I would disagree with the premise. A website and an application aren't the same thing just because they are written in the same language (javascript). PWAs are apps in every sense of the word. Websites are not. I think the comments section on this Ars techinca article cover it pretty well, rather than re-hashing the same. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/apple-changes-course-will-keep-iphone-eu-web-apps-how-they-are-in-ios-17-4/?comments=1&comments-page=2

You understand that a PWA is just a website and nothing more, right?

This is sort of reductive. Yes, and no. It's more than just a link on your home screen. More than just a set of html pages saved locally. It downloads the entire javascript app, the manifest, the icons, all that stuff and packages it up. When you run one of these you'd have no indication that you're in a website. There is no browser URL bar or any of that. Only the controls in the app. It's not really "just a website and nothing more". It's a javascript program running on a phones javascript engine (which is currently webkit and locked down). An app in just about every sense of the word. https://app.starbucks.com is a great example. Even works offline once you save it.

For some reason my first thought was that Simpson’s episode with Itchy and Scratchy money.

I have a synology nas. The cheapest 2 drive model. The nas plus a pair of 4tb drives set me back $380. The time period for roi is pretty significant.

The problem I have with News+ is this… if you thumbs down a source or even outright block it, News+ still shows it as a tapable tile. It just says “You’ve blocked this source” instead of showing the underlying material that would have been there. It’s an incredibly stupid UI design. If I’ve blocked a site it shouldn’t show up at all. Put a different story in its place.

The other thing Indont like is that even the paid tier of News+ still has ads. A premium price should have a premium experience.

On iOS at least, you can just tap the translate button.

The article is basically just a long unsubstantiated rant though.

To be fair, I charge my Magic Mouse once a month and it takes less than an hour. Throwing it on the charger overnight when I leave for the work day isn’t a huge deal.

My particular instance (sdf.org) is a pretty old-school nerdy place. So I like our local discussions. But I do like having the addition of what you propose too.

The only reason I went from my 11 pro to a 13 pro was 5g. Otherwise I had no complaints at all with my 11 and would still use it today.

It really was. It was a time when most didn’t have computers at home. Once a week you’d get to go down to the computer lab and play educational games from MECC. Oregon Trail being the most popular of the bunch.

Habitica is kind of fun if you’re looking to gamify your to-do list.

I bought it when it was a one time purchase. I love it a lot. Apparently it’s subscription now? It’s good but I wouldn’t rent it. I’m pretty much a hard no on anything with a subscription.

Wired has had a number of articles over the years on these terrible ships. Worth a read. One example: https://www.wired.com/2011/08/future-warship-ran-aground/

I'm also using it on my Synology nas. works awesome!

Just to further clarify, MAGA was originally used by Ronald Reagan (and later Bill Clinton).... it's just another thing recycled by the orange guy who has no ideas of his own.

When I clicked through I was thinking more like $8-$10 bucks (price of an on-sale Udemy class). But $99? Yikes.

This was the original premise of app.net - a social service from years back. They built a “social backbone”. They offered you a single place where your identity and friends were housed. Other people could build apps on top of the backbone.

So you would join say a clone of Instagram and all your friends were still there. And your account still worked. Or they had a Twitter clone. Same deal. It was a single sign-on social account/identity/social graph that was separate from the apps. So things could just plug in.

Worked great. But it was a paid service. And came out right at peak Facebook so it died off.

I got it when it was still a one time purchase and I'm able to restore it when I buy a new phone. Very pleased with it as a one-off but would never subscribe.

I felt exactly the same. After the switch, I went to BusyCal which is a one time purchase. Worse than fantasical but better than the stock Apple Calendar.

I mean, maybe google should stop shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to messaging. See: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/a-decade-and-a-half-of-instability-the-history-of-google-messaging-apps/