I seem to be operating under the possibly obsolete or mistaken impression that websites and apps are not the same thing. Has pop culture usage declared that they are, now?
@narfcake I use the Meh app for Android, but in another thread, people seem to think that mehtalker is an app, or at least what they have been saying makes it seem that way. Hence my confusion.
@narfcake Microsoft did not do us any favors when they released Windows 8 with that idiotic phone interface and a list of what they themselves called “apps”. Perhaps the only good thing about Windows 11 is that that entire concept seems to have been quietly swept under somebody else’s rug. Not that I have, or want, any direct experience with 11.
@werehatrack They thought tablet computing was going to take over the portable market; it didn’t.
On the mobile side, WP7 was based on a Windows CE core and WP8 were based on Windows NT. Apps written for the former weren’t compatible with the latter, and vice versa. It was a mess.
(I stuck to them until support ended because they were the most usable phones in terms of the hardware for the price. Spent less than $200 total on 4 phones, all purchased new, and getting over 7 years of use with OS and security updates. )
people seem to think that mehtalker [sic] is an app, or at least what they have been saying makes it seem that way.
mehstalker IS available as an app, though it is not currently listed on Google Play Store. It is still available on some APK hosting sites. I have it running on my phone, and will often check it as my ‘what’s on meh’ source if I only have a small amt of time to mess around and I am looking on the phone. It’s one click and done. Mehstalker.com is still an active site and a great source of site item history.
TIL that there is an “official” mercatalyst ap, which I must have missed the memo on… I guess I will check it out (on one of my old phones) and see if it is as useful as the one lichme has so kindly supplied and supported for so long.
Okay, that’s all I remember off the top of my head, but iirc Microsoft was offering major companies bounties for writing apps, and some of them were actually surprisingly good.
Some websites are actually web applications. (apps that run in a web browser) Some phone apps are essentially just a container that presents the web app.
Other phone apps (like a browser app) just display websites and provide little benefit over just viewing the mobile view of the website.
@medz From a user standpoint, though, a website with client-side dynamic content is still a wesite, accessed via a browser. How the site generates the content is invisible to the user. My very traditional understanding (as per having a CS degree) is that an ‘app’, from the user’s POV, is something local on their device which loads and runs, even though in the case of phone apps, they often just access a browser object to display web-served content, like the Meh app.
@medz@werehatrack
so yes, by your definition, it’s an app. (see above)
provide little benefit over just viewing the mobile view of the website
other than the lack of additional steps. Mehstalker presents the info in one click. Opening a browser, then navigating to the tab (assuming you keep it up and open). is at least two steps. Granted, that is a trivial amount of time, but it is handy when all you want is a quick look at the item up for sale and that’s all.
@chienfou@medz if I am not mistaken, you can do that on the windows desktop, too. I don’t, because I’m something of a digital Luddite, but it’s one of the things that I seem to recall as being technically possible. I just never saw a good reason for me to do it.
@medz@werehatrack
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TIL… I knew that was possible for Windows on a computer, but wasn’t aware you could do that on a phone.
Just looked on my phone and found where that option lives.
Well there actually is a meh app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.meh.android&gl=US
Haven’t tried it myself, though. I was a Windows Phone user – “what are apps?” – so if the mobile site works, that’s what I will use.
@narfcake Huh. I had no idea.
@narfcake I use the Meh app for Android, but in another thread, people seem to think that mehtalker is an app, or at least what they have been saying makes it seem that way. Hence my confusion.
@narfcake Microsoft did not do us any favors when they released Windows 8 with that idiotic phone interface and a list of what they themselves called “apps”. Perhaps the only good thing about Windows 11 is that that entire concept seems to have been quietly swept under somebody else’s rug. Not that I have, or want, any direct experience with 11.
@werehatrack They thought tablet computing was going to take over the portable market; it didn’t.
On the mobile side, WP7 was based on a Windows CE core and WP8 were based on Windows NT. Apps written for the former weren’t compatible with the latter, and vice versa. It was a mess.
(I stuck to them until support ended because they were the most usable phones in terms of the hardware for the price. Spent less than $200 total on 4 phones, all purchased new, and getting over 7 years of use with OS and security updates. )
@narfcake @werehatrack
mehstalker IS available as an app, though it is not currently listed on Google Play Store. It is still available on some APK hosting sites. I have it running on my phone, and will often check it as my ‘what’s on meh’ source if I only have a small amt of time to mess around and I am looking on the phone. It’s one click and done. Mehstalker.com is still an active site and a great source of site item history.
TIL that there is an “official” mercatalyst ap, which I must have missed the memo on… I guess I will check it out (on one of my old phones) and see if it is as useful as the one lichme has so kindly supplied and supported for so long.
@blaineg @narfcake me three. Wow, TIL!
@narfcake Idk, Windows Phone had…
Okay, that’s all I remember off the top of my head, but iirc Microsoft was offering major companies bounties for writing apps, and some of them were actually surprisingly good.
@narfcake @werehatrack I hope they were running their ProBreeze 4-Stage True HEPA Large Room Air Purifier with Ionizer while they were doing that.
Some websites are actually web applications. (apps that run in a web browser) Some phone apps are essentially just a container that presents the web app.
Other phone apps (like a browser app) just display websites and provide little benefit over just viewing the mobile view of the website.
@medz From a user standpoint, though, a website with client-side dynamic content is still a wesite, accessed via a browser. How the site generates the content is invisible to the user. My very traditional understanding (as per having a CS degree) is that an ‘app’, from the user’s POV, is something local on their device which loads and runs, even though in the case of phone apps, they often just access a browser object to display web-served content, like the Meh app.
@medz @werehatrack
so yes, by your definition, it’s an app. (see above)
other than the lack of additional steps. Mehstalker presents the info in one click. Opening a browser, then navigating to the tab (assuming you keep it up and open). is at least two steps. Granted, that is a trivial amount of time, but it is handy when all you want is a quick look at the item up for sale and that’s all.
@chienfou @werehatrack
“Opening a browser, then navigating to the tab (assuming you keep it up and open). is at least two steps.”
On Android, you can put a bookmark shortcut on your home screen. One tap to meh.com.
@chienfou @medz if I am not mistaken, you can do that on the windows desktop, too. I don’t, because I’m something of a digital Luddite, but it’s one of the things that I seem to recall as being technically possible. I just never saw a good reason for me to do it.
@medz @werehatrack
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TIL… I knew that was possible for Windows on a computer, but wasn’t aware you could do that on a phone.
Just looked on my phone and found where that option lives.
Yes.
/giphy confused
There is a meh stalker Alexa skill, but I don’t know if it still works…
@medz Does the self destruct countdown still work? I never tried it.