> To the degree that people use dedicated apps, it is to that same degree that they're not using browsers and open media. True enough, but I'm not convinced th

> To the degree that people use dedicated apps, it is to that same degree that they're not using browsers and open media. True enough, but I'm not convinced that the latter effect is intended ore merely a side effect. This distinction is certainly key in assessing what alternatives those pushing native apps would be willing to consider. > it turns a public forum into a series of competing private experiences Again, this is a precipitate effect, but it's not clear that this is the intended effect that reveals the underlying motivation. I do think that motivation is present among some - Facebook, certainly, though they seem less interested in driving people away from the web than in hijacking the web and turning it into their own proprietary platform - but, again, I think that the native-app trend is largely bandwagonning initially motivated by smaller websites' management desiring to have their brand in readers' view for more often and for longer. If the UI for iOS worked differently, and RSS feeds could be accessed via a method indistinguishable from accessing native apps, I think we'd see far fewer native apps. > and Facebook would fail It may yet.