Comments for TechRant

Comment on Facebook Releases Update for PHP SDK. by gursewak

gursewak — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:22:08 +0000

I just started working to add FB Connect

Comment on Why Facebook and Twitter are Not The Same Service by Pardeep

Pardeep — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:30:37 +0000

i like facebook..

Comment on Tumblr – Why I hate it, and why you should too by Jessika

Jessika — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:04:48 +0000

You forgot to mention that half of the users on Tumblr are stingy, stuck up, snobby, selfish, self-righteous, buzz killing, arrogant, judgmental, pompous, douche bags who act like posting a picture they just posted is a federal crime.

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Toner Giant

Toner Giant — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:48:27 +0000

Very interesting post. I have always had the opinion that apps will replace sites in the long run as they generally offer a great experience and can achieve things that sites cannot.

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Sam Harman

Sam Harman — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:20:01 +0000

I have to say I disagree, Have you actually used any ‘Mobile Websites’ recently? In my experience, i have yet to find a mobile website that provides a comparable experience to a native App. For one, the speed of the app then becomes totally dependant on the speed of our internet connection. On the go in the UK this is just not feasible… I don’t want to wait 20 – 30 seconds to find an old tweet, when i can load an app instantly check back through the cached timeline, and find it instantly…

Thats just one example, I can think of countless more. The Tescos mobile website for example, it’s a pile of S**t. (I’ve not used the App to compare) but the fact is that Mobile Websites more often than not take a ‘one approach fits all’ to present the same interface to the user regardless of device or platform, and that’s just absurd (much like the android OS, but thats a different rant). Now i know all these points don’t HAVE to be true, you can easily code a different interface dependant on browser / device etc, but the fact is that MOST companies don’t want the expense / bother of doing this, they’ll just stick up a standard mobile site and be done with it. And it’s crap!

Just my thoughts on the matter, although you should bear in mind that I make my living by making Apps so i’m probably incredibly biased.

Comment on Tumblr – Why I hate it, and why you should too by Sana

Sana — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:52:29 +0000

THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR THIS! I HATE TUMBLR! THER ARE MANY GREAT TUMBLR GROUPS! I LIKE THE ONES FOR CURVY WOMEN OR OTEHR GROUPS LIKE THAT!
BUT SOME ARE STRAIGHT RIDICULOUS! ACTUALLY MANY ARE!
THERE IS A TUMBLR ABOUT EVERY IRRELEVANT TOPIC! THATS WHY I HATE BLOGS,FORUMS,ETC!!!
I HATE WHEN DUMB PEOPLE CONGREGATE! TUMBLR AND FORUMS/BLOGS ATTRACT THAT!
sure there are a few good ones, but the majorty are trash!
its kind of like those videos on youtube about “shit “so and so” people say”
now that everyone jumped on the bandwagon,its getting wack! they have a video for tall juggernaut females,hipsters,freshmans,”natural hair people”,etc. its too much crap thats clogging up the net space!

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Matt French

Matt French — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:48:30 +0000

Data is a huge issue, as you say, especially on a mobile. However, HTML5 looks to the future (here is the page), developers can store databases and application caches on the device (that includes desktop machines). It's not a 100% solution, but it would mean that images, for example, are stored locally, all of your high-scores are local, and can synced at request - i.e. when a communication is made with the server. If a user has data turned off, the webapp will still work. This also addresses the issues with lag as data is already downloaded. As the comment before yours pointed out, most devices allow bookmarking which gets rid of the browser UI, the iPhone allows you to save a bookmark to your home screen and use it as an app. Apple have implemented it - and I'd like to say that this is the reason, but nobody can be certain.

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Jen O'Brien

Jen O'Brien — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:43:36 +0000

I don’t think apps are going anywhere soon. I get what you are saying, but have you considered the convenience of having a downloaded app when your internet connection is down or your network coverage is limited? Or, what about about data limited plans and how that would affect app versus browser usage? Or, wifi only tablets — you can download some apps and use them when you don’t have wifi. Some people don’t want to spent the extra money upfront for at 3G/4G device and then have to pay an additional monthly premium for constant connectivity.

While internet on a mobile phone is changing, there are still things that apps can do better and faster. I could go online and play a game a on my phone, but if I like it and want to play it frequently, I’ll download the app. Then, I have faster access to it and don’t have to deal with any lags when my internet connection is less than ideal or browser UI’s that get in the way of doing what I want to do. For instance, If i hit back on by browser, I might have possibly lost what I was doing, but if I hit back on the app, i can go back into it right where i left off.

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Matt French

Matt French — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:20:22 +0000

I have to agree, I tried not to go too much into design analysis, but as you say they will need to still have the same aesthetics. With the iPhone users can bookmark a website, and it uses the browser without all of the chrome surround – making it exactly the same as the app, and the user doesn’t have to remember the URL. Things such as responsive design will also aid the demise, with users able to visit sites that are custom to their screen, it means that apps don’t really need to be thought about, and if they do, then there are options to just port the site over without extra work.

Comment on Why Apps Are Dead. by Wim Tibackx

Wim Tibackx — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:04:03 +0000

While I do agree that mobile sites are a better idea then mobile apps, I think it is important to make the distinction between apps (as in downloadable software) and web apps (as in fancy interactive websites). I do think that, for mainstream users, it is/will be important to have the app feel (both mobile and desktop) for web apps even if the native apps diminish in popularity.

It is important to consider that “normal” users care less about what it is and just want it to work, and in that case, I would argue that the app-like look and feel is more user friendly than the website-like look and feel in the case of web apps. To reference one of your examples: in the google chrome web store, there is often a lot of ranting about apps just being bookmarks, but that is, in fact, the point. Those app-bookmarks (app-like look and feel, while still being a website and not a native app) are more user friendly (the icon, the new tab page w/ separate app pages, maybe even special urls/breadcrumbs (I thought something like that was planned in firefox)) than real bookmarks or typing in the url.

To summarize: web is better than native, but app-like look and feel will need to stay.