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The Website vs. Web App Dichotomy Doesn't Exist | jakelazaroff.com (jakelazaroff.com)

submitted 6 months ago by ooli to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Webapp is pretty well understood though. As long as there has been WWW there have been webapps.

[–] kaitco 11 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Well that’s just goes back to the crux of the article. At what point is the web_site_ a web_app_?

But, more to the point “app” entered the casual lexicon about 15 years when smartphones became ubiquitous. If you’re speaking to someone and they say “is there a web_site_ I can use, like on a laptop?” and they respond with “yes, there’s an app”, it’s not a matter of webapp versus website, but of lack of understanding that not everything that showcases the internet is an “app”.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Web developer here.

If your site has a lot of interactivity, it is a web app.

A read-only site like Wikipedia is not a web app.

A store page is not a web app.

Your bank's customer portal is a web app.

Facebook, Lemmy, Reddit, Twitter, etc. are web apps because they provide a lot of interactivity.

I agree that the line between web apps and websites is blurry, but my thinking is if a website is built mostly using front-end technologies, it is a web app, if it's built mostly with JSP or PHP, it's a website. Things like the WordPress admin panel blur the line between the two as they offer lots of interactivity, but is mostly PHP-based.

[–] asdfasdfasdf 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Also a web developer. I don't understand the reason you'd even need a common term to distinguish between the two. Wikipedia and Facebook are websites. Tons of websites have interactivity. It's a spectrum. Why can't we just say "website"?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Correct tbh, it's all just websites.

Those terms are just for marketing purposes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

But, more to the point “app” entered the casual lexicon about 15 years when smartphones became ubiquitous.

The term "application" has had a well understood meaning for far longer than that. That's simply when people started conflating "app" with "mobile app" due to some clever marketing by "App"le.

If you’re speaking to someone and they say “is there a web_site_ I can use, like on a laptop?” and they respond with “yes, there’s an app”

I think that answer would be pretty unambiguous. If you hear that answer after asking that question and your first thought is that they mean "smartphone app", you could just ask "is it a smartphone app or web app?" But if you had already told them you wanted to access something from a laptop and they tell you there is an "app" then you can normally safely assume that it's not a mobile app.

[–] kaitco 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Since we’re being pedantic about the use of these words, I think it’s very clear that I said the word “app” because part of casual use around the time that smartphones came into common use in reference to the mobile app.

Before then, most applications were referred to as “programs” and were generally understood to be run on full computers. While mobile phones had mobile applications, no one was on their Nokia talking about using the Snake “app” on their phone. The word “app” (not application) hadn’t entered common usage.

But if you had already told them you wanted to access something from a laptop and they tell you there is an "app" then you can normally safely assume that it's not a mobile app.

Dear Friend, that is the exact frustration with that conversation. I ask “is there a website” and they responded with “yes, there’s an app”. To remove any assumptions from the conversation, why not respond with “Yes, there’s a website”? It would be the same as if I contacted a shoe store and asked “Hey do you carry women’s sizes?” and the clerk responds with “Yeah, we have shoes.” My question isn’t about the existence of shoes, but specifically women’s shoes. My interaction with that customer service agent was frustrating because they refused to acknowledge that there’s a common difference between an “app” meaning mobile app and a website. To them “app” and “website” were the same thing, and I argue that they are not.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I ask “is there a website” and they responded with “yes, there’s an app”. To remove any assumptions from the conversation, why not respond with “Yes, there’s a website”?

This was for the management console of a router, right? In that case I'd be very hesitant to use the word "website". A "website" implies (at least for me) it's out on the internet, whereas an "app" doesn't necessarily imply that public access. I might have given a similar response to the guy you were on the phone with if I'd been in the same situation tbh.

[–] totallynotarobot 3 points 6 months ago

Have you somehow never interacted with technical support or customer service?

The moron I got at my isp the other day insisted that “internet” and “wifi” were the same thing.

You can in no way assume that because you said laptop, they are directing you to a web app.