I took "identical" as in feature wise. The user should be able to accomplish the same things, no matter what platform they're using.
replyI do think that the way the features are implemented should be platform dependent, i.e. use common UX pattern on each platform, fit in with the UI, and be good platform citizens.
The solution is to make the common features a part of a statically-linked library that you can pull into your apps. A web app is, IMO, never the answer when you want to address multiple audiences. It is bad for accessibility (because 99.999 percent of web app developers never consider accessibility) and it doesn't solve the problem that web apps are trying to solve (having 8 code bases all that have to remain in sync) because you will inevitably need your code to handle platform-specific differences, standards/conventions and whatnot.
replyWhy does Shopify need to use Apple's or Google's branded design language in their app?
replyBecause if I’m an iOS user and used to that and you give me a conventional Android app UX, I’m going to feel that as jank.
replySame as if I’m an Android user and you give me the conventional iOS experience.
It’s like if I gave a swing or Gtk+ or Xwindows app experience on Windows 11 or MacOS. It would be usable, but feel conspicuously sub-standard.
What specifically are the ux differences?
replyI don't know iOS so I can't say, but a good UX does depend in part on platform expectations and every system historically been different. The compromises mean the each have good reason for what they do (sometimes anyway), but switching is hard.
replyI've used both in the past 2 years and can tell you these particular systems aren't meaningfully different in any way that affects third party apps.
replyI'm only familiar with iOS and this is the type of question that an LLM could answer better than this specific human.
replyThere is an implication here that the back button is a microcosm that represents the differences holistically but it's not. It's a small one-off exception that doesn't even affect the design choices made for the various apps. As I open up app over app on my Android (Audible, Spotify, ChatGPT, etc.), they all have clear in-app "back" functionality where needed. No apps I have installed rely on the Android back button exclusively. Also, none of these apps have any design elements that follow Android's design language.
replyThe back button works at its best when it closes an app and it restores the one that opened the previous one. There could be no in app back button to do that. However the back button used to be an always available hardware button or a touch one on the bottom bezel. It's optionally visible now (I'm on an old Android phone so I'm not up to date with the latest OS) or a gesture, right? So app designers must design as if it does not exist.
replyI agree. Design as if it doesn't exist incidentally is also how they design for iOS where it doesn't exist.
replyAlso, the back 'button' is mostly a thing of the past in Android and it's more similar to iOS now with the predictive back gesture.
replyThe Android back button is legacy.