Web Apps vs. Native Apps: The Low Down

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Transcript of Web Apps vs. Native Apps: The Low Down

Page 1: Web Apps vs. Native Apps: The Low Down

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Page 2: Web Apps vs. Native Apps: The Low Down

Web vs. native Web vs. native The multi-platform mobile app debateThe multi-platform mobile app debate

Presented by Gokul SelvarajPartner, Apppli

@sgokul

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Native apps have the lead

Over 1 million mobile apps have been developed

Over $10 billion generated through direct app sales

Close to 25 billion native apps downloaded

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Why has the web lagged?

Limited capabilities of mobile browsers

Failure of current web standards to cater to mobile user needs

All set to change with the adoption of HTML5

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What do web apps need to address?

Functionality

Performance

User Experience

Development costs

Monetisation

Discoverability

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Feature Gap

Supported on iOS and Android browsers

Offline storage

Geolocation

Advanced 2D rendering (Canvas)

Multimedia Playback

Specified in HTML5 draft

Physical sensors

Notifications

Media Gallery

Media Capture

Feature Permissions

Contacts

Calendar

System Information

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Performance: Can web apps ever be as fast?

Native code is implicitly faster since it is closer to machine language

Web apps can become faster by taking advantage of these HTML5 features:

WebWorkers for multi-threaded execution

Hardware acceleration to speed up rendering

WebGL to improve 3D graphics performance

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Development costs

Building a single web app is cheaper than building multiple native apps.

Web development skill-sets are more readily available than native skill-sets.

Maintaining and updating a single code base is much easier and cheaper.

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User experience

Native apps can make use of controls specific to the OS that users are already familiar with

Web apps can detect the platform being used by the user and present a custom CSS that takes advantage of such platform specific controls

Over time, the mobile web will evolve its own set of touch friendly controls

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Monetisation

Native apps are easier to monetise through simple tap to pay application stores.

Many monetisation mechanisms are already available on the desktop web like subscription, advertising and affiliate networks.

Web apps will have the option to not bear the monopoly fees charged by native application stores.

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Discoverability

Again, native app stores have made discovery very easy for new users through curated lists, top charts and user reviews.

On the web, app discovery is possible through multiple media by the simple process of linking through a URL.

Curated distribution mechanisms such as the Chrome web store are starting to appear on desktop and can be expected on mobile sometime soon.

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Hybrid approach

Some glaring gaps with web apps may not make it worthwhile for developers to invest solely in web apps today

Hybrid apps: multi-platform HTML5 apps packaged in a native wrapper

Fills in for the lacking functionality with native code

Allows distribution and monetisation via native app stores

Development costs are low unless heavy customisation is required for each platform

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in summary

Native will always be faster at adopting new technologies

Hybrid apps are a compromise

Native is a fast moving target but web is narrowing the gap.

The openness and accessibility of the web as a platform is certain to make web apps popular in the not-so-distant future

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Thank youThank you

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Presented by Gokul SelvarajPartner, Apppli

@sgokul

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