GoKawiilAs someone who prefers using services via their websites, I’ve gotten terribly jaded lately. Almost everyone wants me, and by extension, you, to use their darn apps to consume content and off their web versions.
Whether it's the obvious social media apps or something as basic as parking, the app is the priority and the site the red-headed stepchild. And they aren't too subtle in the push either. It might be a modal covering half the web version with links to the App Store, an immediate popup after a bit of scrolling, or a header screaming “the app is 10x better,” but it's always there and it's always grating.
Let's not even go into the cases where the app is the only option to access the service. A minor annoyance for ordering food, but a major hassle when it's a public service or utility.
Why the Hostility From Both Sides?
On principle, I like control over what I see and how I see it. Apps are super limited; while in a browser, I can do a lot of very nifty things to improve usability.
A service lacks a dark mode? I can use any number of user scripts. Reddit introduced a gaming section in the sidebar? Two-second fix that I bundled into my extension [1]. Between userscripts, ad-blockers, and custom extensions, I'm basically a god, swaggering through my realm.
This control, or lack thereof, also explains the app maker's adversarial stance towards users. They are often a black hole of dark patterns, and they'd like nothing getting in their way. Apps make it easier for them to push notifications, collect intrusive telemetry, and keep you inside their walled garden. A better user experience is the pitch but securing better user retention is the end goal.
It's Mostly Just Text and Media
Most apps are just that. Text and media in a never-ending, all-consuming feed or a multi-page form, cleverly disguised by the user interface.
Excluding heavy 3D gaming or utilities that genuinely require deep integration with your phone's hardware (like accessing the LiDAR scanner for AR), what are we actually left with? A thin client whose main job is to fetch data from an API and render it onto native views.
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