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by mark_l_watson
4920 days ago
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+1 Right on. At least we should have something similar to a global opt out list for nagging to install apps. Most companies have become much better at making it easy to opt out of emails after you have done business with them. Web portals should learn the same lesson with nags for app installations. I am firmly in the HTML5 camp on rich web apps instead of custom apps. A tangent, but: our purpose in life is to make life better for those we love and also the world in general. Assuming that you are producing good content, do you feel like you better serve people with a universal web + mobile HTML5 web app, or some custom Android and/or iOS app? One of my projects for the new year is to take my old cookingspace.com hack and add "AI" for suggesting alternative recipes, generating recipes based on ingredients on hand, etc. Yesterday I started to flesh out a simple UI in an Android app, basically just having fun. This morning I had one of those "what was I thinking" moments, and then saw the linked article which I agree with. |
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I like native apps for a lot of things. They feel and act, well… native! Maybe I just haven't seen enough well executed HTML5 apps, but every one I've used so far is a far cry from what a native app can be. It's often pretty obvious when a "native" app is just a glorified Web view.
But… I don't want to download an app to access your Web forum or read your news articles. I don't need a new app for every freaking Web site I visit. My phone has a perfectly capable Web browser, and I'm not afraid to use it. It works surprisingly well even on a lot of sites that obviously weren't designed for it.
"I do like having the option of a higher-fidelity experience if I want it. If you provide a lot of value, I’ll grab the app on my own accord and enjoy it that much more, thanks."
Exactly! For sites I access super frequently, and where the app actually makes it easier to use, I'm all for it! But with rare exceptions, I just don't spend enough time on a given news site or forum to warrant downloading an app for it, no matter how amazing that app is.
HTML5 is a fine medium for content delivery. Please get out of my face and let me browse your damn site!
(On a related note: sites pretending to be iPhone apps in the browser are… usually more irritating than useful. I know Apple did it with their iPhone manual, but I think even their attempt is kinda lame. If you look like a native app, I start expecting your UI to respond like a native app, and I'm usually very disappointed.)