> The other group of users wants to enjoy the new project Fugu apis available on Chromium-based browsers.
But it's not users, it's developers.
Specifically below we have people saying that as a developer they don't want to have to jump through hoops, nor pay the tax. And as a developer I can empathise.
But as a tech savvy user I don't actually have anything that makes me desire PWAs. There's no driver there for me, I don't care about the new project fugu apis available on Chromium-based browsers, I can probably get a native app that does the thing I want, it's developers that care about that stuff. Stuff they could already do if they weren't trying to bypass the app store infrastructure.
So even among tech savvy users, the number of users who care about installing from outside of the app store ecosystem is not 100%.
> Why is the first group of users attended to, and the second one ignored?
Group 1 is a lot larger, they are the mainstream audience and the tech-savvy-but-doesn't-care-specifically-for-PWAs audience. Not only are they the people that the device vendors want to target, they are the people that the nefarious would-be PWA writers want to target too.
> and let the user choose?
"Press this button, this button and this button to get the free shiny! Don't worry about those silly warnings, they just don't want you having any fun!"
"Hi, is this Apple? My phone is an unusable pile of shite and somehow all my money is gone"
> But as a tech savvy user I don't actually have anything that makes me desire PWAs.
Storage space? The knowledge that the app you installed runs inside a browser sandbox, with certain safety guarantees (I've never quite learnt what they are; but apparently they exist).
Personally, I would be much happier installing PWAs than native apps. I know PWAs are effectively just websites. I know what to expect from websites. I know I can remove them cleanly if I want to. I have no idea what to expect from native apps.
> "Press this button, this button and this button to get the free shiny! Don't worry about those silly warnings, they just don't want you having any fun!" – "Hi, is this Apple? My phone is an unusable pile of shite and somehow all my money is gone"
Is this a problem on Android or on Windows? Do people besiege Google (or Samsung, or Microsoft) complaining that their devices have become unusable and that their money has evaporated because they have installed something on their device? Is this, ultimately, Apple's problem (you can still install things on a Mac bypassing the app store)?
> Storage space? The knowledge that the app you installed runs inside a browser sandbox, with certain safety guarantees (I've never quite learnt what they are; but apparently they exist).
> Personally, I would be much happier installing PWAs than native apps. I know PWAs are effectively just websites. I know what to expect from websites. I know I can remove them cleanly if I want to. I have no idea what to expect from native apps.
I mean… yes? It is an issue on windows, though it’s not necessarily MS they phone when someone’s got them to install something evil on there. And yes, it’s an issue on PCs that people end up overloaded with alerts and crap.
People do indeed buy tablets because they’re easier and safer, particularly for older, less savvy relatives or kids.
Undermining that is likely to hurt the market.
As for the other - I know what to expect from a native app, mobile platforms particularly have similar guarantees and expectations, and I know someone else has had eyes on it. Those guarantees you’re talking about aren’t necessarily very meaningful in the face of social engineering - a PWA may not be able to take over your device but they could still be great avenues for phishing attacks etc.
But it's not users, it's developers.
Specifically below we have people saying that as a developer they don't want to have to jump through hoops, nor pay the tax. And as a developer I can empathise.
But as a tech savvy user I don't actually have anything that makes me desire PWAs. There's no driver there for me, I don't care about the new project fugu apis available on Chromium-based browsers, I can probably get a native app that does the thing I want, it's developers that care about that stuff. Stuff they could already do if they weren't trying to bypass the app store infrastructure.
So even among tech savvy users, the number of users who care about installing from outside of the app store ecosystem is not 100%.
> Why is the first group of users attended to, and the second one ignored?
Group 1 is a lot larger, they are the mainstream audience and the tech-savvy-but-doesn't-care-specifically-for-PWAs audience. Not only are they the people that the device vendors want to target, they are the people that the nefarious would-be PWA writers want to target too.
> and let the user choose?
"Press this button, this button and this button to get the free shiny! Don't worry about those silly warnings, they just don't want you having any fun!"
"Hi, is this Apple? My phone is an unusable pile of shite and somehow all my money is gone"