Several Lemmy iOS apps look to have left TestFlight! (lemmy.astaluk.icu)

submitted 1 year ago by StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.astaluk.icu to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

42 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I’m currently trying Voyager. Initial impression is that it seems like a great app.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Are these actual native apps, or more react/web view in an app wrapper?

[-] TheRaven@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Depends on the app. Mlem is native, and Voyager is a web view app wrapper. But Voyager definitely doesn’t feel like a web view. It was written to feel like a native app, I’m really impressed. And that’s coming from someone who generally hates web apps.

[-] Tatters@feddit.uk 8 points 1 year ago

Voyager used to be a web app, but has now gone native too.

[-] MentalEdge@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Pretty sure its still a web app under the hood.

A web app doesn't magically turn into a native app when you put it on the app store. The way it gets installed, and the system access is different, and better for stuff like notifications...

But the word "native" refers to applications made using the native SDK, which in Apple's case is Swift. I'd be extremely impressed if the devs re-wrote the entire app in new code. But that would be unnecessary.

You can have non-native apps on the app store. A lot of your apps probably aren't native. SDKs like flutter, used by liftoff and thunder, make development much easier in exchange for the resulting application running a bit less efficiently. Flutter applications can also run on both Android and iOS, and even desktop, with little additional work.