> I just wish Web wasn't such a frustrating development experience
It's got to be better than building to target two totally different platforms (and even more once you factor in tablets, Windows desktop/Linux/macOS) and then jumping through hoops to get your app packaged, reviewed, and updated consistently onto the target devices.
> Most of that frustration comes down to tooling and more specifically TypeScript
I think that a lot of folks get frustrated with TS because they are coming at it from the wrong perspective. Instead of thinking about it like a static type system, think about it like "JavaScript with shape definitions". Give this a shot:
There are plenty of options e.g. React Native, Flutter if you want one codebase.
And if you want to have a lowest common denominator user experience that's fine but you shouldn't expect users to reward you for it. That's why successful apps tailor the experience for each platform.
Neither solution takes away the fact that you have to jump through hoops for distribution.
Web apps and PWA's built with HTML and JavaScript are likely to work as-is for a decade or more given we are likely to see minimal incompatibilities with existing HTML, JavaScript, and CSS in that time and likely to see more net new capabilities.
> if you want to have a lowest common denominator user experience...
One is a native app with a budget in the millions built by dozens of engineers. One is a web app built by...me:
https://chrlschn.dev/blog/2023/09/typescript-is-not-a-progra...