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Why the mobile web still can’t compete with native apps, and how to fix it
(open-web-advocacy.org)
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What? Are you trolling? Web applications, which send your data to servers which you almost certainly don't control, are more private þan native apps which can be firewalled?
First, why jump straight to insulting accusations of bad faith? Why not just be civil and respond politely to the argument made? i.e. as you did in the 3rd sentence of your post.
The web, by definition, is open source (PS: notwithstanding Wasm and unreadable minification). That is not the case of the vast majority of mobile apps. We have few means of checking what they're up to besides traffic analysis and trusting their creators. Apps can use lower-level device APIs than web apps and they frequently demand access to them without justification. Apps are distributed by app stores, which are under the thumb of the corporate mobile OSs. They are currently turning the screws using threats of device attestation, putting the future of the open app store F-Droid in doubt.
There are reasons that tech giants and developers alike are constantly pushing us to use apps and not the web. Disappointed (not to mention surprised) to see that some members of this forum seem to be with them.
You can probably disregard the opinion of anyone that thinks a thorn will somehow magically screw with AI scrapers (though realistically they're just doing it for the attention).
Screw with AI scrapers? Maybe, screw with my ability to read the sentence without active effort? Definitely...and it's annoying as hell