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Mobile apps have made it possible to write your app once and have it work on multiple platforms? Gee, I must have missed that (as I post to HN, a web app that w

Mobile apps have made it possible to write your app once and have it work on multiple platforms? Gee, I must have missed that (as I post to HN, a web app that works on multiple platforms).

davidw 14y ago
In addition to that, you can deploy your apps on your own terms, rather than Apple's or Google's.
rimantas 14y ago
Don't kid yourself. Anyone writing web app "once and have it work on multiple platforms" is just writing different workaround for the different platforms into the same codebase. HTML was created to markup structure of the document, CSS was created to style the look of that document. JavaScript was created to add some interactity. The idea of the HTML web was about documents, not apps. Now compare that to the native SDK's which were created for apps develpoment and specifically targeted to solve specific problems. Anyone claiming that web technologies today or tomorrow will be a good replacement for native SDKs has very little idea about native SDKs. Myriad of frameworks trying just so hack some MVC with webtech is a good indicator about the suitability for the task. Sure, with enough time you can bolt-on enough feature on the top of HTML and JS to make it bearable for apps development: but it will be just that — stuff bolted on the tool created to solve completely different problems. I don't know why looking at every problem like a nail just because all you have is a hammer is suddenly a good idea.
- marknutter 14y ago
  > I don't know why looking at every problem like a nail just because all you have is a hammer is suddenly a good idea. Uh.. because it's cross platform. The ubiquity of the web is literally the only reason why people use HTML/CSS/Javascript. All your points are valid except for the fact that you are blatantly disregarding the single biggest downside of native development: multiple-platform support. I'm sorry, the world isn't made up entirely of iPhones or Android phones.
pjmlp 14y ago
You mean a mix of server side generated code full of CSS, JavaScript and HTML hacks so that it behaves in a similar way across multiple browsers?
- marknutter 14y ago
  You mean webkit?
  - pjmlp 14y ago
    Ah the web engine that has a different set of features depending on the browser that uses it.
elliottkember 14y ago
I read this on the YC iPhone app. I prefer the native app because it's a vastly more suitable experience than the browser version.

Mobile apps have made it possible to write your app once and have it work on multiple platforms? Gee, I must have missed that (as I post to HN, a web app that works on multiple platforms).

davidw 14y ago

In addition to that, you can deploy your apps on your own terms, rather than Apple's or Google's.

rimantas 14y ago

Don't kid yourself. Anyone writing web app "once and have it work on multiple platforms" is just writing different workaround for the different platforms into the same codebase. HTML was created to markup structure of the document, CSS was created to style the look of that document. JavaScript was created to add some interactity. The idea of the HTML web was about documents, not apps. Now compare that to the native SDK's which were created for apps develpoment and specifically targeted to solve specific problems. Anyone claiming that web technologies today or tomorrow will be a good replacement for native SDKs has very little idea about native SDKs. Myriad of frameworks trying just so hack some MVC with webtech is a good indicator about the suitability for the task. Sure, with enough time you can bolt-on enough feature on the top of HTML and JS to make it bearable for apps development: but it will be just that — stuff bolted on the tool created to solve completely different problems. I don't know why looking at every problem like a nail just because all you have is a hammer is suddenly a good idea.

marknutter 14y ago
> I don't know why looking at every problem like a nail just because all you have is a hammer is suddenly a good idea. Uh.. because it's cross platform. The ubiquity of the web is literally the only reason why people use HTML/CSS/Javascript. All your points are valid except for the fact that you are blatantly disregarding the single biggest downside of native development: multiple-platform support. I'm sorry, the world isn't made up entirely of iPhones or Android phones.

pjmlp 14y ago

You mean a mix of server side generated code full of CSS, JavaScript and HTML hacks so that it behaves in a similar way across multiple browsers?

marknutter 14y ago
You mean webkit?
- pjmlp 14y ago
  Ah the web engine that has a different set of features depending on the browser that uses it.

elliottkember 14y ago

I read this on the YC iPhone app. I prefer the native app because it's a vastly more suitable experience than the browser version.