Mobile: Native app vs. web app it’s a very complicated thing. This is a technical feud. The debate is more complicated than it sounds. We have more than two options (web vs. native). To be fairly precise, we can stretch out four different technical configurations:
1) Native apps : These are coded with a particular programming language like ObjectiveC for iOS and Java for Android. These mobile apps are fast, reliable but are only accessible onto a mobile platform. That means they have to be duplicated using the same programming language that was used to develop the apps in order to make them run on another mobile platform. Almost all the mobile games are native apps.
2) Hybrid apps : These apps are development framework based. Such as sencha,PhoneGap,Rhomobile,Corona,Titanium,Mosync etcetra. These mobile apps’ are unique as they provide a distinct feature from others. That is they can support cross platform compatibility and can access phone’s hardware (such as camera,GPS,contact lists). IGN’s ‘Dominate’ for mobile social networking is just an example of this kind of apps.
3) Dedicated web apps : These apps are mainly mobile websites built for a specific platform and form facotr. e.g. ‘LinkedIn web app’ is designed to run on iOS and Android but, not on smartphones and feature phones.
4) Generic mobile apps : These are mobile apps or websites tailored to match every web enabled mobile phone. e.g. ‘en.wikipedia.com mobile page’.
As it’s apparent there are more than two choices. And none is better than the rest of the others. So it comes down to the needs and mobile platforms.
If a mobile application is built to interact with online contents or services, simply ignore the native choice. On the other hand, if a mobile app is mainly used offline, then a native app fits to the needs and gives a better user experience.
Now if we turn toward the primary debate here iOS apps vs. web apps, we will see that iOS apps dominate web apps. In accordance with Appsfire, a leading mobile app discovery platform, has analyzed about 1,000 devices from its users to build some idea regarding the native app vs. web app debate. As it’s 2011, the research turns out to be quite an infographic which in itself is pretty self explanatory.
They found that in the population of those iOS device users, they spend only 10% of their time in using browsers including the web apps. In comparison, they found that the owners of those devices spend almost 50% of their time in utilising native apps, excluding default mail apps and telephony apps, that came pre-installed with the handset. Their study goes as deep as this, 12% time spent on web apps, 32% time spent on Telephony, 9% time spent on Mail app and 47% time spent on rest of the native apps. This clearly picturises the dominance of native apps over web apps when it comes to iOS devices.
However, it should be remembered that mobile is not about selcting between web and native apps and even all the other apps which come pre-installed with your chosen device including hybrid apps and generic apps. It requires a more sophisticated approach.
iOS: Native App vs Web App
Mobile Development
Mobile: Native app vs. web app it’s a very complicated thing. This is a technical feud. The debate is more complicated than it sounds. We have more than two options (web vs. native). To be fairly precise, we can stretch out four different technical configurations:
1) Native apps : These are coded with a particular programming language like ObjectiveC for iOS and Java for Android. These mobile apps are fast, reliable but are only accessible onto a mobile platform. That means they have to be duplicated using the same programming language that was used to develop the apps in order to make them run on another mobile platform. Almost all the mobile games are native apps.
2) Hybrid apps : These apps are development framework based. Such as sencha,PhoneGap,Rhomobile,Corona,Titanium,Mosync etcetra. These mobile apps’ are unique as they provide a distinct feature from others. That is they can support cross platform compatibility and can access phone’s hardware (such as camera,GPS,contact lists). IGN’s ‘Dominate’ for mobile social networking is just an example of this kind of apps.
3) Dedicated web apps : These apps are mainly mobile websites built for a specific platform and form facotr. e.g. ‘LinkedIn web app’ is designed to run on iOS and Android but, not on smartphones and feature phones.
4) Generic mobile apps : These are mobile apps or websites tailored to match every web enabled mobile phone. e.g. ‘en.wikipedia.com mobile page’.
As it’s apparent there are more than two choices. And none is better than the rest of the others. So it comes down to the needs and mobile platforms.
If a mobile application is built to interact with online contents or services, simply ignore the native choice. On the other hand, if a mobile app is mainly used offline, then a native app fits to the needs and gives a better user experience.
Now if we turn toward the primary debate here iOS apps vs. web apps, we will see that iOS apps dominate web apps. In accordance with Appsfire, a leading mobile app discovery platform, has analyzed about 1,000 devices from its users to build some idea regarding the native app vs. web app debate. As it’s 2011, the research turns out to be quite an infographic which in itself is pretty self explanatory.
They found that in the population of those iOS device users, they spend only 10% of their time in using browsers including the web apps. In comparison, they found that the owners of those devices spend almost 50% of their time in utilising native apps, excluding default mail apps and telephony apps, that came pre-installed with the handset. Their study goes as deep as this, 12% time spent on web apps, 32% time spent on Telephony, 9% time spent on Mail app and 47% time spent on rest of the native apps. This clearly picturises the dominance of native apps over web apps when it comes to iOS devices.
However, it should be remembered that mobile is not about selcting between web and native apps and even all the other apps which come pre-installed with your chosen device including hybrid apps and generic apps. It requires a more sophisticated approach.