Lots of pushback here in the comments. But I can't think of the last time I enjoyed using a SPA website over a multi-page one. The initial loading feels delayed, the page scrolling feels unnatural and jarring (completely opposite of how a native app feels).

Also, one of my banks recently changed their old website to a new SPA one. And it is now completely useless. It can't load information in time, so most of the forms are empty. You can't even go back because it is a SPA. So I can only log out, log in and try again. Kind of scary when you are handling a lot of money.

And it is not just one website. As I said I can't recall ever using a good SPA website. So yeah, I can't wait until they are all gone.

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croes 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

You think bad programming is restricted to SPAs?

If they botch the back button in an SPA they will botch other things in an MPA

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nromiun 4 days ago | parent [-]

But this bank's old MPA worked pretty well. By trying to modernize it they completely broke it instead.

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maccard 4 days ago | parent [-]

I’d put big money on it not being the same team that made the new app.

	▲	nromiun 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Probably. The old website was several decades old.

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kertoip_1 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, the worst thing is when parts of the same application are under the hood different SPAs.

First example that comes to my mind: web version of ProtonMail. Going to settings feels like loading a completely separate website. Or OVH dashboard.

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jeremy8883 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

if you're receiving jarring page scrolling, it is not the fault of the spa, it's something else at play. it is not they typical spa experience.

if the back button doesn't work, the site was poorly programmed, since any routing library will handle that for you.

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austin-cheney 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

SPAs do not exist to benefit the user. They exist to benefit the developer who writes them.

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maccard 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The toupee fallacy strikes again here. Gmail, slack[0], Netflix and Spotify are top tier examples - they actually work. Most are true garbage though.

[0] I am firmly on the slack-performance-is-a-disgrace train, but their web client is a great example of a well done SPA - it’s miles better than the app other than notifications.

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nromiun 4 days ago | parent [-]

Gmail really? The same one that takes 10-20 seconds on 5G to even show the loading page? What is it doing in that time? Loading emails or downloading an AAA game? It is not just a one time penalty either, you reload and get the same loading page again.

Just a few days ago I had to get an OTP via email and it was completely frustrating. No indication nothing, just a loading circle. The old MPA version was much better.

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kristopolous 4 days ago | parent [-]

If it was built like we were in 1995, with tables and html 3.2 without JavaScript and just the old school inline attribute styles, it would be way more usable

	▲	nromiun 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		It is also possible to create fast and functional websites on modern tech. But for some reason some people go completely crazy with Javascript.

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elendee 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I like the pushback because it means less competition in the native framework space

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tossandthrow 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> But I can't think of the last time I enjoyed using a SPA website over a multi-page one.

You likely don't even notice that most of what you browse are SPAs.

The reason why there is pushback is because the article is straight up misinformation.

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nromiun 4 days ago | parent [-]

Actually the static address bar and the refresh button behavior makes it obvious.

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tossandthrow 4 days ago | parent [-]

What?

Most SPAs use full on routing. You can not distinguish refresh and address bar behavior between a SPA and static pages.

Furthermore, SPAs integrates perfectly with the browsers navigation stack.

Where does this bs come from?

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nromiun 4 days ago | parent [-]

Because less than 1% of actual SPAs use those things. Hell, look at HN's search page in the bottom if you want an example. You can load entire HN by the time it loads up and searches something.

Prefect example of the sufficiently advanced compiler argument.

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tossandthrow 4 days ago | parent [-]

HN's search is hosted on Algolia, and is not a part of the HN "App".

Hacker news is not a SPA.

Algolia's search is a SPA, but is perfectly utilizes the search so you can refresh a page (besides the error that they don't use page-based search), and is largely indistinguishable from a non-SPA site.

> You can load entire HN

You obviously have not context what so ever on how much content is hosted on HN.

	▲	nromiun 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, I am well aware it is separate from HN. That is why I called it HN's search page. You underestimate how fast modern internet is. With MPA website like HN there is no need to wait for any script to render first.