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Why I prefer apps to websites


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It's 2013, we have a prevalence of widescreen aspect ration monitors, yet we have a web built for last decade's resolutions. What gives devs? :( If we can have apps that scale, why don't we have websites that scale? It's not rocket science to create something that would scale to fill in the empty voids.

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Haha. I see what yo did there.

 

Still, I would have thought devs would be jumping at the chance of responsive web design, yet few have. :(

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Apps - specifically designed for a particular device or set of devices that tend to have defined screensizes and resolutions

Websites - accommodate the above plus everything else a web browser (of which there are dozens) can be displayed or run on

 

It's a slightly more difficult technical challenge. In fact, to do it well, is pretty friggin difficult. Much like building a website properly. If it was simple everyone would know how to do it in grade school. They don't.

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With mediaqueries websites can be even responsive as apps but sadly enough it's not widely used :/

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attachicon.gifApps to Web.png

 

It's 2013, we have a prevalence of widescreen aspect ration monitors, yet we have a web built for last decade's resolutions. What gives devs? :( If we can have apps that scale, why don't we have websites that scale? It's not rocket science to create something that would scale to fill in the empty voids.

Using Twitter as an example, against an app with different content and on a minority screen resolution...

 

Websites do change for resolution and can do so far better than apps usually do. Apps usually just "scale" (websites can too), which is understandable for phones and tablets with little size variation, but sub-optimal at best for desktop/laptop computers. But it all comes down to a website's goals and target audience. In the case of "web apps" such as Twitter, Facebook, et al the website is usually aimed at desktops with apps for devices. Your everyday websites will usually "respond". Then there are the ones that sit between and have a dedicated mobile site (Neowin does this afaik). It depends on a website's goals as to which you choose. In Twitter's case there is no need to "respond" as they have apps.

 

The only benefit to Twitter being responsive would be for large screens. But despite what you assume, you are viewing the world through an uncommon screen resolution (presumably 1920x1080). The large majority of users have a horizontal resolution of 1600 or less, with most of those at 1366 or less (source). Twitter could go to the effort of filling the space, but there are only two less-than-ideal methods available. First is to just make the page wider, which would look damn ugly (one tweet per line) and be bad for readability (narrow columns are easier to read). Second would be by adding "filler columns" with content from others page like MetroTwit does. However, that would give users with large screen resolutions different content, which is pretty much a no-no on the web and not what responsive design is about anyway.

 

Although responsive design is quickly gaining traction, you're rarely going to see a great degree of responsive design on "web apps" though. It is too complicated to do (technically and visually), large resolutions are an altogether small market, desktops are a decreasing market for "web apps" and devices have dedicated apps. You'd need some pretty solid reasons to go to the effort. So "web apps" usually either have a dedicated app and/or serve a mobile-specific page.

 

And web development is like rocket science (or at least feels like it). Guess who/what we have to blame for that.  :rofl:

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attachicon.gifApps to Web.png

 

It's 2013, we have a prevalence of widescreen aspect ration monitors, yet we have a web built for last decade's resolutions. What gives devs? :( If we can have apps that scale, why don't we have websites that scale? It's not rocket science to create something that would scale to fill in the empty voids.

 

It's actually far more difficult than you think.

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It's actually far more difficult than you think.

 

But it's not out of the realm of possibility. It's still something companies like Facebook, and Twitter should be looking into.

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But it's not out of the realm of possibility. It's still something companies like Facebook, and Twitter should be looking into.

 

It's possible, but a waste of resources.

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They could still implement a solution similar to Neowin with "expanded width". Just something - anything - to make use of my monitor's space. I have 1680x1050 pixels and much of that is wasted space, when it doesn't need to be.

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attachicon.gifApps to Web.png

 

It's 2013, we have a prevalence of widescreen aspect ration monitors, yet we have a web built for last decade's resolutions. What gives devs? :( If we can have apps that scale, why don't we have websites that scale? It's not rocket science to create something that would scale to fill in the empty voids.

 

It's because most of the monitors in the world are still using last decade's resolutions.

 

Resolutions like 1366x768 are VERY common. That's why websites are built around 1000px width.

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They could still implement a solution similar to Neowin with "expanded width". Just something - anything - to make use of my monitor's space. I have 1680x1050 pixels and much of that is wasted space, when it doesn't need to be.

 

Works nice if the website is image intensive.

 

If it's mainly the written word it's actually an incredibly bad idea to make the site "wide". At average text size (usually 14-16px) it's poor practice to go much beyond 600px width. If you have a 1920 monitor and went full on with the width you'd hate it. You would have extreme difficulty just reading the text because the lines would be so long.

 

As mentioned previously an app has a very defined purpose and set of functions it can carry out. It also usually exists on a specific platform or set of devices which are far easier to design around because the specifications are inherently more "knowable"

 

On a website it could be viewed on a 3.5" phone or on some epic display more akin to a TV. The content and functions of websites tend to be far more varied. Rather than the "twitter app" which displays well...tweets...a website could have imagery, product pages, blogs, videos and lots else built in. Getting it all to flow and view correctly on an infinite number of devices and variables isn't an insignificant challenge.

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