looks inside

shitty frontend for the website

I block 99% of all trackers and social media.

I can't even order a fucking pizza online.

fuck this commercial world.

And the app is just the mobile website in a sandboxed web browser.

I consider your request to download your app as a hostile act.

I'm currently in a whole thing with the marketing team where we're basically forced to do an app version of our website because bookmarks just aren't done that well in mobile browsers. If you make the user install an app, then it'll be on their home screen and they'll be more likely to return to your site, whereas if you're web-only there's a chance they'll forget about you after the first visit.

It's going to cost us tens of thousands to develop the mobile app, $100/year for Apple's developer fee, and 30% of our subscription revenue, all whilst providing no actual technical benefits or making it easier for the user.

Apple and Google have made billions of dollars just off the back of nothing more than websites wanting to have their link appear on the mobile's home screen.

As someone who uses a Linux phone, this becomes more and more true everyday

Your link format needs to be parentheses () instead of curly brackets {}

Secret Panel

Instead of opening your 200MB web browser to see this page, can I interest you in this 200MB separate app to see this web page embedded in a data collection app?

App? You mean the website with DRM and no interoperability?

My bank wont let me open an account in the web browser. I either have to use their shitty banking app or go in person to a branch 10 miles away (they closed all the local branches)

Would you like a cookie?

Are you 18?

I'm about to switch to Ubuntu Phone soon anyways, basically no apps on that. I am ready for the peace of mind.

Maybe it's not so much the business as the consumer. Commented before on travelling to a new client's shop and having the employees asking for an app to access their payroll.

Told the manager that our site would automatically optimize for phone, works great as-is.

"These people are not going to understand that unless they can download an app."

"No problem. I'll show everyone how to put a shortcut on their home screen. Done! I'll even write up directions for Android and Apple."

<manager shaking her head>

Understand, a load of these people were illiterate, embarrassed to need help filling out the online hiring docs.

If this was your experience as a business, would you not wrap your site in an app and push it? Plus, imagine the talk, "Yeah, site's OK but they don't have an app."

Luckily you can set the browser into desktop mode and see everything super tiny (sometimes).

I'm using piefed on Firefox via my phone lol. Oh no.

How it feels browsing AliExpress as of late..