this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023

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Voyager

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I've been thinking of switching over to Voyager, but I heard that Voyager was built on elements from Chrome. As a layman what does this mean? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Is using Voyager giving Chrome an opportunity to harvest user data? I'll take whatever you know about the Voyager dependence on chrome.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Voyager is built using capacitor and ionic framework, which is a web framework to build mobile apps, basically. It doesn’t “use elements from chrome”, it uses progressive web apps (PWAs), which you can set up with whatever browser you choose. They’re basically web apps that you install to your phone’s desktop.

Additionally, there’s currently an app in TestFlight to install it on iOS natively and will probably soon be a version for Android. It’s still a web app wrapped in a native wrapper, but it unlocks native functionality and feels much nicer.

Anyway, all of this to say, nothing about the way the app was built inherently includes anything from chrome. Only if you use chrome to make it a PWA.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I’m pretty happy with the PWA. What sort of specific improvements does “native functionality” bring?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Haptic feedback and the status bar being able to match color right now. Not sure if there’s anything else right now, but man the app feels so much nicer with haptic feedback.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The back swipe / scroll bug is also fixed.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

For me it’s better, but not gone entirely

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Yeah I still see brief locks, but they resolve much quicker

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Right on, that does sound pretty cool. I may check it out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I do have haptic feedback when using Voyager with Vanadium. I haven't tested anything else but I don't see how that isn't possible.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago

It's a webapp so you run it in your browser - it only uses chrome if you choose to use chrome.

I'm using it in Firefox on Android, but you could also use it in Safari on iOS for example.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's a webapp. If you're uncomfortable with Chrome, run it with Firefox.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Ok I think I understand. You just go to vger.app whenever you want to use Voyager then.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

That's right. Sorry, if I'd been thinking I would have included the URL.

I hope you enjoy the (web)app!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Yes but also your phone gives you the ability to “install” a web app as if it was a normal app. Go into the voyager settings and follow the instructions to do this. Basically what your phone is doing is saving a bookmark to the web app with an icon, but when it runs, it has the feel of an app instead of a website because it doesn’t open up the full browser with the url bar and all that other browsery stuff.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Where did you hear “built on elements from Chrome”?

Not sure it can be dependent on Chrome as it works on other browsers on multiple platforms.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I can't search for the lemmy thread because I'm using jerboa, but it was on a thread about lemmy clients. Are you aware of this being a concern for other people maybe - lemmy.clients being dependant on chrome toolkits?

I'm sorry if I'm not being very clear, this entire thing about lemmy and different clients and defederation and chrome sucking for privacy and all is very new to me. I've checked the GitHub page for voyager, but it doesn't really mention chrome anywhere so I don't know what to make of the whole thing.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I’m not sure what you mean by chrome toolkits.

It sounds like you’ve confused several different things. Voyager is a progressive web app. You can think of it as a program that runs in your web browser. Whether that’s Chrome, Safari or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I understand it now, I think. Now I just need to figure out how to save it to my phone's desktop.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Go to the voyager page, press the share button. Then select add to Home Screen, and it should look and be useable like your other apps

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Thanks, this worked.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

When I installed it it had to be safari. You save a bookmark of the web app on your iOS app home page so it appears like an app.

Try it out on safari and see what you think. The App Store version is imminent anyway if you wanted to wait.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

There's a testflight for the iOS app now, so you might be able to find a link to that. But they are coming out with a native ios app.

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