[ajross]

> reach to successively more niche weird Google additions to Chrome

Um... bluetooth? USB? Sensors? Basically anything dealing with external hardware is a huge hole. I can configure and flash my QMK keyboard from my phone or laptop just by following a shortened URL.

I mean, sure. "Web Sites" work great on Safari! But Apple cares deeply that "Apps" have broader capabilities than the browser, and it does it by crippling progress with PWAs.

[llm_nerd]

>Um... bluetooth? USB? Sensors?

Ah yes, the 0.001% of apps. That's clearly why PWAs have made zero inroads, even on Android where Google keeps tossing in poorly considered, completely non-standard APIs.

[ajross]

> Ah yes, the 0.001% of apps

A small fraction of WEB PAGES, not "apps". Like half the apps installed on my phone have some behavior not purely connected to internet communication!

You just don't think that's a problem and like installing apps from the store and using iOS as your only gateway to the world and think "browsers" are crufty and silly. But that's a taste issue not a technical one. "Because I don't personally like it" makes an extremely poor argument against the embrace of open standards.

Basically you're the person in 1998 arguing for Win32 apps everywhere and that the HTML/JS/Java platforms were inherently inferior. How'd that philosophy work out?

[llm_nerd]

>A small fraction of WEB PAGES, not "apps".

No, apps. The vast majority of my apps do not read from sensors or do anything directly with bluetooth. The vast majority. Another strawman, which is par for the course on this topic. There is always just one more "but wait...what if the PWA could do {X}, and that is why no one uses it, even for markets where {X} has utterly zero relevance!" canard, though.

>and think "browsers" are crufty and silly

*NOWHERE* did I say anything remotely of the sort. What a ridiculous reframing. This discussion is embarrassing. You have absolutely no idea of my history in this industry, but let's say that it makes your contention so outrageously wrong that you should feel embarrassed. But you won't.

PWAs -- usually as a reflection of the way they are built -- are almost always garbage compared to comparable native apps. This has literally NOTHING to do with "web browsers being silly" (again, iOS users use web browsers doing web stuff far more than Android users do), however ridiculous so many have to strawman this.

>"Because I don't personally like it"

Amazing. There is close to negligible uptake of PWAs. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the world didn't make that choice because "I don't personally like it". Android has almost completely domination in many countries, and again their app ecosystem is overwhelmingly native apps. This constant laughably fictional rhetoric spouted on HN is just self-deluding pablum.

>Basically you're the person in 1998 arguing for Win32 apps everywhere and that the HTML/JS/Java platforms were inherently inferior.

Beyond ridiculous.

[ajross]

You don't use a car app to unlock your vehicle? Fitness app that talks to a watch? Your kids don't have robots or whatever with tablet integration? No bank apps that integrate with NFC? Bubble level gadgets that need the accelerometer? Navigation apps with GPS and gyro integration?

All that stuff works in a browser everywhere else but iOS. Your argument isn't that it's useless, because you clearly use it and love it. You just don't think the rest of us should have it. Which is great if you're Tim Cook, I guess. But I doubt you are.

[llm_nerd]

>You don't use a...

Listing possible examples does not prove your point.

>All that stuff works in a browser everywhere else but iOS.

Ah neat, so Android users all don't use the play store and their bank apps and robot apps and car apps all are PWAs, right? Something something No It's Actually Apple's Fault. Good god.

>You just don't think the rest of us should have it.

I have repeatedly observed the actual market here in actual reality. You have repeatedly somehow made it personal.

This clearly is a futile discussion. Have a nice day.

[ajross]

> Listing possible examples does not prove your point.

It disproves yours that the "vast majority" of apps don't use functionality exposed as PWA APIs.

> Something something No It's Actually Apple's Fault

It's indeed Apple's fault that those PWA APIs don't work in Safari, yes. I didn't think this was a disputed point. And again I repeat: your objection isn't technical, you just don't like the idea of portable web apps working on iOS.