I always see posts asking for the “best apps”, so I thought it might be fun to flip the script. I originally thought this would be mobile-focused, but honestly I do the same thing on desktop.
I’d also be interested in any tools/techniques that help you achieve this. PWAs, scripts, mobile, desktop, whatever.
A lot of things where the “app” is just a bloated Electron wrapper. The web version, if offered, is almost always better even if it lacks a few features.
The ones that are the most entertaining are the ones where the web content packaged in the app is just a mirror of their website.
Honestly, I kind of like the Electron wrapper apps. Maybe it’s a result of my tendency to have too many tabs open in my browser. I like the separate “app” on my desktop in those cases.
Lemmy. The mobile apps just aren’t there just yet.
Says a lot about the apps I guess. I don’t find the website to be particularly great, at least on mobile. Seems to constantly reset my filters and/or my scroll position which is very annoying. Getting a reply has a ‘context’ button, but that just takes you to the post with only that reply visible. It takes a separate click to show what that reply is actually replying to, which feels weirdly clunky.
The most common reason for something to be “better in the app” is that the website is full of popups telling you to use the app
This is a depressing truth.
Facebook - I’ve found their mobile app is very large and I didn’t like the temptation to look at it all the time. I switch to using a browser in privacy/incognito mode. I log in and spend more quality time seeing what my friends and family are up to without obsessing over it.
I did the same a few years ago. I use a separate browser just for fab to keep them away from my main browser. Some things dont work that well, but it’s not as bad as the absolute trash of ads my feed is filled with
Pretty much everything from my bank to youtube.
Dunno if this fits the bill but there are apps which dont have the same features as the web. Strava for example doesnt let you download a gps track of rides of your friends without premium. The feature is available for free on the website when in desktop mode.
So you just log in via the browser on your phone and it allows you to download your gps data?
Goodreads: I usually just use their desktop website, but sometimes I need to check something on my phone. I’ve found the mobile website has basic features the native app is missing - like search!
Right now lemmy.ca. But I am using and rooting for Jerboa!
I’m holding out for Sync for Lemmy. Been using Jerboa and so far, I’m not impressed. Yet.
YouTube. The mobile site is fairly functional and with Firefox for Android I can block the ads.
I would usually feel bad about blocking ads but I paid for YouTube Premium for many years but only quite because they kept degrading the service. So I don’t really have any sympathy.
Time for these submitters to move to PeerTube and LiberaPay