That would be worse than an app.

Times change.

Hackers and scammers get more advanced. Vulnerabilities are discovered with time.

Users expect more security today than 10 years ago.

For Google & device manufacturers to be able to guarantee that level of security, they need to keep their store updated. And the apps on there shouldn't be using outdated insecure APIs.

If you're not able to keep up with that, then you shouldn't have any expectation of getting new downloads on their platform.

He clearly states in other comments that he wasn't involved a year ago.

But nice of you to assume he's lying. /s

Writing that blog post took too much longer than researching it online. Which if you Google it right now it is around 3rd or 4th search result.

Once you find out how different many people are from you some day, your head is gonna explode.

There are a lot of websites that don't scale well with small screens.

Just the simple trick of zooming in on a website with a "2 finger pinch/pull" is something a big part of the population doesn't even know how to do. I know my mom would probably just give up.

Buttons on many websites are way too small for some people to use.

Those are never an issue on native apps. The UI on apps scale with the size of a phone's screen. No matter if you have the smallest iPhone or the largest Android.

This alone is enough for many people to not use the web browser unless absolutely necessary.

Why do you continue asking after you already got a "no"?

Like...is it so difficult to understand that someone hasn't had an issue like this before?

You might as well be arguing that people could just go to the bank instead of using technology.

There are benefits to having something installed. You can give anything installed the ability to send notifications.

Having to manage that permission on a per-website basis is way above the tech ability of most users.

But this is apparently difficult for "tech literate" people to grasp.

If you seriously think analytics makes for a worse user experience, then you're speaking out of ignorance.

Analytics tell developers exactly where bugs and crashes occur.

And on which devices or versions of the OS the problem is.

Without analytics it would take weeks/months to figure out exactly what line of code is causing the issue. Heck, the developers might NEVER KNOW that the software has an issue.

Apps would just keep crashing on users for years. And developers would have no idea why users were abandoning their product.

Nobody that has any idea what they're talking about would say that analytics makes for a worse user experience.

But if he needed to have ads, what are the chances that analytics were added to “measure engagement”?

Yes?

The WHOLE POINT of native apps is that they are better at integrating with the system. Like access storage, gps, camera, accelerometer/gyroscope, etc.

Besides that the only benefit of a native app is basically that the UI/UX will be closer to what the user is accustomed to.

That's not the only point. Web apps can have far lower performance or battery utilization than real native apps for one thing. If you care about the environment or your battery life use a compiled app, not the web.

How would that possibly true? A native app doesn’t go through the three or four phases that a modern JavaScript engine goes through.

Especially on iOS more so than Android apps since there is no JVM like environment.

You are saying the same thing (though do note that the “JVM” on android does a hybrid execution with cached native functions)

I see now what the parent poster meant. He said a web app can have lower performance and battery utilization. He meant lower performance and higher battery utilization. From the context it was clear and I misinterpreted it.

> Besides that the only benefit of a native app is basically that the UI/UX will be closer to what the user is accustomed to.

You realize you’re still not exactly making your case for web apps right?

You do understand that not every developer is backed by billions of dollars of venture capital, right?

That there are people who have to target multiple operating systems, and don't have 100+ people working on their team, right?

I mean...it doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's a benefit to being able to write code once and deploy to ALL users/customers without having to dedicate entire teams of developers with expertise in various platforms.

I'm an Android developer with 10+ years of experience. I take pride in my native apps that I code for the company I work for. They are far superior to any web app or "multiplatform framework solution".

But if I had to create my own personal app, there's no way in hell I'd spend years learning everything it would take to create a native iOS, Windows, Linux, MacOS version.

I'd be an absolute idiot if I didn't just choose a solution, like a web app, or framework that was able to output for more systems, etc.

It exists because some people barely have enough money to get by.

It exists because there are people who weren't fortunate enough to have parents that taught how to cook.

It can be a challenge to get a varied diet, when you only have spare change and lack the skills & knowledge that many take for granted.

You sound like you lack some ability to empathize with other people's struggles in life - and that you are blind to the privileges you've had in your own life.

Not everyone has access to the same resources & knowledge that you have.

I know how to cook, but have been dirt-poor in periods of my life. A book like this one (with 50 recipes that cost less than $10) helped me get through those times without having to eat the same 2-3 dishes for months.