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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

There is no option to do so from any other browser other than Safari. And even in Safari, the most a website can do is guide users through the open settings -> swipe -> scroll -> click button -> enter title -> hit ok flow.

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There is no “go to settings”.

Click the share button, Scroll up, click “Add to home screen”, click OK. The title is the title of the page.

And how do I do it from Chrome?

So now that you were factually proven to be incorrect you want to move the goal posts?

The initial post that we both responded to clearly stated Safari.

> We provide Safari for a great web experience too, but don't implement any standard APIs like push notifications, data persistence, bluetooth, NFC, add to homescreen prompt, icons, launch screen, themes that would actually make it a worthwhile alternative to the app store" is what they should have said.

My initial argument was that Apple does not provide standard APIs - and they don't - so I don't see how there is any moving of goal posts. There is no way for a website to prompt a dialog to add itself to the home screen, despite it existing in the HTML spec and all other major browsers. In addition to that Apple forces other browsers to use its own web view, and doesn't expose the add to home screen functionality there either.

Whether that was your “initial argument” or not, your statement

> And even in Safari, the most a website can do is guide users through the open settings -> swipe -> scroll -> click button -> enter title -> hit ok flow.

Was wrong.

Also, it’s coming to iOS 14

https://caniuse.com/web-app-manifest

You're talking past each other.

Look back at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24447692

There are two complaints in that comment.

You addressed one of those complaints, showing it to be wrong. You did not address the other complaint, and it was not "moving the goalpoats" to repeat it.

> Also, it’s coming to iOS 14

Good.

Let’s go with his initial complaints.

> push notifications,

Abused by spammers even on supposed reputable sites like PC Mag and Toms Hardware. I’ve made the mistake of clicking on Ok on my computer since every site now forces you to acknowledge that they use cookies. It’s back to the toolbars of old level of annoyance. I would be okay if only websites that were added to your home screen could ask for permission.

> data persistent.

iOS has supported localStorage since 2007

> bluetooth, NFC

How many “web apps” are really being held back by either? And Apple and to a lesser extent Mozilla has said some of the standards are privacy invasive.

https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/07/apple-fingerprinting-priv...

>add to homescreen prompt,

Already shown not to be true.

>icons

The icon when you add a web page to your home screen is the same that shows up in your browser bar.

> launch Screen

Is this really stopping you from creating a PWA because you want a launch screen?

But the larger question is if PWAs are so powerful, why aren’t Android developers forgoing apps and just writing PWA’s in droves?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com