We really need a compelling alternative to the Play Store, both as users and developers.
I would prefer to see a wider embrace of PWAs.
This is what really, really pissed me off about the iPhone. When it launched and they gave it a desktop-class web browser engine and told people they were going all-in in PWAs (though I don't think the term existed at the time). Then v2 came out and they went sike! native apps, must be developed on our PCs, must be distributed by us, you must pay us to be allowed to develop, we take a cut of your income, and we're going to cripple the PWA engine to make universal, open apps all but unusable.
Dicks.
Can PWAs perform just like native apps when it comes to smoothness and optimization?
Yes, if the underlying engine is designed to support it. There are standard web APIs for accelerated graphics, compute, offline storage, Bluetooth, push notification, environmental sensors, phone book access, camera, local storage access, and so on... A decent PWA is indistinguishable from a native app.
I'd probably agree if I didn't work as an Android developer. :-)
You can build webapps in kotlin :)
I do love Kotlin, but I work extensively with audio playback on a low level (Oboe, native) so a web app just won't work for me.
Also, I can't really justify rewriting my company's entire app because I don't like Google's monopoly.
Is there any way of "installing" PWAs to the app drawer rather than been limited to a shortcut on the home screen?
Depends on the PWA, if they have the manifest setup properly it should give the option by itself and even the add to desktop button should change to install the app, but very few sites support it (among the ones I use)
In what ways do the existing alternatives fall short of compelling?
Can I get my banking app on F-Droid? How about my home security system app? How about a dozen other apps that I want or need, and can't be replaced by loading a website in Firefox?
This is entirely on the companies. There's no technical reason or requirement for this happening.
Fdroid works great and is the most likely thing to be adopted, in my opinion. It's easy enough for anyone to spin up their own fdroid server and distribute their own app.
If you're wanting to use a new store, you're going to have to wade through the growing pains of adoption. It's just a fact of life.
I'm still waiting for Linux on desktop to be a big thing like I thought back in 2004. I suspect the third party app stores will be just as quick.
Wait, I assume if you install a banking app through Aurora it still works? Totally fair if that doesn't work for your needs (you kinda need a google account, even if a blank one, to have it work right now) but I assume installing apps through it doesn't limit them or make them less functional for having been installed through Aurora?
Works on Calyx! My banks didn't work on Lineage through aurora. I think it only checks for a locked bootloader?
We really need a compelling alternative to the Play Store, both as users and developers.
I would prefer to see a wider embrace of PWAs.
This is what really, really pissed me off about the iPhone. When it launched and they gave it a desktop-class web browser engine and told people they were going all-in in PWAs (though I don't think the term existed at the time). Then v2 came out and they went sike! native apps, must be developed on our PCs, must be distributed by us, you must pay us to be allowed to develop, we take a cut of your income, and we're going to cripple the PWA engine to make universal, open apps all but unusable.
Dicks.
Can PWAs perform just like native apps when it comes to smoothness and optimization?
Yes, if the underlying engine is designed to support it. There are standard web APIs for accelerated graphics, compute, offline storage, Bluetooth, push notification, environmental sensors, phone book access, camera, local storage access, and so on... A decent PWA is indistinguishable from a native app.
I'd probably agree if I didn't work as an Android developer. :-)
You can build webapps in kotlin :)
I do love Kotlin, but I work extensively with audio playback on a low level (Oboe, native) so a web app just won't work for me.
Also, I can't really justify rewriting my company's entire app because I don't like Google's monopoly.
Is there any way of "installing" PWAs to the app drawer rather than been limited to a shortcut on the home screen?
Depends on the PWA, if they have the manifest setup properly it should give the option by itself and even the add to desktop button should change to install the app, but very few sites support it (among the ones I use)
In what ways do the existing alternatives fall short of compelling?
Can I get my banking app on F-Droid? How about my home security system app? How about a dozen other apps that I want or need, and can't be replaced by loading a website in Firefox?
This is entirely on the companies. There's no technical reason or requirement for this happening.
Fdroid works great and is the most likely thing to be adopted, in my opinion. It's easy enough for anyone to spin up their own fdroid server and distribute their own app.
If you're wanting to use a new store, you're going to have to wade through the growing pains of adoption. It's just a fact of life.
I'm still waiting for Linux on desktop to be a big thing like I thought back in 2004. I suspect the third party app stores will be just as quick.
Wait, I assume if you install a banking app through Aurora it still works? Totally fair if that doesn't work for your needs (you kinda need a google account, even if a blank one, to have it work right now) but I assume installing apps through it doesn't limit them or make them less functional for having been installed through Aurora?
Works on Calyx! My banks didn't work on Lineage through aurora. I think it only checks for a locked bootloader?
There are in fact banking apps and home security apps on F-Droid.
Here's the ones I looked for:
Not one of them was available on F-Droid. Care to share the ones that you know of?
Cool! I'll just call my bank and tell them that.
Accrescent is in early alpha, but it looks like it's on its way to be a great, modern app store.
checked it out and it needs a lot of time to become a proper competitor
Aurora store worked well but google got their way recently
It still works, you just need to search for things in the browser then open the links with Aurora
I wish someone would make a companion app that handles this automatically
I'd love to do it but I have no knowledge about kotlin. However, I'm still down if someone has a solid plan
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