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Ask HN: Do you think Mobile Web Apps is the way to go than Native Apps?
Some of the reasons I came up with are.
1. One app works on all devices (except some layout and css issues). Write once, run everywhere.
2. Easier to maintain.
3. Don't have to deal with App Approval process.
- aitoehigie 16y agoI agree with you. I have been playing around with some mobile frameworks (phonegap, titanium and rhomobile) and I must say that coding a native app for different mobile platforms isnt too attractive to me. using any of the aforementioned frameworks, you can develop mobile apps that will run across most major mobile OS's like iOS, blackberry and Android, although you might not get a 100% native app, the pain of learning all the SDK's of each mobile platform is skipped. Its just like Java's once stated goal of "write once, run anywhere"
- ashitvora 16y agoAgree with you but why even use Phonegap, Titanium or other frameworks since they are meant to covert a web app to native app. Developing an app is only 50%. Rest is going thru app approval process. If app isn't approved, value of that app is ZERO. Is it not a good idea to develop a web app and make money adopt subscription model to make money. We can straight away bring down the cost by 30% which goes to Apple otherwise. What say?
- aitoehigie 16y agoI also agree, but my point is this, using a framework like Phonegap or Rhomobile etc, will give my mobile application access to some features of the host platform like notification, file access, events, sound, video, audio etc, if required. this is something a web app cannot do on a mobile device.
- ashitvora 16y agoyea. true. Thanks :)
- warwick 16y agoIf you're looking for a boolean answer, there isn't one. Web apps are superior for the reasons you mentioned. As a developer, it's just easier to deploy a web app. That being said, I think you ought to be thinking about the users experience, not the developers. App store approval processes mean that users have to wait longer for fixes. Using a particular device API means that your app just isn't available to a lot of users. On the other hand, native apps tend to respond faster, be more in line with the users expectations, and offer the developer a slick way to accept the users money without asking them to put in all their credit card info. You also have to look at how users expect to install apps. At least on iOS, every web app I've seen has to include install instructions because users don't think about installing them. I think I can give users a better experience with a native app, and that's what makes the choice for me.
- ashitvora 16y agomakes sense.