Multiple Stars

Chicken Flavored and Lemon Scented

There isn't a plan to make one but, have a PWA been considered?

Hey chaoticneutralchocolate -

The main reason that apps pop up for AO3 is not because fandom folks want it, so much as app-making-folks want to monetize fans accessing fanfiction. All those apps? they have ads. that make the developer money.

Currently, we do not have an API (application program interface), which is needed to allow an app to interact with our servers. Developing such an interface and then the apps themselves (for the various mobile platforms) would take significant time and coder effort. It’s unlikely to happen while the Archive code is still rapidly changing, as this would require the apps to be updated for each change. You can see more details at our news post on the subject: https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/3390 .

Even a browser-based app interface would be a tremendous amount of work that we do not have the staffing (or inclination) to establish or maintain.

In the meantime, you should be able to access the fully functional Archive using your device’s browser with our mobile stylesheet, and to download works to read offline with an e-reader app. You can also add a link to the site on your home screen ( https://www.howtogeek.com/196087/how-to-add-websites-to-the-home-screen-on-any-smartphone-or-tablet/ ) for quick access!

I should note that, due to fannish response, the app stores removed a number of unofficial apps in 2020. See the Fanlore page for more information: https://fanlore.org/wiki/AO3_App_Wars

(if you see an app out there claiming to be AO3 or using our logo, send a message to OTW Legal and let them know the name of the app so they can look into it!)

I hope this answers your question!

I mean look at this login screen!

The navigation is responsive, but still complete on a mobile browser - a lot of sites strip options in mobile to simplify nav and I hate it. They’ve built the site to be fully responsive in terms of widths, cleaning managing the breakpoints to prevent the dreaded horizontal scroll.

Although most menu options are links, they’re simple and easy to click with your fingers despite there being a lot of them.

It’s even easy to download on mobile! I’ve downloaded a lot of fics in the time it takes for me to get seated on an airplane and the doors close and I have to turn off my cell service.

We’re trained to think apps are better. But that’s because for companies - apps are another and better source of customer consumption data with targeted advertising! And websites are difficult to code to be so easy to use and responsive while also maximizing exposure to tracking and advertising that driving you into an app is a win-win for the company - better data and a happier customer.

In fact, most sites are actually designed with this in mind! Target, delta airlines, Amazon, etc they all want you to use their app to complete some transactions because you’re more likely to buy! It was developed to produce more profit for them, the convenience for you is simply a side-effect.

You know what AO3 doesn’t have? Advertising and tracking. They don’t need it because they aren’t attempting to generate revenue from your browsing behavior. So what they can do is invest the time and energy into ensuring their site is mobile-friendly (I wouldn’t be surprised if they even took a ‘mobile first’ approach to new development, but I’m not gonna look it up to see if they say they do or not). And the result is a page that’s just as easy to use on a mobile device as it is on a desktop.

Love it and embrace it and then stop for a moment and think about how trained you’ve become by capitalism to expect an app as “something users want” rather than something users have been trained to need.