PWAs as Tools to Benefit Future Development of Nostr

In light of Apple's recent actions against Damus and the broader zap functionality, concerns are growing among the Nostr community and beyond (thank you, nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m for highlighting this on the blue bird app).

As the pushback from traditional institutions - including tech companies, governments, and regulatory bodies - is likely to escalate, many are exploring viable alternatives. One of these, as recommended by nostr:npub1cmmswlckn82se7f2jeftl6ll4szlc6zzh8hrjyyfm9vm3t2afr7svqlr6f among others, is shifting towards Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). This strategy could help us break free from the limitations imposed by centralized app store authorities who dictate what can and cannot be incorporated into Nostr clients and other apps interacting with censorship-resistant protocols.

If you're new to the concept of PWAs, check out my brief overview: https://lnshort.it/pwa/

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Discussion

Another plus, Apple will not know what apps you use during your lifetime lol

You’re right to a certain extent. Yet I’m not sure an iPhone user is able to hide anything from Apple, no matter what they say. Closed source stuff can’t effectively convince me in anything.

That said, I’ve been planning to ditch Apple for years now. Still failing 😅 .. but I’m getting closer day by day 😄

If PWA is something like timechaincalendar, then I don’t think it’s as safe as the native app, unfortunately.

What do you mean by safe?

PWA is simply a web app with special config for mobile browsers. Each PWA is as safe as the author creates it. Timechain Calendar is not the best reference for assessing “safety” of PWA’s as it is a purely client side data display site. There is no backend, no user accounts, nothing needing to be secured. There are plenty of other web apps that do all kinds of sensitive functionality and financial features quite securely.

Everything is fine with timechaincalendar! Great app and I use it all the time, thank you! I just gave it as an example as a PWA. It's fine for an app like this.

What I meant about security is that not all applications will be able to be implemented as PWAs from a security perspective. Especially those that work with users data and funds. Damus had a web version in the early days but it was shut down due to a vulnerability. That’s an example.

We've been talking about leaving Apple's app store for the last few days (I'm not in favor of that) and if PWA is presented as an alternative, then I don't agree with that statement. Maybe partly.

I still argue that a PWA does not mean worse security than a native app. There are all kinds of web apps that deal with fortunes of money and peoples most sensitive info. The security is a function of the engineers and software architects. Conversely native does not guarantee secure for the same exact reasons.

Is this a new concept for applications? I saw mutiny wallet uses this.

Get around app stores

It’s as old as the pyramids lol. It was just waiting for a perfect moment. Seems like it came.

Ha!! I’m older and had no idea 😂

😂

That’s what I love about learning—you can’t ever find out everything. There’s always new stuff to feed your brain.

I can open https://timechaincalendar.com/en in my phone browser (Duck duck go). It looks like a web page. How to turn in into full screen app?

Safari provides an option to add a webpage as a shortcut on the home screen. Android should have something similar.

I used the option "Add to home screen" in duck duck go and it created a shortcut on the home screen, which opens duck duck go with the page. Not a real app!

I tried with Chrome. It has option "Install app", which works as expected! Thank you!!!

Yep, native browsers normally have this option. Chrome on iOS doesn’t for this very reason probably.

Glad it worked.

Such a good reminder that you can save a webpage as an icon on the Home Screen (iPhone user). The Timechain website is a great one to test with https://timechaincalendar.com/