I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by asiachick on Sunday April 11, 2021 @02:45AM (#26768024)

I don't think comparing Google (Play Store) and Apple (App store) really compare here. Google does let you just publish your app, Apple doesn't

1. The author could have offered an .apk outside the play store. Yes, friends would have had to enable side loading so that sucks but once enabled it's trivial to install .apks. This is no different than MacOS or Windows at some level. No similar option exist on iOS

2. The author could have used Progressive Web Apps and just skipped the store entirely on Android and send friends a link. Again, no similar option really exists on iOS.

The situation to me is, Google provides one app store of many. A quick search for "Android App Stores" brings articles listing 10 or more alternate stores. The fact that the "Play Store" won't take your product is no different than your local supermarket not taking your product. As long as you can still reach your users directly or make your own store then it's all good from my POV. Google has made Android so all of that is possible. Same as Windows/Linux/MacOS

Apple on the other hand, it's the App store or GTFO.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by vbezhenar on Sunday April 11, 2021 @06:47AM (#26769321)

> The author could have used Progressive Web Apps and just skipped the store entirely on Android and send friends a link. Again, no similar option really exists on iOS.

I don't understand this. iOS has a browser, you can use web apps.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by noisem4ker on Sunday April 11, 2021 @07:47AM (#26769616)

iOS has a crippled browser which purposefully does not support PWAs, with notifications and such.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by vbezhenar on Sunday April 11, 2021 @07:52AM (#26769644)

iOS does support PWA. Notifications are not supported, but PWA is more than notifications.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by Scharkenberg on Sunday April 11, 2021 @11:07PM (#26775746)

Internet Explorer 9 does support HTML5. <Missing feature name> are not supported, but HTML5 is more than <missing feature name>.

Let's not mince words now. Apple purposefully cripples Safari to make native apps more competitive because they get a cut of every sale and it boosts their claims about the AppStore too.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by vbezhenar on Monday April 12, 2021 @05:41PM (#26785552)

Mincing words is claiming that iOS does not support PWAs. That's false. iOS support for PWAs is worse than Android, that's true. Whether that's because of AppStore or not, one can only speculate, but it might be true. Still there are plenty of useful APIs supported on Safari, there is dedicated support for PWAs, there's dedicated support for creating home screen icons. That's enough for many web apps.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by anoncake on Sunday April 11, 2021 @05:11AM (#26768773)

Only the Play Store can update apps in the background without requiring user confirmation every time. Other stores are no real alternatives, Google remains a monopoly.

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Re:I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won'... by MereInterest on Sunday April 11, 2021 @05:58AM (#26769050)

Exactly. It is bundled even tighter than Internet Explorer was with Windows. At least there you could install another browser and have full functionality. With the Play Store, no other marketplace is allowed to replicate the full functionality it has.

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