I tried Jerboa briefly and couldn’t get it to work well for me. Then I visited kbin on my phone’s browser and was prompted to install the kbin app!? I haven’t seen any references to it, but it’s exactly what I wanted…? Has anybody else tried it?
The version you’ve installed is the PWA (Progressive Web App). It’s effectively just a stripped-down browser window that loads the mobile site in its own dedicated “app” on your device, even though it’s technically just a separate Chrome window.
For a lot of users, this may be all they need. But because it’s just the mobile web page, you won’t get any extra features that you might find with a dedicated app (like notifications or custom UI elements).
This, the app is just a webpage that doesn’t appear like one. Though I have to say that it is good for the time being (until some better app gets done)
Say no more… Artemis is the name, albeit currently in an early-access beta state.
Nice, I had a feeling it was something like that, but it’s honestly really slick. I like it better than Jerboa, I think. It’s all I need for casual browsing, commenting, etc…
Theres a web app for lemmy too, its in the style of apollo.
wefwef.app
I still don’t understand the benefits of a PWA to be honest.
Easy to develop and works on all platforms,
A good PWA is almost indistinguishable from a native app.
On Android, where they’ve bothered to implement the apis for it you’ve got access to all the same stuff (camera, location, Bluetooth etc)
Apple has less, which is ironic because originally the iOS platform was only going to be PWAs. I guess discovering they could take a 30% cut of all money taken changed their mind.
I recommend you take a look at https://elk.zone as an example of an excellent PWA (be sure to actually install it and use it that way)
@hariette is working on ArtemisApp and there is a private beta first as it’s all from the ground up. There’s a lot of work Kbin needs itself to have 3rd party integrations as it is a little newer and younger than some of the alternatives.
@dansup is also working on another alternative too, kbam
Both of them are working hard on getting something to community is wanting. All in due time! You can join the /m/ArtemisApp magazine or dansup for following along with their progress. Getting involved with them seems to be the best way to help.
It’s neither perfect nor amazing. But it’s good enough.
And good enough is good enough until something better comes along. Things don’t need to be the be all and end all in order for them to be useful, or worth using in a given context.
You mean the chrome based web app thing right? I think it’s literally just a separate window that runs the mobile site on chrome. It’s pretty functional though, I agree.
Really missing notifications though.
Yep, that thing. Yes, I think you’re right, but it feels a lot like RIF, etc… I like it better than Jerboa.
Do you mean notifications in the app or in general? I only learned yesterday that notifications are off by default. Just go to top-right your username –> Settings –> Notifications and toggle them on. By default, you only get notifications like this @Andjhostet
There’s a bug impacting mobile notifications. It’s been submitted but I (and many others) experience it as well. Despite notifications being activated.
If you think that’s nice, try it with the Kbin Usability Pack userscript. You’ll need the Tampermonkey extension to use it, so you’ll have to get Fennec (a fork of Firefox mobile) on F-Droid to use it. A bit of a hassle, but well worth it. I pair it with the Kbin Enhancement Script.
Some screenshots:
https://i.imgur.com/dsUfb6J.png
https://i.imgur.com/1onawoh.png
https://i.imgur.com/uNEr45b.pngStraight up doesn’t work on iOS. There’s no way to navigate back at all.
There’s no UI element for it - but I’ve found if I swipe in from the left edge of the screen it does go back on iOS :).
Nope, that was my first thought as well. Doesn’t work on iPhone 14 with the latest version of iOS. I’ve seen a few other people mention it as well.
