That's my stance as well. Unless the website is completely broken or the devs force me to download the app by blocking features on the website I prefer the web.

With responsive design becoming mainstream I'm fine with using my browser for 90% of my internet work. In some cases like Google docs it's painful to use the web version so I just use the app.

EDIT: I wish they'd add a console to mobile web browsers though.

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jareklupinski 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> the website is completely broken or the devs force me to download the app by blocking features on the website

for me, this is signal that i wasn't supposed to be visiting that resource in the first place

	▲	ragnese 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yep. If someone is trying to make you do something, or stop doing something, or buy something, your first question should always be "Why?". Why would someone try to force me off of my browser (that has ad-blocking and tracker-blocking mitigations) and on to a locked-down app that may want permission to run in the background, display notifications, access my files or camera, etc? Maybe it really is to "improve my experience"... yeah, right.
	▲	mcv 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yeah, crippling your website in order to force users to download an app that may be able to access for of a user's data, is a clear sign that there are people you don't want to do business with. There are several sites I use regularly for which I refuse to install the app. There are a lot more sites that I visit only occasionally because someone links to it, and that site immediately wants me to download the app and refuses to show me the content that was linked to. Fuck off with that.

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jillesvangurp 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As a developer, I resent having to go beg for permission for getting my app published. It just rubs me the wrong way to have to play approval roulette with some bored jerk working for Apple or Google. I've had both reject things that were previously alright, then weren't, and then were again.

I default to building web applications. Actually getting people to install your special app is in any case a race to the bottom. Some will, most won't. It's onboarding friction. If you can shave a few steps of your onboarding process, the chance that somebody comes out the other end is simply higher.

As a user, I rarely install apps to begin with and frankly the appeal of "native" is limited to well guarded APIs into jealously magical device capabilities that phones have that most applications don't actually need. I know how the sausage is made and there just isn't that much there.

	▲	ChadNauseam 5 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Same. My app is a PWA. Most users won’t install a PWA and won’t repeatedly navigate to a website so it limits the reach. But the advantage is that I can deploy instantly. I love when someone sends a bug report and I can tell them it’s fixed ten minutes later. Pretty great, compared to “it’ll be fixed in there business days” you get with the iOS app store
	▲	akshatjiwan 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		100% agree. I'm not a big fan of apps being distributed through stores owned by big corporations.I had faith in Fdroid but sadly it hasn't taken off. I also think app development requirements are too high. Just to compile your app and run the build process you need a very high end computer. I could never do it with my modest laptop and therefore gravitated towards web programming and more backend work. Thankfully I avoided all the pain of building apps and getting them approved by store owners. But I do have respect for people who have to deal with this bs. It may sound too opinionated and may hurt some feeling but I don't like android at all. I think it sucks. But I have little choice. So I grin and bear.

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mrd3v0 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Unless the website is completely broken or the devs force me to download the app by blocking features

That's already the norm.

	▲	3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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RajT88 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Unless the website is completely broken or the devs force me to download the app by blocking features on the website I prefer the web.

Facebook seems to be in this game. Constant notifications to install the app, and as well increasingly degraded experience in the web version (both desktop and mobile).

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zem 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

often the blocked features are specifically blocked on the mobile web (i.e. on your desktop they won't make you get your phone out to use the app instead), so forcing the webpage to desktop mode helps.