So Jerboa broke on my phone just now and I didn’t want to stop browsing Lemmy. Unfortunately no suitable alternative was found so I just decided to check if I could open it in my browser and install it.

To my surprise, it worked. And it works really well quite frankly. Sure, the UI is different, but I’m not at all missing any features.

Did any of you guys try it as well? What’s your opinion?

If not, did you even know that was a possibility? It quite frankly never crossed my mind, because Reddit and other platforms always force you to use an app when you open them in a browser.

  • anlumo@feddit.deEnglish
    17·
    2 years ago

    Installing it as a PWA on my iPhone causes the history buttons to disappear (since they’re part of the browser). This means that if I open a comments page, I can’t get back to the post list again. I can tap on the logo to get to the main page, but my scrolling position is lost, so I’d have to scroll down to find where I stopped scrolling last time.

    Yeah no, still have to use an app.

    • Pechente@lemmy.mlEnglish
      7·
      2 years ago

      I don’t have it installed right now but I’m pretty sure the system-wide back-swipe gesture still work here, doesn’t it?

      • anlumo@feddit.deEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Yeah, I discovered that after posting that comment. I never use those gestures, so I forgot to try that.

        • Pechente@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          How do you go back in an app? Do you always tap the button at the top? For me that’s super impractical and I even got a small iPhone.

          • anlumo@feddit.deEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            I can’t reach the left side of the screen with one hand anyways, so both ways are similarly uncomfortable.

    • theUnlikelyEnglish
      6·
      2 years ago

      Oof, same on Android. That’s a complete deal breaker for using the PWA.

        • theUnlikelyEnglish
          3·
          2 years ago

          Well, for starters there is no back button in the PWA on Android. Swiping from the right to go back completely refreshes the feed.

          • key@lemmy.keychat.orgEnglish
            3·
            2 years ago

            Strange that’s happening for you. It’s definitely not an all android thing. Must be something about your specific model or your settings. The only time my button bar disappears is with games and even then it’s still accessible by swiping up from the bottom.

            • fische_stix@beehaw.orgEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              This is interesting, I checked all the apps (that are running/enabled) on the two android devices in my household. Mine is set up with the traditional android UI triangle, circle, square, visible whereas my partner’s has the “slide up” feature enabled where the back, home, and “background” buttons need you to slide your finger up or they aren’t visible. Both seem to remain present and usable in apps, although the back button does cause “too much of a back avtion” in the third party camera app she uses, taking you home vs. back a step. These devices are both unlocked (but not rooted currently) devices activated on at&t firstnet. My coworker has a Verizon issued (came from the carrier) Samsung Galaxy and the triangle, circle, and square buttons are missing in a few apps, and totally inaccessible. I am not a fan of how much bloat cell carriers add to their android devices, so much so that I would say the coworker’s phone is running a “Verizon Samsung version” of Android. I did a quick search and didn’t find a full list anywhere of variations of Android by carrier or model phone, but I did find a number of users with similar observations about the extreme variation.

            • theUnlikelyEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              Count yourself lucky because as you might imagine the bug makes it unusable. It even happens on regular mobile browsing.