Noob Question: Why do I need to make my app in one page?

Questions
1

Hi, I created a website and now I’m looking to making it into an app. However I’ve seen a lot of people saying that apps need to be done in one page.

Why is that? Also what happens if I didn’t do it? I don’t mind making everything into one page but I’m curious about the reasoning behind that

2

You don’t have to make it one page.

One of the main benefits of a one page app is that it is faster and snappier because you don’t have to load a new page everytime you switch the view.

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3

As above, you don’t need to.

One page apps load all the app data at once. Page load time will be slightly longer. But, as everything is already downloaded, if you click a nav button that reveals a different page, it is quicker, as all the browser has to do is hide the current page and display the next page. If you have multiple pages, only the current page data is sent to the browser, and when you click a nav button, your browser goes to the new URL, downloads the new page’s data, and displays that.

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4

When they say “page” they’re talking about a group container you’ll create that has taken the name of your next would-be page.

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5

One thing that is rarely mentioned when people discuss one page apps is they have 2 unique challenges:

  • The more elements you have on a page, the slower the Bubble editor is. It’s not game breaking… but keep this in mind. You’ll become a lover of “issues_off=true” as it’s the only way some of my pages remain snappy.
  • One page apps rely heavily on hidden elements. There is no “show all elements” when you open up and start working. You’ll spend a chunk of your time just clicking through and trying to show the exact part you’re trying to work on. It’s fine for a while, but I’ve been doin this for years and it gets annoying when you’re in a time crunch and spend 30 seconds furiously clicking through groups…

However, the big upside is indeed that once the page is eventually loaded, it is snappier to users!

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6

Completely agree on your second point! There is a show all children button if you right click, not not a ‘reveal all children in elements tree’. Might make a suggestion…

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7

it’s just a tradeoff of slower initial load time, vs quicker experience in navigating once the page has loaded. The primary reason why this is overall a benefit is that the network call is one of the slowest parts of the interaction.
fyi I’ve indexed a few single page app resources here Bubble Single Page Apps

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8

That’s awesome! Thank you very much for sharing

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