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Why are there so many apps that could be websites? (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by sir_pronoun@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Seriously. I don't want to install something on my phone when the dev is just using a WebView, if that's what it's called. When the app is basically just a website with the browser hidden.

What's the reason for that? To attach the customer? To sell the app for money? Is there more ad revenue that way? Do you reach more people?

(Are there any good reasons for it, too? Security, maybe?)

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[-] pastaPersona@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

For certain things it makes sense to have an app imo, for instance music streaming services the desktop experience just has more features, plays better with my preamp/headphones and so on.

For something like Netflix it’s extremely irritating that they either intentionally gimp the experience of using the service on many browsers (IIRC Netflix is capped at 720p in Firefox still) or try to force users into using the app (see YouTube attempting to automatically redirect you to the app anytime you try to watch a video in the browser).

this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024

460 points (97.3% liked)

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