Remember when iPhones were first introduced, and Apple gave us apps? Before everyone and their mom had an actual app, there were also web pages that worked as apps.
The problem for developers is that a webpage must be found first, then remembered and typed in by the user. There is also no guarantee that your site is still visible in Google the next day. All of this is more friction than having an icon on you phone that you click and instantly logs you in.
In webmaster forums you find a lot of topics that their traffic has significantly dropped since Google rolled out ai answers. People don't surf the web anymore to discover new pages, they spend most time on platforms that already belong to some tech giants. Small sites have to pay those tech giants to buy visitors from them.
So, for small sites an app can make sense to retain customers.
I actually like to have an app over just a website. Even if the app is just a website.
I would open an app once on my phone. Even when I put the link of the website on my home screen, every click would open a new tab in my browser instead of just redirecting me to the web page I already had open 2 hours ago.
And with an app, I can be more selective with permissions and what that app should be allowed to do or not, like sending notifications.
But I feel like that nowadays most things are developed mainly for mobile devices which pisses me off too because visiting your website now has all of that empty space on most of my monitor while the actual used spaced is so cramped that it looks weird.
4 Comments
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 50d
Remember when iPhones were first introduced, and Apple gave us apps? Before everyone and their mom had an actual app, there were also web pages that worked as apps.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 50d
And this is why I use Hermit so I can turn web pages into apps.
Works great for my banks website, so I don't need their app. And for a bunch of other things.
May not have worked in this case (he didn't say whether there was a web page available, he just created his own).
GenosseFlosse@feddit.org · 3 pts · 50d
The problem for developers is that a webpage must be found first, then remembered and typed in by the user. There is also no guarantee that your site is still visible in Google the next day. All of this is more friction than having an icon on you phone that you click and instantly logs you in.
In webmaster forums you find a lot of topics that their traffic has significantly dropped since Google rolled out ai answers. People don't surf the web anymore to discover new pages, they spend most time on platforms that already belong to some tech giants. Small sites have to pay those tech giants to buy visitors from them.
So, for small sites an app can make sense to retain customers.
ButteredBread@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 49d
ButteredBread@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 49d
Fribbtastic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 49d
I actually like to have an app over just a website. Even if the app is just a website.
I would open an app once on my phone. Even when I put the link of the website on my home screen, every click would open a new tab in my browser instead of just redirecting me to the web page I already had open 2 hours ago.
And with an app, I can be more selective with permissions and what that app should be allowed to do or not, like sending notifications.
But I feel like that nowadays most things are developed mainly for mobile devices which pisses me off too because visiting your website now has all of that empty space on most of my monitor while the actual used spaced is so cramped that it looks weird.