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You can remove the word mobile. Web apps are still heavily inferior to native desktop apps. The answer to 'why mobile web apps?' is the same answer as to 'why d

by Joeri 13y ago

You can remove the word mobile. Web apps are still heavily inferior to native desktop apps. The answer to 'why mobile web apps?' is the same answer as to 'why desktop web apps?'

fossuser 13y ago
I generally agree to this, but at least with mobile you carry your phone with you all the time. I could see the benefit of a web interface on any machine you use rather than having to have your laptop with you for the desktop app. Though I guess I usually have my laptop with me anyway.
MoosePlissken 13y ago
Depends on your definition of inferior. I can count the number of desktop apps that I use on a daily basis on one hand, and they're all development tools. I have more than twice that number of pinned tabs in my browser that are open at all times.
- Iftheshoefits 13y ago
  Are those pinned tabs all running applications or merely displaying information (websites)? Are you sure the ones running apps would not run better were they written as a native/desktop version? Are the apps trivial (e.g. to-do lists)? There's a lot of context you left out.
  - MoosePlissken 13y ago
    Some are just websites, but I would say many of them are full blown apps: Gmail - email client Mog - Music player Google Voice / MightyText - Messaging TweetDeck - Twitter client Confluence - Team wiki Trello - Organizational tool Toggl - Time tracking Bitbucket/Github (I suppose you could debate that these are just websites) Google Drive - Document editing and storage Would these run better as native apps? Probably, if you're just talking about raw performance. However, I frequently jump between OSX, Windows, and Linux machines. When I open Chrome on any of these devices I can pick up right where I left off. Could I say the same with a native app? Probably not. For me, the performance of the web version of these apps is good enough, so cross platform compatibility becomes more important than raw power. That's what I meant when I said it depends on your definition of inferior. I don't think mobile hardware or mobile browsers are quite there yet. But I don't see any reason why they won't eventually get to a point where they're "good enough" for people like myself, at which point other factors beyond raw performance will become more important.

by Joeri 13y ago

You can remove the word mobile. Web apps are still heavily inferior to native desktop apps. The answer to 'why mobile web apps?' is the same answer as to 'why desktop web apps?'

fossuser 13y ago

I generally agree to this, but at least with mobile you carry your phone with you all the time. I could see the benefit of a web interface on any machine you use rather than having to have your laptop with you for the desktop app. Though I guess I usually have my laptop with me anyway.

MoosePlissken 13y ago

Depends on your definition of inferior. I can count the number of desktop apps that I use on a daily basis on one hand, and they're all development tools. I have more than twice that number of pinned tabs in my browser that are open at all times.

Iftheshoefits 13y ago
Are those pinned tabs all running applications or merely displaying information (websites)? Are you sure the ones running apps would not run better were they written as a native/desktop version? Are the apps trivial (e.g. to-do lists)? There's a lot of context you left out.
- MoosePlissken 13y ago
  Some are just websites, but I would say many of them are full blown apps: Gmail - email client Mog - Music player Google Voice / MightyText - Messaging TweetDeck - Twitter client Confluence - Team wiki Trello - Organizational tool Toggl - Time tracking Bitbucket/Github (I suppose you could debate that these are just websites) Google Drive - Document editing and storage Would these run better as native apps? Probably, if you're just talking about raw performance. However, I frequently jump between OSX, Windows, and Linux machines. When I open Chrome on any of these devices I can pick up right where I left off. Could I say the same with a native app? Probably not. For me, the performance of the web version of these apps is good enough, so cross platform compatibility becomes more important than raw power. That's what I meant when I said it depends on your definition of inferior. I don't think mobile hardware or mobile browsers are quite there yet. But I don't see any reason why they won't eventually get to a point where they're "good enough" for people like myself, at which point other factors beyond raw performance will become more important.