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The problem with people complaining that hybrid iOS apps don't "feel right" is that the defining characteristic of a well-made hybrid app is that you don't noti

The problem with people complaining that hybrid iOS apps don't "feel right" is that the defining characteristic of a well-made hybrid app is that you don't notice it's a hybrid app, meaning the only apps people tend to consciously associate with being 'hybrid apps' are the mediocre ones. For every web-based iOS app that's clunky and slow like Facebook, there's another one like Quora or OKCupid or even the iOS App Store that is almost indistinguishable from a native app, save for a few minor telltale giveaways (one of the most common ones is showing a loading icon while you load in an entire view instead of rendering a view's components piecemeal as they're ready). The problem is that many developers who go with a hybrid app solution do so because they think it'll be easier or quicker than an all-native app, especially if they need multiplatform support. Doing a hybrid app correctly can in many cases require much more work than simply doing a native app, both technically (there are a lot of very tricky caching issues, since UIWebViews don't properly handle cache manifests) and design-wise in terms of nailing the behavior and feel of a native app. Hybrid apps are neither a complete usability disaster nor a silver bullet that gives you a 'write once, run anywhere' utopia.

pvidler 14y ago
> or even the iOS App Store that is almost indistinguishable from a native app Are we using the same app store? It's awful! It's painfully slow and it frequently 'forgets' what I was doing when I press the back button after viewing an app's details (search filters and list positions, to name a few).
gojomo 14y ago
I've been trying to get a UIWebView to use a cache manifest with no luck. Is it hopeless or is there a trick/writeup I'm missing?
potatolicious 14y ago
I haven't used the Quora app, but the OKCupid app is pretty bad - it frequently gets itself into a bad state (especially if the app hasn't been opened in a while) where it will sit at the loading screen forever. It's also painfully slow, navigation is incredibly laggy. It's functional, but hardly great. It's not the most obvious UIWebView-wrapped app ever, but it's still fairly evident. I have only ever seen one hybrid app done well - and that's the LinkedIn app. Every single other hybrid app (including Apple's own App Store!) is slow, buggy, and just unpleasant to use.
- lukifer 14y ago
  I can usually spot a hybrid app, but I hadn't even noticed that OKC is one, and my experience with the app has been pretty good. I have seen the stuck loading screen occasionally, but I assumed it was due to connection issues; it's not like that can't happen with native. Either way, they obviously need to fail a little more gracefully, which should be a solvable problem.
  - blake8086 14y ago
    How would you know you can "usually" spot a hybrid app?
    - lukifer 14y ago
      Subtle things: controls that don't match exactly, link box outlines, inertial scrolling with a different acceleration, keyboard limitations, or just the general feel. It takes a strong attention to detail to make these things feel native, and the OKC app apparently does this very well.
      - andybak 14y ago
        I think the point the previous chap was making was that you've got no way of knowing if you 'usually' spot hybrid apps as you don't know about the ones you don't spot.
        lukifer 14y ago
        Point taken, classic selection bias.
thomasjoulin 14y ago
I don't know about Quora and OKCupid, but the iOS App Store is a terrible app ! Scrolling sometimes hides the whole table view, the sign out button are not responsive, and don't even try to open past purchases if you have a lot. I agree with you on the last part though. I'd recommend native app with a good design that makes it flexible via server changes. For big changes, the app store updates is usually just a one week process anyway
- lukifer 14y ago
  For those of us who code in web-land, a delay of one hour would be appalling, let alone an entire week. (And of course even then, it relies on user action, and so will never be 100%.)
  - pvidler 14y ago
    One hour is appalling? Are your users that dependent on running the latest version of your app, or is it a concern about fixing show-stopping bugs in reasonable time?
    - bmelton 14y ago
      I'm sure he just means that on the web, the turnaround from bug to bugfix to patched instance is near instantaneous. Step 1, Notice bug Step 2, Fix bug Step 3, Deploy bugfix The steps between 1 and 2 could obviously take a variable amount of time, but Step 3 is 'near instantaneous' on the web. The thought of having to relinquish deployment to somebody else, and that somebody else possibly taking a week to just alert users that there IS a bug fix, much less the time it takes for those users to see and apply the fix, that's a relative eternity.
      - pvidler 14y ago
        True, but surely you can retain the ability to alert or otherwise communicate these things to your users without putting any of the main GUI in a web view? Minor bugs require only a little communication and major show-stoppers can be avoided with care. Maybe I'm a little biased on this, but I hate that a web app I might be relying on can change completely (both in GUI and functionality) without my consent or involvement; at least with app updates I can get some warning and release notes -- a chance to extract my data before taking the plunge... but I guess I'm getting a bit off-topic.
gurkendoktor 14y ago
In addition to everything that's been mentioned about the App Store, it also has the most telling mark of a hybrid app: It occasionally crashes on the iPad 1 on iOS5 because it runs out of memory, especially if there is still something running in the background. Even Safari itself crashed regularly until I realized that Skype had been running in the background for days. IMHO, hybrid apps would be much nicer if UIWebView could just manage its appetite for RAM a little better.

pvidler 14y ago

> or even the iOS App Store that is almost indistinguishable from a native app Are we using the same app store? It's awful! It's painfully slow and it frequently 'forgets' what I was doing when I press the back button after viewing an app's details (search filters and list positions, to name a few).

gojomo 14y ago

I've been trying to get a UIWebView to use a cache manifest with no luck. Is it hopeless or is there a trick/writeup I'm missing?

potatolicious 14y ago

I haven't used the Quora app, but the OKCupid app is pretty bad - it frequently gets itself into a bad state (especially if the app hasn't been opened in a while) where it will sit at the loading screen forever. It's also painfully slow, navigation is incredibly laggy. It's functional, but hardly great. It's not the most obvious UIWebView-wrapped app ever, but it's still fairly evident. I have only ever seen one hybrid app done well - and that's the LinkedIn app. Every single other hybrid app (including Apple's own App Store!) is slow, buggy, and just unpleasant to use.

lukifer 14y ago
I can usually spot a hybrid app, but I hadn't even noticed that OKC is one, and my experience with the app has been pretty good. I have seen the stuck loading screen occasionally, but I assumed it was due to connection issues; it's not like that can't happen with native. Either way, they obviously need to fail a little more gracefully, which should be a solvable problem.
- blake8086 14y ago
  How would you know you can "usually" spot a hybrid app?
  - lukifer 14y ago
    Subtle things: controls that don't match exactly, link box outlines, inertial scrolling with a different acceleration, keyboard limitations, or just the general feel. It takes a strong attention to detail to make these things feel native, and the OKC app apparently does this very well.
    - andybak 14y ago
      I think the point the previous chap was making was that you've got no way of knowing if you 'usually' spot hybrid apps as you don't know about the ones you don't spot.
      - lukifer 14y ago
        Point taken, classic selection bias.

thomasjoulin 14y ago

I don't know about Quora and OKCupid, but the iOS App Store is a terrible app ! Scrolling sometimes hides the whole table view, the sign out button are not responsive, and don't even try to open past purchases if you have a lot. I agree with you on the last part though. I'd recommend native app with a good design that makes it flexible via server changes. For big changes, the app store updates is usually just a one week process anyway

lukifer 14y ago
For those of us who code in web-land, a delay of one hour would be appalling, let alone an entire week. (And of course even then, it relies on user action, and so will never be 100%.)
- pvidler 14y ago
  One hour is appalling? Are your users that dependent on running the latest version of your app, or is it a concern about fixing show-stopping bugs in reasonable time?
  - bmelton 14y ago
    I'm sure he just means that on the web, the turnaround from bug to bugfix to patched instance is near instantaneous. Step 1, Notice bug Step 2, Fix bug Step 3, Deploy bugfix The steps between 1 and 2 could obviously take a variable amount of time, but Step 3 is 'near instantaneous' on the web. The thought of having to relinquish deployment to somebody else, and that somebody else possibly taking a week to just alert users that there IS a bug fix, much less the time it takes for those users to see and apply the fix, that's a relative eternity.
    - pvidler 14y ago
      True, but surely you can retain the ability to alert or otherwise communicate these things to your users without putting any of the main GUI in a web view? Minor bugs require only a little communication and major show-stoppers can be avoided with care. Maybe I'm a little biased on this, but I hate that a web app I might be relying on can change completely (both in GUI and functionality) without my consent or involvement; at least with app updates I can get some warning and release notes -- a chance to extract my data before taking the plunge... but I guess I'm getting a bit off-topic.

gurkendoktor 14y ago

In addition to everything that's been mentioned about the App Store, it also has the most telling mark of a hybrid app: It occasionally crashes on the iPad 1 on iOS5 because it runs out of memory, especially if there is still something running in the background. Even Safari itself crashed regularly until I realized that Skype had been running in the background for days. IMHO, hybrid apps would be much nicer if UIWebView could just manage its appetite for RAM a little better.