this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024
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Programming

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[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But it wouldn't only work on Android. It would also work on Windows and Unix and any other niche operating system that can run a browser (my Blu-ray recorder has a browser in it). There's a whole world outside Apple/Android. This message brought to you by a browser running on Windows...

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

That's theoretically true, but in practice, the desktop experience (screen size, interaction model, etc.) is sufficiently different that adapting it to mobile to get an app-like experience is not that different from building a separate app.

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's not at all like building a separate app. All the back-end code is identical - all you have to do is make the mobile version not take up as much screen-space, and that's not much work. e.g. on desktop I use icon and text, but on mobile icon only.

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Then why do you think most business are already writing a separate Android app rather than just optimising their mobile website?

But "make the mobile version not take up as much screen-space" is not as simple as simply zooming out and just hiding some icon labels. And just the fact that people interact by touch rather than with a mouse and keyboard is already a major adjustment.

Anyway, I'll leave it at this, since I feel like there's not much to gain here for me from the discussion anymore :) Cheers!

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago

why do you think most business are already writing a separate Android app

I don't think that. I know some businesses who are still writing separate apps, instead of switching to cross-platform. You'll have to ask them why they're doing that. It frustrates me no end when platform-specific bugs come up because they're running different code on each platform, each written by different people.

the fact that people interact by touch rather than with a mouse and keyboard

...makes no difference at all. Whether a user has touched a button, clicked on it, or tabbed to it and pressed enter, the same Button.Clicked event gets triggered.