ZenTube 4.1 Submitted & Problem with Capacitor + Next.js

ZenTube 4.1 - Waiting For Review…

Fixed some bugs today for 4.1 and submitted to App Store Review. Like usual, waiting…

I will need to implement the deep link in the next update.

Struggles Between React Native Web VS Next.js Web App + Capacitor

I was trying to use Capacitor with my Next.js web app. However, I figured a few things:

1. Capacitor Issue on Android

While iOS works nicely, I faced a major hurdle with the Android app working with . I made sure to use static export for my project, but the Link route handling just doesn’t work on Android. It turns out that Android web view is too old to support it. So, my file based page routes in Next.js didn’t work using Link.

To investigate the matter a litter further, I tried using useRoute, route.push and a href with no avail. Later on I realised that most people are using Capacitor with React or Svelte. But most importantly, they are using it as a Single Page Web App, not a multipage web app. As far as I want to keep my route working, I can’t really leverage the benefit of having only one web codebase by using Capacitor. Maybe there’s a way to solve it, but I’m yet figured it out. At this stage, I’m working on making it a PWA with offline sync ability, because web is the most important thing.

2. Why Not React Native Web?

I had another project using React Native Web with Expo, it was a great experience. I’m actually thinking that, maybe, that’s the way to go. Even for a web app, using RN web offer a nice foundation for future mobile app development. If I decided not to release a mobile app, it would be fine too. Moreover, I can use JS libraries with RN web, and I can still have routes.

The only downside would be the dependency hell, which I kind of want to avoid. Next.js is just way simpler and manageable.

I guess I’ll try to see if my stack works also using RN web. And/Or, try to fix the weird route with Capacitor on Android.

What do you think?