Voyager might become a native App in the future! (sort of)
Voyager might become a native App in the future! (sort of)
It is a limitation of a PWA. A native app (wrapper) will likely be coming though, and a custom Capacitor plugin could theoretically interface with the native API to switch out icons. Theoretically. No promises though :)
Quoting this comment by the dev
I don't understand why some users really want a native app? A webapp is better in almost everyway. You don't need to build and maintain multiple pieces of software, it just works across multiple devices and configurations. You don't have to install and give permissions to yet another piece of software on your device, creating yet another vulnerability. It's like asking for betamax when DVDs exist. What's a benefit of doing so, just that in comes up in the app store when searching?
With a capacitor app it can be both a PWA and a native app from the same code base. This wouldn’t take away, only add possible functionality for those who choose to install it natively.
There’s a lot of native functionality that a PWA cannot access, like app icon changing, certain gestures that Apollo took advantage of (tapping on the top to scroll to the top, for one), and some other things that have been requested.
I would be so happy if we got Apollo-style scroll to top. That’s the one thing I’ve really been missing
Fair enough, thanks for explaining.
Well... Part of that is just that web apps have much worse efficiency and performance compared to native apps. That's not to say their performance and efficiency is bad, but a native app will beat a web app everytime. The DOM and JavaScript are just not great models in terms of efficiency and performance.
imo we need a webapp alternative and voyager is it.
Many people have not heard of web apps, they do not know how to find or install web apps.
Most of them are more familiar with the app stores. They are more comfortable using what they are familiar with. They might have been using the app store since the original Angry Bird was released.
It is good to have choices.
Yes, I think even if it’s just a wrapper and nothing else changes other than the app being in the App Store, that’s probably worth it because you’d get more users.
The user experience is nicer as a native app, if done right. With a PWA, you have to deal with anything crappy that the browser inflicts on you, and the developer largely can't do anything about it. For example, Chrome sometimes just crashes or freezes entirely on me, which means Voyager can too.
See elsewhere in this thread for examples of little things that stem solely from being a PWA .
Don't get me wrong, I think Voyager is great for a PWA and it probably gets a lot of value out of being a PWA making it easier for people to contribute. But it's just not as good as native for me.
The developers can bring out both.
My biggest problem with the webapp is that it fills my Chrome history, so it basically becomes useless.
ever heard of React Native?
I hadn't no, but that's cool! I'm not a developer, but seems like a useful tool.
Voyager is perfect as is. Lightning fast to get updates, don't need to be at the mercy of Apple or Google to get into the official stores. And less work for the developers to publish a new version.
As users you don't perceive a difference. A native app in theory could cause your system to be vulnerable if a bug exists.
Because of the above reasons I'd really like Voyager to remain a PWA.
Voyager is perfect as is.
Except for the scrolling issue on iOS. If they don’t figure out a way to resolve that, I don’t care how many features they keep adding, I’m out. I’ve been tolerating it so far, and everybody keeps hand waving it away with “it’s a limitation of safari” and “all you have to do is not touch the screen for a second and it works like normal”. Uhh…no. This needs to be fixed. Once people have multiple other options, that don’t have this hindrance, (and honestly, I think we’re probably well past that point already) I can’t imagine too many people wanting to use this app vs literally any other choice.
Capacitor apps can be both.
I don’t think them making the native app wrapper means the PWA is going away
don’t need to be at the mercy of Apple or Google to get into the official stores.
Ipa/apk s exist though, they can just have those on the website and not care about the official stores
No promises though :)
REMAIN CALM.
will likely be coming though
^^
I like that you can develop for both iOS and Android at the same time. And no need to verify every update towards the store.
Agree. This is a ridiculously good implementation and I don’t understand why nobody has gotten this right until now. Hallelujah holy shit.
Voyager has converted me into a PWA believer.
Sounds pedantic, but I still wouldn’t call that a “native” app. It’s just a wrapper.
I agree, that’s what the "sort of" stands for. Depending on how the implementation would look like, it might still make some of the small annoyances that I currently have go away (scroll-to-top, back swipe, scrolling hiccup, multiple app icons, haptics, …).
Native as just a wrapper with some extra features I guess.
I see not wrong having both, I think the key of Lemmy's adoption is how easy is to recommend Lemmy by just pointing to an instance with Voyager locally installed as m.lemmy.world.
Voyager should still be developed as PWA.
Personally, I would like to see a Native App. I get that this PWA makes it easier to develop for both Android and iOS, but there’s something about Native apps that just seem like a better experience to me.
I think it’s mostly the interactions that feel a lot snappier in native apps
custom Capacitor
Great Scott!
(sorry, I couldn't resist)