If they have an app they can gather far more personal data from you (and your device) that they can then turn around and sell
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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And far fewer people have adblockers that block ads in apps.
Also it adds a link to their website right on your phone.
This exactly. Just ask for some location rights in the app and get access to wifi also.
Most users don't mind giving an app a large amount of access and in doing so, a lot of personal information gets exposed.
If you have a choice, use a website.
So they can make your phone go bingedybeep and show you more adverts, while slurping up any data the browser doesn't usually let them access.
Some people are missing the forest for the trees here
Having a businesses app on your phone is better regular advertising than anything they could ever pay for.
They just want an excuse to make you look at their logo and think about their business as regularly as possible
I would say in some cases, people are conditioned now to expect an app, even if it's basically a website. I think in a mobile context, most non-techy people don't normally think to open up a browser and say, browse Amazon or something. Instead they go for the Amazon app on their phone, and browse/shop/whatever there.
I wouldn't say this is exclusive to phones either. I once worked on a product that was essentially web-native, but they had to ship a desktop app because their market expected it, even though it was only a web-view wrapper to the website. No offline storage, no difference in behaviour, or need for some specific API; nothing. I guess you try explaining to boomers that a web-view desktop app is unnecessary.
The data vacuuming and additional marketing are just added benefits for the app developer, if they go down that path (they usually do).
I always assumed the reason was to get more tendrils into your phone for that sweet sweet data $$$ and allowing themselves more control over shoving notifications in your face.
Do I sound bitter?
I want apps to be apps again.
On my desktop I have browser tabs for WhatsApp, messenger, Skype, gMailChatTalkHangouts and slack. I know slack's app was ass but I miss the rest.
I want a discrete app that doesn't crash with chrome and which sits in my tooltray so I don't have to fucking search for it whenever something makes a noise (ctrl-alt-a). I want to see it from the blink in the corner and not by scanning 31 windows of 7 groups of 12 tabs each.
Often times I just give up and hope it also makes my phone spork too so I can grab it there.
Progressive Web Apps were supposed to marry these schools of thought, but maybe we hoped for too much because it's still ~~garbage~~ Chromium under the hood.
Just make everything for maximum interoperability I guess? I recently saw and forgot the name of a system for creating and displaying Github-like pull requests and associated discussions that are sent in via email. A very simple web interface displaying plain-text that could reasonably have been extended any way you like. I am beginning to see the appeal of the plain-text revolution.
We had a project once that ran completely fine as a website except for the ability to scan bar codes. That one thing forced us to create an app and the rest of the app was just showing the website.
Ad revenue. It is harder to block ads on mobile than it is on desktop.
If a company require me to download or install something I ammost likly looking up their direct competitors
...who usually require you to download their app, too - sadly