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However the web is a great way to start/test user response to a product. For start-ups with minimal resources and wanting to build the way they know how (using

by rayhano 13y ago

However the web is a great way to start/test user response to a product. For start-ups with minimal resources and wanting to build the way they know how (using web technologies), there are now great integrations with 'native' mobile features, like the camera and music controls. For a great example, check out the web version of the article's featured app http://player.FM http://player.FM

mmahemoff 13y ago
Yes, absolutely. The article's main purpose is to make the native argument, but there are still many benefits of the web approach, and fast iteration is one of them. And not just because of the store submission process (which only takes a few hours in Android's case anyway). HTML5 has such a rich set of resources, as well as great desktop browser environments, that it can be a super-fast way to get projects going. Thanks to Backbone, Angular, etc, and in the future Web Components, it's easier to scale the architecture too. Notice all of these benefits are centered around developer experience. User experience is the biggest gap right now.
- hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
  > Notice all of these benefits are centered around developer experience. User experience is the biggest gap right now. From all the benefits of web technologies, "developer experience" is the worst one. Developing (good) UIs using web technologies is an exercise in masochism. It's forever piling hacks and finding new frameworks to bend a browser to do what you need (a broken model). Then, worry about cross-compatibility. Someone proficient in XCode is likely ten times more efficient and produces a more polished result with much less pain.
  - rimantas 13y ago
    Exactly. Most likely those pushing for "web tech everywhere" did not bother to check out that native platforms offer. On the other hand those doing native apps what do little more than display html in embedded webviews are not helping either.
  - pjmlp 13y ago
    I have been doing mostly web during the early dot com days (1999-2001), returning to it around 2008. With every project the conviction that the web cannot move away from the wild west development style grows on me.
- rimantas 13y ago
  You know, I am also a "web developer turned into native" and what you say is very very strange. By using native components provided by SDK you can run circles around any webtech based approach. Yes deployment can be significantly delayed in some cases, but for prototyping id does not matter. Alas, "if the only tool you have is a hammer" folks keep searching for the reasons why web tech is better for apps. Sorry guys, it is not. It was created for the different purpose, how hard is that to get? Yes you can make a point if cross platform is concerned, but in reality doing cross platform is neither simple nor easy. And if you think that HTML5 has a rich set of resources, check out that SDK offer.
  - tsotha 13y ago
    >You know, I am also a "web developer turned into native" and what you say is very very strange. By using native components provided by SDK you can run circles around any webtech based approach. That's my experience too. Things are faster to prototype in a web application only if the UI isn't very rich.

by rayhano 13y ago

mmahemoff 13y ago

Yes, absolutely. The article's main purpose is to make the native argument, but there are still many benefits of the web approach, and fast iteration is one of them. And not just because of the store submission process (which only takes a few hours in Android's case anyway). HTML5 has such a rich set of resources, as well as great desktop browser environments, that it can be a super-fast way to get projects going. Thanks to Backbone, Angular, etc, and in the future Web Components, it's easier to scale the architecture too. Notice all of these benefits are centered around developer experience. User experience is the biggest gap right now.

hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
> Notice all of these benefits are centered around developer experience. User experience is the biggest gap right now. From all the benefits of web technologies, "developer experience" is the worst one. Developing (good) UIs using web technologies is an exercise in masochism. It's forever piling hacks and finding new frameworks to bend a browser to do what you need (a broken model). Then, worry about cross-compatibility. Someone proficient in XCode is likely ten times more efficient and produces a more polished result with much less pain.
- rimantas 13y ago
  Exactly. Most likely those pushing for "web tech everywhere" did not bother to check out that native platforms offer. On the other hand those doing native apps what do little more than display html in embedded webviews are not helping either.
- pjmlp 13y ago
  I have been doing mostly web during the early dot com days (1999-2001), returning to it around 2008. With every project the conviction that the web cannot move away from the wild west development style grows on me.
rimantas 13y ago
You know, I am also a "web developer turned into native" and what you say is very very strange. By using native components provided by SDK you can run circles around any webtech based approach. Yes deployment can be significantly delayed in some cases, but for prototyping id does not matter. Alas, "if the only tool you have is a hammer" folks keep searching for the reasons why web tech is better for apps. Sorry guys, it is not. It was created for the different purpose, how hard is that to get? Yes you can make a point if cross platform is concerned, but in reality doing cross platform is neither simple nor easy. And if you think that HTML5 has a rich set of resources, check out that SDK offer.
- tsotha 13y ago
  >You know, I am also a "web developer turned into native" and what you say is very very strange. By using native components provided by SDK you can run circles around any webtech based approach. That's my experience too. Things are faster to prototype in a web application only if the UI isn't very rich.