

Ask HN: Do you think Mobile Web Apps is the way to go than Native Apps? - ashitvora

Some of the reasons I came up with are.
1. One app works on all devices (except some layout and css issues). Write once, run everywhere.
2. Easier to maintain.
3. Don't have to deal with App Approval process.
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warwick
If you're looking for a boolean answer, there isn't one.

Web apps are superior for the reasons you mentioned. As a developer, it's just
_easier_ to deploy a web app. That being said, I think you ought to be
thinking about the users experience, not the developers.

App store approval processes mean that users have to wait longer for fixes.
Using a particular device API means that your app just isn't available to a
lot of users.

On the other hand, native apps tend to respond faster, be more in line with
the users expectations, and offer the developer a slick way to accept the
users money without asking them to put in all their credit card info.

You also have to look at how users expect to install apps. At least on iOS,
every web app I've seen has to include install instructions because users
don't think about installing them.

I think I can give users a better experience with a native app, and that's
what makes the choice for me.

~~~
ashitvora
makes sense.

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aitoehigie
I agree with you. I have been playing around with some mobile frameworks
(phonegap, titanium and rhomobile) and I must say that coding a native app for
different mobile platforms isnt too attractive to me. using any of the
aforementioned frameworks, you can develop mobile apps that will run across
most major mobile OS's like iOS, blackberry and Android, although you might
not get a 100% native app, the pain of learning all the SDK's of each mobile
platform is skipped. Its just like Java's once stated goal of "write once, run
anywhere"

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ashitvora
Agree with you but why even use Phonegap, Titanium or other frameworks since
they are meant to covert a web app to native app.

Developing an app is only 50%. Rest is going thru app approval process. If app
isn't approved, value of that app is ZERO.

Is it not a good idea to develop a web app and make money adopt subscription
model to make money. We can straight away bring down the cost by 30% which
goes to Apple otherwise.

What say?

~~~
aitoehigie
I also agree, but my point is this, using a framework like Phonegap or
Rhomobile etc, will give my mobile application access to some features of the
host platform like notification, file access, events, sound, video, audio etc,
if required. this is something a web app cannot do on a mobile device.

~~~
ashitvora
yea. true. Thanks :)

