Will HTML5 be the mobile app killer?

Over the last two decades, fragmented protocols, standards and regional differences have plagued the mobile industry. But a hot new Technology called HTML5 promises to remedy this.

From MobileBeat:

HTML5 heralds huge efficiencies for web publishers, because it lets companies develop once and distribute across any device via an Internet browser. An HTML5 triumph will not only save billions in development costs, but it will also allow publishers to direct those savings towards more innovative, productive projects.

HTML5 apps are searchable by crawlers such as Google’s search engine, ensuring that the apps can be discovered by billions of consumers. They can mash content with data or apps from third parties, and access analytical services such as traffic measurement tools, and ad server targeting technologies. You don’t need to get anyone’s permission to distribute an HTML5 app. And to top it off, at least one study says consumers prefer the convenience of them (though the research was commissioned by Adobe, which is partial to web apps).

HTML5 is so-called because it is the fifth generation of HyperText Markup Language, which is the coding language used to create web pages. By distributing over a web browser via fast, new mobile networks, HTML5 gets to bypass much of a phone’s underlying “iron,” or the chips, graphical cards and other components — all things that native apps rely on. Most phones being sold today have modern browsers that will operate on super fast 4g or LTE networks — the sort of thing that the HTML5 Technology needs to thrive. Thus, as HTML5 advances (developers are working hard to improve it), companies will no longer need to build native apps.

Unfortunately, the big knock against HTML5 is that it doesn’t have access to all the features that the native language has (Objective C for iOS, Java for Android, etc).

First, we’ve seen the number of features that a native app has that an HTML5 app doesn’t dwindle with each new release of a browser.

Second, recent developments have eliminated the line between “native” and “HTML5.” These, so-called, “hybrid” apps use a technique that web developers have been familiar with for years: Progressive Enhancement.

You start with the lowest common denominator and add functionality based on the capabilities of the environment.

Tools, such as PhoneGap, have made this much easier, and Facebook recently explained how it used this technique to build its latest application.

Finally, HTML5 apps are more cost-effective. Last year, Forrester said companies should build both native and Web-based apps. At the beginning of 2012, the firm did a 180.

Forrester recommends a Web approach for developers and enterprises — development studios will find talented coders that are well-versed in Web Technology while the average coder is not specifically an expert on the variety of languages it takes to create and app for the four major platforms. While native apps are often more visually attractive and have powerful device access APIs, the cost to develop across platforms may be prohibitive.

As firms move from two to three platforms and even contemplate adding Windows Phone 7, they will find that native development becomes increasingly untenable from an economic point of view. Add in multiple releases a year as the mobile platform vendors update their operating systems, and most shops simply aren’t prepared to spend that much more on their custom application development efforts.