Why Websites Ask You To Download An App 

i was thinking the same. Almost all the APIs can be accessed through a browser now

@@1nikolas It's been that way for a while, too, and most sites don't even do anything special that should call for an app in the first place It's all about screwing the users.

PWAs are just like apps, they can access the file system and send notifications

They purposely make a terrible job with their mobile web pages to force you to use the app for features too. My company has one app, but dozens of web apps for both employees and customers that were designed to work like an app (or else we would have to give macs to the developers so we could build iOS apps)

And ensures adverts are less-likely to be blocked, and so they can bombard you with notifications

Exactly. "It has more direct access to your phone" as stated in the video is exactly why I don't want any apps installed. I'd rather use the desktop site if i have to and zoom in and out than use those cursed apps

Exactly.

It allows them to ask you for permissions of their own, rather than live within the permissions you already set on the browser, which means the browser is your first of 2 lines of defense of privacy and against malicious actions.

The root reason is always money.

And even for those webviews performance can vary wildly. Some you barely notice anything, some are god awful slow. Looking at you, Amazon.

this is the LAST of the problems, users should not be forced to use an app, when an equivalent website exists or can exists. It doesn't matter how good or bad the app is, the entire idea is to not use redundant apps

This problem is only compounded by the fact that most of these websites are so riddled with spyware and whatnot that, if removed, speed wouldn't actually be a concern and the site could load in a decent time even over a 2G connection or something. I remember when the EU first came out with the rules on accepting/denying cookies and all the commercial spaces scrambled to get their sites into compliance. Many of them took the most basic approach and just put up a barebones site sans the trackers at first. Being in the USA and loading those barebones sites either via adding "eu" into the url somewhere or by using a proxy made it just so much easier to browse the web for a while until they figured out how to re-add all that tracker bloat. I remember loading up the EU version of The Guardian at one point and it was lightning fast. Literally a fraction of a second on a 100Mbps connection on desktop. The US version of the site took at least two seconds. Both versions of the site looked and functioned the same. It was all tracker bloat. Even today, using EU versions of sites via proxies or whatever can result in better speeds and better privacy than those of us stuck in the "land of freedom" where corporations control our every step. Imagine the latency caused by the data having to go across the ocean and you're still loading pages faster than if you loaded the version stored on that local CDN half a state away. The state of web design and usage has been utterly ruined by corporations and the EU cookies thing *really* showed that off to the world.

You should see what sensors are available without any permissions. Did you know they can read your battery, charger, alarm, and position sensors? They can tell if you're the kind of person who lays in bed using your phone all night, how much sleep you get, and if you only plug in your phone when the battery hits 10%.

i hate using apps now since phones no longer have external sd cards to store photos and videos means that ur seriously limited on how many things we can have installed on our phones

This still happens constantly

Twitter actually have been pretty useable in web form. It's how I've been using it for a while on mobile.

Quora be like, but it's a horrible community of stupid people pretending to be smart so nothing of value loss.

​@@swawif Most websites are pretty usable in web form. It's why we're so annoyed about the nagging. Some websites even lock the website whilst the popup is active...

This is still the case, I basically ignore any website that does this.

Funnily enough, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter do this. As I have deleted my FB, Insta I barely use so im not logged in on pc. And Twitter im not logged in either

@@Terandium They do it for blocking any unknown stalkers who are attempted to explore someone's account without logging in

@@sihamhamda47 they can just. Maybe. Make an. Account?

Twitch does it

If they only block because you don't use the app on phone. Request the desktop version of the site and it should work.

Yes, service worker, offline-first cache strategy and push notifications, camera or bluetooth are also available. And coding an native app doesn't provide a speed advantage you notice for most apps.

I think the main reason is to make you come back frequently. By having that icon on your home screen, you're more likely to open the app and use it. Compared to opening your browser and going to that specific URL.

@@arjundureja Also, they can send you push notifications. Which shoots the probability of you engaging with the app through the roof.

@@thewiirocks websites can too with permission

@@szymex22 But we never give them that permission. It's new on the Web, it's the status quo with mobile.

Not to mention, a lot of commercial apps are simply piles of crap.

this was great back in the prime years of windows phone. so many of the major players didnt develop an app for windows phone but then along came a 3rd party that made apps that were an order of magnitude better than the official ones. so for most apps the best experience of the 3 platforms was on windows phone. its a shame it didnt last.

@@iris4547 It's the same today, all of the apps I use are third party except the microsoft ones which are fine

No its not. Stop thinking everyone is trying to spy on you. the only reason companies push aps a lot is that they make it easier to sell you more stuff

@@g0d638 isn't That exactly the same thing as what he just said in the comment?

A web browser is an app. 🙄🤡

What I dislike is either method asks my location when I try to visit either way, I have to change my location as my wifi connection at home is dynamic and served from 320 miles away, and not any of the more populis 4 locations 250 or less miles away.. my "brick and mortar" shopping is about 40 miles away, I have to keep a record of zip codes to change this EVERY visit.. and it's funny that ad servers embedded always offer as if I'm up in Minneapolis and I'm down off of I-80 in Iowa

@@DaveMcIroy Are you being deliberately dense or are you just stupid? A web page can't control the web browser, and can't directly access your microphone, data, etc... it has to go through the web browser. Demanding you download an app evades all of these protections and gives them direct access to your hardware. It decreases your phone's safety so that they can gobble up more of your data and profile you/their customer base.

Pro Tip: Use desktop mode is pretty clunky but it works

@@OrangoTheAndro Problem is a lot of sites automatically redirect you to the mobile site if they detect a mobile browser.

@@jamesphillips2285 No, In all browsers i've used there is an option in the 3 dots to enable desktop mode making websites think you're on an arm Linux computer with weird tastes in monitors

@@OrangoTheAndro TBF: Android IS a weird Linux distro with a weird taste in monitors.

the only exception is when you have never touched the internet before.

ive never actually bothered to look into ad blocking on my phone, but surely there is a method similar to the hosts file in windows that can do adblocking system wide?

@@iris4547 there's private DNS (on Android anyway), which is largely equivalent to the hosts file. But there's only so much that can do. An ad served from the same domain name as the useful parts would still make it through, as by blocking that you'd break the app.

So apps that connect to 3rd party ad networks can be kinda cleaned up this way, but apps by companies that serve you ads of their own (upselling you on their own or affiliated more expensive plans or extra services) cannot.

I wish they could. iOS has no push api support still.

@@neoney (sighs) well, yeah. There are no modern browsers on iOS at all. Add that to the list of reasons to force third-party app installs unto Apple devices. Let's see what's about to go down in the EU!

By default, iOS and Android update apps automatically, in the background, when your phone is on Wi-Fi. If you turn that off, you will have to manually look for updates. That's not really the app makers fault then, surely?

@@dftfire Yes it is because the devs are the ones who have made it so that you must be on version X.X to run their app. I've had apps that have been on a version that was 2 years old and they still worked.

@@ent2220 Yes, but if the app had auto-updates in the background, you wouldn't then have an issue when you next opened it. Sometimes apps have security issues and cannot allow users to remain using an older version forever, or the older version is not compatible with a newer Android or iOS release. If you want to update apps manually, when you say so only, that's your choice but you must expect some apps to eventually not work

And the absolute worst case is... when you need the app to work right then & there, the app won't work until updated, and something is keeping you from updating, like having OS software that just became marked "obsolete," or no longer supported by the app developer.

FYI it’s my mobile carrier that does this when I click on “view data usage” or “view bill” or something like that

I agree, It's pointless and "lazy"

the fact that the app functions vastly different than the web version is even worse...

RU-vid runs great on my Pixel 7, and it was almost as good on my old Moto G4 Play.... ಠಿ⁠_⁠ಠ

I had a ton of issues with the iOS and Android RU-vid app back in the day. Now I use Kiwi with an Ad Blocker lol.

most big corp apps are trash by design. See twitter, the website puts the app to shame

Maybe stop using Windows Phone, Blackberry or Nokia Series 40 or 60 thesedays then? Or on PC, make sure you're not visiting the mobile-version of the website?

@@dftfire I want options OTHER than android and iOS Also this happens with people using ARM SBCs like Raspberry Pi. Some websites see you're using an ARM CPU and they ask you to use an app.

@@sharoyveduchi That may change now that Apple have moved macOS devices to ARM. (Though you can run iOS and iPadOS apps on a mac, so I guess they could offer you the app) Windows 11 can run Android apps also. You could just install a browser extension that would make your header and user-agents report to be a non-ARM platform too.

Websites nowadays can also request location data, use mic/camera, etc. (all based on permissions set per website, just like with apps). There are basically no reasons (from a user perspective) for apps that are just a frontend alternative to a website. Yes, their laggy/messy "fully responsive" UI layouting will maybe run an order of magnitude faster if it's not running in a browser. But that doesn't change the fact that it's three orders of magnitudes too inefficient to begin with...

not yet on iOS

@@user-jz8po2eu2dThey have "worked on it" for years if I recall right. I quite often wonder what the software engineers at Apple actually do...

But you have to opt in instead of opt out

@@ikuturso7570well that is very often a downside. As someone working in a phone store, there are so many people getting scammed or having their phones flooded with spam and adult content because random websites they visit get notifications. The use case is fairly limited and the risks are high. I doubt apple wants to add that as a feature.

Sometimes that is due to rules about what Apple or Google permit in an app

CVS did that's me and I'm like why the fuck do I have this app if you're sending me to the webpage and then I dunciad. And now I don't download any apps that people ask although I didn't really before. Although that take up space on your phone they clog your screen. And their bullshit. I wish there was a way I could prevent them from asking me to add their app.

Not really. Sure, some apps would be just as good as a website, but definitely not all.

I was thinking the same thing, all these points WERE true many years ago, but today, you can install a responsive web page as a full fledged app, receive notifications, the works...

@@nicolaicornelis2853 its the opposite. the only apps that you truly need are those which run offline or are messaging apps. just look at PCs from 10 years ago, there was no RU-vid or Tiktok App and it still worked fine.

@@Janiik It's not. There are so many things you just cannot do with a browser - or that if you do, you're going to have worse results. I've done both, and I can tell you with no uncertainty that native apps are far superior to websites for many cases.

@@nicolaicornelis2853 still waiting for examples

If you have the web browser window resized very narrow, it sometimes assumes the width means you're on a mobile device. Or you could have a browser extension that is causing it

Don't think I've seen this.

But the marketing strategy isn't obsolete. $$$$$$$ 🤑

@@johnsmithe4656 From a corporate perspective, you are very much right. However, for most consumers, getting tracked more and making it harder to block ads isn't necessarily a reason to download an app.

This is why I use the desktop websites. The apps are GARBAGE.

Yup, especially if it's like a product link and then it just takes you to the main page, hell I've had Newegg do that when trying to open their app notifications.

That is so fucking stupid 💀💀

I wish they would get it in their head that everytime there website needs more than 1 click to access what you want to see, a lot of people will just leave

@@GameCyborgCh They don't mind, and in fact they prefer that. Customers that are picky are not good customers. They have so many people coming to their site/app they can actually kick out the ones they don't want. Small companies don't have this luxury so they aren't as aggressive.

Disagree. For any company to bend over backwards for that one extra sale and not simply optimize their online presence so they can weed out picky customers is insane. I can walk into most corporate stores with a product they don't even sell and get some store credit. Kroger used to do it, Costco did it for a long time and still might, Sam's and Walmart do it as of a year or so ago (this according to friends and family that work at these places). Incremental sales, i.e. the candy bar at checkout, are a huge thing. But they don't care about their website being difficult because it weeds out the quitters? No shot.

Typical android user

@@oeufleau8543 Typical Windows Phone user

You must be using a cheap Android phone (no offence). iPhones are incredibly fast and well optimised. Their apps never stop responding.

What fr? For me they cause issue if its rooted

I usually just call pizza places myself. Fuck apps.

@@mokisan magisk hide don't work?

@@RCmaniac667 ya thats what I have to do. And even magisk hide is bit iffy. Because many apps scan the app list then you have to hide the app and all shenanigans.

@@USS_Sentinel I use web sites. Thing about the phone is you often don't know the deals ahead of time and don't get special offers for being part of their little business cult.

I have all notifications off except from Whatsapp. Best decision ever

Completely agree but companies care less about the user experience and features to the control a native app provides.

iOS doesn't handle PWAs very well... Which is ironic when you consider that the first iPhone didn't have an app store (or any means of installing third-party software). Steve Jobs and his team thought PWAs with shortcuts on the home screen were better than native apps, so they told developers to "make iPhone-shaped web pages that look and behave like apps" (not a direct quotation). But this system didn't work very well, and the second version of iOS introduced the App Store.

Video streaming pretty much always works better in apps on mobile devices though. I prefer using my web browser over an app for most things, but if i'm gonna watch streamed video on my phone or tablet i always prefer an app

@@InventorZahran There are a couple of PWAs I use on iPadOS, including Visual Studio Code. Seems to work just fine as long as the site is properly built for it.

But they'd make less money so no. Do it. Doitdoitdoit!

But that costs money, and today companies want free lunch/rentism, profiting without spending almost anything.

I can confirm. Everyone in my field just takes pre-made stuff and their code is bad even with that. I on the other hand love to do stuff my scratch and my code is always as optimal, bullet-proof and easy to read as possible. My stuff always runs really good and no glitches. I've had stuff released still on version 1.0 because there is nothing that needs fixing.

The 32bit iOS version of RU-vid worked for years without any updates. It probably still would work if RU-vid didn't decide that it was vitally important to hide the dislike counter.

I was able to click on a video before the pop-up leading me to the app store and it would run the video fine.

"But this works better in our app!"

They actually like seeing you leave since you're not open to giving them everything they want. They prefer people who are mindless drones who obey and open their doors, locks and wallets as soon as they're asked.

Oh and doing actual app things like video streaming and full screen games I guess

I actually looked at the stores app today, and my suspicions were confirmed. Their app page in the App Store shows that they don’t collect anything that can’t be used to directly identify or track you.

That's like not using a fork because it's possible to stab yourself with.

@@1IGG LOL. That's not why I don't have a phone. I don't have a need or interstress in them. And even if I did,0 they're too expensive, and where I live I don't get a signal.