IMO it's fine. I had a Galaxy S9 a few years ago for two weeks (had to return it because of hardware issues) and it felt nice to use, smooth and modern. I've used many kinds of phones in my life, dumb phones, Symbian, Windows on PDAs and smartphones, Android from 1.6 up until now, and even though I'm firmly team Apple at this moment, I have to say that not having a dedicated "back" button or gesture and only occasionally showing a "back" arrow in the top-left corner (i.e. the one you can't reach one-handed) really stands out among the stupid UI decisions I've seen. Yes, iOS is fast and polished, it's just that pretty often I'm not sure how I got somewhere and how to get out.

A virtual smartphone experience is a pretty cool demonstration of how smooth web apps can be. I'd love for other companies to also make these types of demos available so you can try out the software design before you spend money on it.

I didn't know about the dialer/Google Meet integration, that's a pretty smart move. The messages app being labeled "Android Messages" was also a surprise, I don't know any other brand that uses this exact messenger. Maybe the point they're trying to bring across there is that texts are just as good as iMessage?

It all feels pretty close to native though the web UI is still a lot choppier than the real UI. For any real UI demo you'd probably need an app rather than a web app, but I don't think Apple would allow such an app on the app store.

I'm not sure why Samsung is trying so hard with the ads, though. I get it, you really like the New And Exciting Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Plus, you don't have to repeat it every other screen. I'm also not sure why they've gone all in on these influencer videos, the acting in them is so obvious it made me cringe. Is this what American ads look like?

Here is a screen recording showing what that web app looks like on an iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16.2

https://video.nstr.no/w/4uYSJs2a4iMb8R9XBZufn2

I’ve just tried it, and looks like I’m never going to buy Samsung instead of my iPhone :)

The incessant Apple (iOS) / Google [and manufacturers] (Android) sniping is truly a sight to behold.

People going out of their way to declare (or at least make clear with varying degrees of intensity) just exactly which feudal overlord they're ready to "bleed for" (i.e., give money, personal data, and free promotion to). People who often act as if they have an appropriately suspicious view of corporations in just about any other interaction, come out boldly declaring that this company or that company is GREAT when it comes to privacy, or consumer choice, or <fill in the blank>.

One of the strongest and most consistent weaknesses of human psychology is the effect "flags" have on otherwise reasonable minds.

Wow, they even managed to simulate the choppy animations!

I’m not switching but this is a good demo approach. And if it gets better over time might seem ironic to early iPhone owners who were told that web apps would suffice… you can accomplish a lot with SPA / PWA.

It also makes me wonder if an Android “container” could run as an app on an iPhone. Maybe sideloading leads to that?

Thanks Samsung, that is a great reminder for all iOS users that they still get the best experience in the market (not to mention privacy)!

Surely fun to develop. Worst spent marketing budget in history.

I’ve got a Galaxy for work (S20). I got it the year it was released and I can’t believe people choose to use it. It just feels horrible compared to the iPhone. Delays in the keyboard showing, UI lag all over the place, constant updates and notifications for Samsung things I’m not interested in. It was so bad I did a factory reset, thinking I’d screwed something up…but no, still the same. It’s a similar feeling to when Windows XP needed defragged or reinstalled - but at least when you reinstalled XP it was quick again.

Felt like I jumped into 2008. After all these years they have failed to get rid of that cheap Android look.

This is surprisingly detailed! I didn't expect there to be such nice animations and for there to be an emoji panel in the messaging app.

It's interesting that they're using Safari's “add to Home Screen” feature so they can use fullscreen. I think that might be why that's the only browser which is supported.

Android forever reminds me of an unwritten chapter in David Foster Wallace’s Supposedly Fun Things I’ll Never Do Again.

No amount of these gimmicks will turn folks on to non-iOS devices if their friends/families/social circles are using iPhones. Messages, photo sharing, and the close paring with Apple devices is too much to walk away from.

Yeah, I'm just chomping at the bit to "experience" a bloated and proprietary half-Android franken-OS, and do it in a browser SPA. Sign me up!

Would be kinda funny if some folks left iPhone demo devices on this web app in stores just to confuse potential buyers.

Reminds me a bit of the early 00s (pre-smartphones) when some phone makers (I know Ericsson, can't remember if Nokia, too) had interactable web app versions of their phone UIs, complete with menus, settings, limited programs and surrounded by an image of the phone.

At least they were honest enough to let me know that ads are just a swipe away from the home screen.

Kind of wish this actually worked as a phone by running Android in the cloud. Would be really useful to have a second phone inside an app for all sorts of things.

They had to release this as a web app because it's against app store rules to release something that emulates springboard or otherwise duplicate existing functionality. I understand app store protections help people a lot but silly rules like that prevent some interesting things like this demo experience.

I just tried this. The UI and UX are hideous. I don't see why any iPhone user would even consider switching to a Samsung phone based on this very underwhelming demo.

Thank you Samsung...

For making me glad that I use an iPhone once again.

Can't try this on Android. Wtf.

oh my, they have a moon marketing video inside. This is embarrassing.

Lol. This clearly shows it's made by Samsung/Android manufacturer. They just don't understand why people use iOS.

After scanning the code this happens:

1) Hey! Please copy this page URL and open it in Safari!

I open it in safari

2) Hey! Please add this to your home screen!

sigh...I add it to home screen and open it

3) Now I'm greeted with mandatory 5-10 seconds long UI tutorial

4) Finally I can start using it

This is exactly why I use iOS despite Apple being asshole company. After I scan the code I want end result IMMEDIATELY. No bullshit. I don't wanna press 20 buttons and change browsers, add stuff to homescreen etc.

Next time open it right away in whatever browser I choose to use and then add additional option: "Hey! Wanna get a full screen experience? Add this to your iOS homescreen in Safari and try out. Click here to start!"

Next step: Samsung asks EU to enforce an OS-ballot screen, so people can choose either iOS or Samsung Galaxy OS on an iPhone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu

This demo does consumers a disservice by downplaying the relationship between Galaxy and Android, I'd argue. If this neat demo is effective, it's not a clear story for a novice end-user (so non-HN readers) that asking for a non-iPhone at the Verizon store /may/ have this experience, but may not. They sort of address what device and experience this would provide, but the text is small, doesn't meet contrast suggestions, and only seems to appear on the desktop, which actually makes me think my statement is more true in that just asking for a Galaxy phone may not match this experience.

Get rid of the "you are already on Android" message.

And like clockwork the discussion on the subject of Android vs. iOS descends into a slug fest in the style of Whigs vs. Tories, Catholics vs. Protestants, Sunni vs. Shia while never reaching the transcendence of a true emacs vs. vi battle because so many participants seem to take this so seriously, as if their choice of mobile operating system is one central to their being.

Holding this in my hands next to a real galaxy s23 phone, it is amazing that this one on my iPhone 14 pro is SMOOTHER! Probably helps not to have 10000 pointless preloaded apps running the the background!

(I prefer android to iOS but Samsung has never been a good choice. Only pixel was. Too much preloaded shit on Samsung phones that you cannot get rid of, like Bixby and 4-6 social media apps du jour)

How did they make it soooo crisp and native looking???

I remember when in early days of J2ME enabled mobile phones I was downloading development kits just to test out how UI on one or other mobile phone worked. They usually had very limited OS part, being targeted to development. Later some "simulators" build with Flash appeared on web, allowing to test out some phone features. Seems we came back full circle?

I worked on a project similar to this for Windows Phone for Nokia about ten years ago. Wonder if it ever saw the light of day :)

Using Desktop mode by default in Safari on iOS. The page shows a QR code.

After changing to Desktop mode it asks to add it to the home screen. I’ve add it and then launch it and, of course, the web app uses Desktop mode Safari and doesn’t work at all, showing the qr code.

Well done, Samsung!

It thinks my iPhone SE 2020 is older than an iPhone 7 and won't let me see the demo.

It would be good to let android users and desktop users (even if only through changing user-agents) to browse the website.

Even if I emulate the user-agent of an iPhone, it needs me to run it from the homescreen.

This is a piece of art!

Since this is -I guess- a project made for fun, it would nice to open source it, so we can learn from it. Maybe then, we can make the opposite project, TryiOS.com

Now that everyone can see what is possible with webapps, it is time to drop the centralized app stores and free the world from the shackles of google and apple ...

Doesn't work if Firefox is the default browser.

Impressive what pwa can achieve nowadays. I would like to have one of these for pre iOS7. I like the skeuomorphism in the old iOS.

How do I try it on my desktop browser?

Awesome app! It would be awesome if it could be used as an app launcher or something.

Kind of irony that there is no Korean language option...

It's restricted to Safari on the iPhone, the language cannot be changed, the demo cannot launch, and I have an iPhone for a reason, I know that I don't like Android and Samsung. The fact that it's broken confirms it. I don't know what they are trying to do with this.