I’m wondering if using the website or installing a PWA would be the same from a privacy point of view.
I’m using Firefox with uBlock origin, so I’m wondering what tracking information the site could get if I allow the PWA.
Also in MDN it says the app can integrate with other installed apps, so can the site know more information about my phone when installing the PWA?
Should I continue to just use websites to prevent as much tracking as possible?
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Biggest con is the notifications, they are getting more support lately, but it’s still lackluster. In certain use case the offline mode can be a big pro.
From UX point of view I agree, but I was asking about privacy.
Pros:
- quick
- Auto Updates when reloaded
- offline cache
- everywhere the same layout
Cons:
- usually isolated windows, eg. with Safari none of your extensions will be applied
- missing OS features like widgets that full blown apps can use
- if you’re on a website there is no “open in PWA”, just open in apps or using the browser separately
I don’t know anything about making PWAs integrating with other apps though.
These seem more about user experience not about privacy.
Also, the extensions work properly in Firefox for android (I don’t know about the other browsers)
On Firefox Android, adding to home screen is basically just a shortcut to open a very slightly app-ier tab (no browser toolbar, notification to copy the URL). Otherwise it’s equivalent to normal browsing, so yes, your extensions work as usual. (Just checked myself with Tampermonkey).
No, there’s no additional information about your phone, that doesn’t exist.
Ah, nice!
My main concern was the extensions to keep uBlock origin working.just a shortcut to open a very slightly app-ier tab
Yeah, that’s what I guessing it’ll happen and it works fine for me.
This will depend on browser. With Safari on my iPad, extensions do not apply to PWA installed. I was hoping I could still use some userscripts with Lemmy but they do not function with the PWA and only function if I open the website properly.
A major pro is isolation. They have less permissions and you can block what they can access and block lots of trackers and cookies . Apps have much more permissions and have lots of trackers built in.
