28 votes

Tildes as a Progressive Web App (PWA)?

Posted by GlassHalfHopeful
Tags: ask.experts, tech support, apps.progressive web

I use Firefox for Android. One thing I love about some web apps are when they designed to be a "installable" Progressive Web App (PWA). It looks like Tildes doesn't support that. Perhaps it's a silly question, but does anyone by chance know if this can be forced to some degree? (Beyond adding a shortcut to one's desktop.)

Without an app available yet, that's my next go to normally. (Yep, I said yet. I'm eager to see your first release, @talklittle. 💜)

And ye

17 comments

  1. [8]
    m-p-3
    Link
    Firefox unfortunately kinda dropped the ball on PWA, both on desktop and mobile and has no mecanism in place for them. At the moment I'm using Hermit on Android to app-ify Tildes.

    Firefox unfortunately kinda dropped the ball on PWA, both on desktop and mobile and has no mecanism in place for them.

    At the moment I'm using Hermit on Android to app-ify Tildes.

    13 votes
    1. [2]
      Denram
      Link Parent
      There is also a FOSS alternative to Hermit, Native Alpha I've been using it for a few days now, so far no problems.

      There is also a FOSS alternative to Hermit, Native Alpha

      I've been using it for a few days now, so far no problems.

      10 votes
      1. GlassHalfHopeful
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Ack! It runs really smooth, but it unfortunately doesn't snap to or hide the OS top bar (on my phone). 😥 https://i.ibb.co/gwpWVqG/Screenshot-20230609-104020-com-cylonid-nativealpha.jpg Edit: okay,...

        Ack! It runs really smooth, but it unfortunately doesn't snap to or hide the OS top bar (on my phone). 😥

        https://i.ibb.co/gwpWVqG/Screenshot-20230609-104020-com-cylonid-nativealpha.jpg

        Edit: okay, so while it performs smooth, it crashes pretty regularly and it also doesn't adjust for when my keyboard comes up which means typing blind. The crashing sucks because Tildes doesn't support draft msgs. It was worth the try though.

        3 votes
    2. [4]
      Hobbykitjr
      Link Parent
      hmm I'm using firefox nightly and have had no issues

      hmm I'm using firefox nightly and have had no issues

      3 votes
      1. [3]
        m-p-3
        Link Parent
        On my end (Beta) it's a bit glitchy on some PWAs. If I put the address bar at the top, when using a PWA shortcut it leaves the address bar space grayed out at the top instead of making the page...

        On my end (Beta) it's a bit glitchy on some PWAs. If I put the address bar at the top, when using a PWA shortcut it leaves the address bar space grayed out at the top instead of making the page frameless (without the address bar)

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          Hobbykitjr
          Link Parent
          try waffle, its like wordle. its a pwa and works flawless for me. Curious if you have the same exp

          try waffle, its like wordle. its a pwa and works flawless for me. Curious if you have the same exp

          2 votes
          1. m-p-3
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            If I pin any PWA app in Firefox Beta with the address bar on top there's a gray bar where the URL bar would be webpage as a PWA

            If I pin any PWA app in Firefox Beta with the address bar on top there's a gray bar where the URL bar would be

            webpage

            as a PWA

            2 votes
    3. GlassHalfHopeful
      Link Parent
      It worked just fine for Lemmy (a federated link aggregator like Reddit)... 🤔

      It worked just fine for Lemmy (a federated link aggregator like Reddit)... 🤔

      2 votes
  2. [6]
    Jedi
    Link
    I don’t know how Firefox handles it, but Chrome allows you to add any website as its own standalone “app.” In Chrome desktop you can create shortcut -> check open as window. On the app, this is...

    I don’t know how Firefox handles it, but Chrome allows you to add any website as its own standalone “app.”

    In Chrome desktop you can create shortcut -> check open as window.

    On the app, this is the default behavior adding a website to your home screen.

    I’m a huge believer in PWAs and it would be really nice to see more websites officially support it.

    9 votes
    1. GlassHalfHopeful
      Link Parent
      Yeah... Google Chrome. Won't be using their browsers again for the foreseeable future. Word!

      Yeah... Google Chrome. Won't be using their browsers again for the foreseeable future.

      I’m a huge believer in PWAs and it would be really nice to see more websites officially support it.

      Word!

      6 votes
    2. [4]
      pocketry
      Link Parent
      I do something similar on Firefox for my android

      I do something similar on Firefox for my android

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        GlassHalfHopeful
        Link Parent
        On android, there's either the shortcut button or an install button. Install is for PWAs. The shortcut however just opens up the normal browser. Have you figured out a way to force any page to...

        On android, there's either the shortcut button or an install button. Install is for PWAs. The shortcut however just opens up the normal browser. Have you figured out a way to force any page to open in its own window?

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          pocketry
          Link Parent
          No, it opens in a tab in Firefox. That's good enough for me. It's the icon on my home screen that I love. To be honest everytime I try to understand what a PWA is, I still don't understand. I kind...

          No, it opens in a tab in Firefox. That's good enough for me. It's the icon on my home screen that I love. To be honest everytime I try to understand what a PWA is, I still don't understand. I kind of gave up a couple years ago.

          2 votes
          1. yooman
            Link Parent
            Mostly a PWA is a website that launches in its own window, is considered its own app in your OS app-specific settings, has permission to operate in the background (for things like push...

            Mostly a PWA is a website that launches in its own window, is considered its own app in your OS app-specific settings, has permission to operate in the background (for things like push notifications), and (when implemented well) can allow you to work offline. The distinction has become a little fuzzy though now that browsers themselves have per-site notification settings etc.

            https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps

            Even for a service like Tildes/Reddit/etc that requires an internet connection, a well-built PWA would cache the site's static resources after it has been loaded once, and after that it would start up instantly, then load the posts/comments more quickly. They are almost never built this well, but I still find it worth using PWAs when available simply to be able to manage notifications per-app using OS settings instead of browser settings, and to do things like set screen-time limits per app.

            6 votes
  3. teruma
    Link
    I really dislike PWAs, so I'm not bothered by this in the slightest. I particularly don't like to mix my infrastructures, because feature compatibility is never as complete or seamless as promised.

    I really dislike PWAs, so I'm not bothered by this in the slightest. I particularly don't like to mix my infrastructures, because feature compatibility is never as complete or seamless as promised.

    3 votes
  4. [2]
    Sexypink
    Link
    Yea I wish Tildes had am app. It would make the experience even better and I think get more ppl

    Yea I wish Tildes had am app. It would make the experience even better and I think get more ppl

    2 votes