people I know still get excited about apps. The curiosity and fascination is largely over. Unless there's a compelling reason, people don't want to install "another app"

[scarface74]

I keep reading about websites providing more privacy. What exactly can apps do to invade your privacy on iOS without your explicit permission?

[rchaud]

Just curious, can your wife tell the difference between a native mobile app and an app that's mostly a webview?

[freedomben]

Not GP, but no mine can't. She replaced the facebook app with Slim Social (which is basically FB in a web view) and barely noticed a difference between native and web view.