

Ask HN: Web Development or Mobile App Development? - canremember

I have limited experience with both Android development and web development. In a previous Ask HN I mentioned my plan to rapidly improve my web dev skills.<p>But I wonder, is web dev being superseded by mobile app development? As someone in college who wants to work for a startup or start a startup in the near future (2-5 years), would I be better advised to focus on mobile apps or the web? There&#x27;s a lot of talk about AngularJS or Ember or Rails or Django on HN, but I&#x27;m not sure if my effort would be better spent becoming really good at Androod&#x2F;iOS apps.
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npalli
Both are important and both will be around. However if you are starting out
today I would pick mobile app development. Two main things

1\. Web development is primarily about presenting document oriented
information to users. The future is sensors in and around mobile phones -
cameras, video, voice, fingerprints, retina scans, gyro, barometer etc etc.
These are not document based and the web model doesn't lend itself well. It
will be another 20 years before any standardization of sensors based internet
will come to pass. All of the sensors will be native based and a mobile
development mindset will be asset.

2\. Webdev is 20 years old now. Even though there is a lot of work, there are
a lot of people and barrier to entry is low. If AngularJS takes off, you will
have a long list of people who have been working in this field competing with
you. You will start at the bottom and need to put in the time. Mobile is only
4-5 years old. Even then, the pace is so fast that knowing iOS3/Android 1.x (3
years back) doesn't help you. So you have a shorter ground to cover to
becoming an expert.

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shawnreilly
In my opinion, Tools like Cordova (Phonegap) and Titanium exemplify a
continuously evolving Grey Area between Web App and Native Mobile App
Development. But even with this said; I think it's important to understand the
differences between the two and the pros and cons of each approach. I don't
think you should wait 2-5 years to do a startup (do it now!) but if this is
the case, then you should have more than enough time to research the
differences and decide which route you want to go (or maybe you do both, who
knows). The aspects that I would focus on are Product/UX and
Distribution/Fatigue:

Product/UX would relate to the Products you want to build and the User
Experience you want to deliver; Understanding how each environment impacts
performance (or not), how the app is launched (or used), and how the app
behaves in each environment. It really depends on what you want to build and
how you want it to work. Is the App Lightweight or Heavy? Is the performance
acceptable considering the UX you want to deliver? Should it be launched from
the Home Screen, or is a Browser OK?

Distribution/Fatigue would relate to how you intend to distribute and maintain
the App; Understanding your customer (or potential customer) base, how to
reach them (distribution path / user acquisition), and being realistic about
the time/resources necessary to support your distribution plan from a
development perspective. It really depends on how you plan to distribute, and
how much time/resources you have at your disposal. Do you want to reach
everyone or a specific group? Can you maintain multiple instances of your
client across multiple platforms?

The last thing I would note is the Platform Effect and how it might impact the
Grey Area. I think it's important to note that each Mobile Platform maintains
control over their platform, and thus (just like API based platforms) it is
always possible that the rules get changed. I think this is important to note
because it is possible that future changes may impact the acceptance/rejection
of WebKit Wrapped Apps (aka the Grey Area).

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ronreiter
They are both very important, and for now they are separate skills. One day,
hopefully, web development will become mobile app development.

~~~
canremember
Do you think learning web development in its current form is a good idea? The
scenario I'm concerned about is spending a few years learning web dev only to
discover my skills are obsolete since the world has gone mobile.

~~~
ronreiter
On the contrary, HTML/CSS/JS is the future of multi-screen web and app
development.

I would actually bet on learning ONLY those skills and giving up on Android
and iOS.

There are a few efforts today to package HTML5 apps or even compile them to
Android and iOS.

Check out Cordova/Phonegap for example. There's also Chrome packaged apps, and
many more to come.

