this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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I get that, if things are not changed on the Apple side, websites can't have proper notification so you are forced to have an app but on android PWA (Progressive Web Apps - basically websites on steroids) are a real thing and you can just "install" the lemmy website of your instance and avoid any bloated app. Are you looking for an app with some feature missing from the website? Are you just unaware of the possibility of installing the website itself? I don't want to sound rude (English isn't my first language) but I don't get what to me looks like an obsession to have a bloated app installed on your phone

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[–] Dreadino@feddit.it 3 points 1 year ago

I'm an Android developer, I usually spot a non native app immediately and the flaws in the ui are really annoying. Web apps are even worse.

[–] communist 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Edo78@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

is it some kind of proxy that translate from a format to another to help moving the reddit apps to talk with lemmy? My question remain ... why an app instead of a website?

[–] communist 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because sync for reddit is absolutely better than the lemmy website in just about every feasible way.

[–] Edo78@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

never find an app I liked for reddit ... my question still remain shouldn't be faster to write a web frontend similar to an app instead of writing a proxy just to keep using an app that waste way more space on the device?

[–] communist 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The proxy is hosted on the lemmy instance, it allows the reddit apps to interface with lemmy, it won't take up more space on the device than the app itself.

One of the last things i'm worried about on my phone is the amount of space I have, i'd rather have a fluid, native interface.

[–] Edo78@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was talking about the space of the app not the proxy. Sorry but I still don't get your point ... don't you think that a light PWA can be fluider and faster than an app? It's surely lighter so it's an objective point in its favour

[–] communist 1 points 1 year ago

There is no chance of a PWA being as fast as a native app, I don't know why you believe that.

[–] sideone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you just unaware of the possibility of installing the website itself?

I haven't heard about this, and I suspect that plenty of people are in the same situation. How do you install a website?

[–] Edo78@feddit.it 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's almost the same thing as creating a shortcut from your phone to the website but those websites are usually build with more features and can use notifications, can works offline, etc etc https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/9658361?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&oco=1

[–] sideone@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Ah lovely, thanks

[–] ebike_enjoyer 1 points 1 year ago

A lot of the people coming in right now are specifically protesting Reddit due to the shut down of their preferred third party apps, especially Apollo, an iOS exclusive. Android has Jerboa and PWAs, but on iOS we just have the site (and mlem, but it’s very early days there). I think that if/when old Reddit gets shut down, the resulting exodus from that will not care as much about app access, as they were using the web previously.

[–] IuseArchbtw@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

I use Jerboa as an app forLemmzy and it doesn't really feel bloated. I am also a big fan of Infinity for reddit.

[–] super_user_do@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago

The experience on the website is awful on mobile, while it's fairly good on desktop

[–] eeltech@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To me, properly optimized native apps tend to be less-bloated than their web equivalents. Have you ever used "RIF is fun" for reddit? It is amazing, lots of tiny UI optimizations make it a pleasure to consume content much faster than scrolling up and down reddit's UI for both links and comments

[–] Edo78@feddit.it 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jerboa is almost 70 times bigger than the PWA ...

[–] eeltech@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Are you going to ignore the rest of what I wrote? lol

Have you ever used β€œRIF is fun” for reddit? It is amazing, lots of tiny UI optimizations make it a pleasure to consume content much faster than scrolling up and down reddit’s UI for both links and comments

The app just feels better/faster. Think of this way: a webapp = browser + pwa. You have all of the resource requirements of the browser itself, plus whatever it needs to render the html/css of the webapp running on top of that. many webapps are just written so poorly (like the new reddit page) that the browser struggles to do simple things like smooth scrolling). Plus being native means there is better support for things like save/print dialogs, themes/dark mode, helper apps/intents, etc)

If none of this matters to you and a webapp feels ok to you, that's great! use what you want! I'm happy for you

But you came in here asking why people prefer native apps and we gave you an answer, you don't have to be antagonistic

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

PWAs work for sure, but you can really tell its just a full screen mobile website in a vast majority of cases. I am in no way saying PWAs are bad, but with apps that hook into APIs you have much wider latitude for how the data is presented and design choices

[–] Edo78@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can't you just write a new web frontend? without having to write an entire app?

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Edo78@feddit.it 0 points 1 year ago

so why do people asks for mobile apps instead of alternative web frontends (besides iOS users that are locked by apple)

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