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Comment by verbify | Hacker News Reader

That's my feelings, although I've seen so many successful app-only startups that I feel I'm missing something that these startups grasp.

E.g. in the UK Monzo, an app-only bank, won't allow you to access your statements, do transfers, or pretty much do anything to manage your account on the web, and is one of the most popular challenger banks.

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Most of the points in the article are for the benefit of the developer (easier updating, lower dev cost, fewer platforms) and not for the benefit of the end user. If the goal is to make a product better for yourself then make a web application. If your goal is to make a product users will like then make mobile applications.

The article talks about how users don't install apps but signing up for a website (enter email, invent new password, wait for password vertification email, click link) is a far larger barrier to entry than just finding the app in the store and installing it.

Just because everyone and their mother adds a signup flow just to be able to use their web app doesn't mean it has to be done that way. You can add the signup flow after you've already demonstrated the value to the user and when it would provide additional value, like saving things to your account.

An anonymous user on the web is equivalent to some anonymous user downloading your app from the app store.

It's true. And the article's example actually doesn't have a signup. But often demonstrating value to the user will require multiple accesses and you don't want them to lose the data they've already entered. It's probably better to force a signup then potentially lose everything the end user has done in your app.

For a mobile app, you can store data locally or on a server keyed to the user without any potential for loss and without a signup.

There are users who prefer to use a desktop web application than a mobile app. Many types of task are better on a large screen with a mouse and keyboard.

It depends on the type of app and target audience.

> desktop web application

Web applications are significantly better on the desktop than on mobile so I completely agree. In fact, if you want to support mobile and desktop I'd recommend apps for mobile and a web application for desktop.

But if you expect that a lot of users will be using mobile, the experience of accessing and using an app from mobile isn't that great.

In the case of mobile banking, your smartphone acts as a second factor of authentication. Older style UK banks require you to have a separate authentication card reader for authentication of transfers, and use the card reader to generate a code to input to the website. Making it app only gets you the same security with more convenience and less cost.

> successful app-only startups

survivor-ship bias. You don't see the thousands of app only startups that fail every year.

this article is great advice for solo or small group of devs to test the concept first. a startup with funding or any company with tons of rev has plenty of money to plunge into the proper mobile dev team and also do user research to see what they'd want to have in the app to use it.

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