HTML5 vs Native: The Mobile App Debate

http://www.html5rocks.com/en/mobile/nativedebate/

by ohjeez • 13 years ago

7 5 13 years ago

This seemed very skewed towards HTML5. To be clear, I am totally in favor of developing in the web, but the way things are going, especially for IOS, that just doesn't seem to matter...

The typical iOS user has become accustomed to using native apps over the browser. It's very hard to battle habitual behavior. Additionally, every time iOS users are given a mobile web app, until VERY recently, those experiences have been miserable . . . . and seriously, if you're on iOS (especially iPhone, not so much iPad), you know what I mean.

Therefore, the routinized web app sucking and not feeling as "snappy" as a native has just put web-apps in a damn rut. I would absolutely LOVE for user to get into the habit of using WebApps, but unfortunately, Apple has a HUGE incentive to keep users funneled to native ones.

afeezaziz• 13 years ago

Yes, it is skewed because it was written by a site that is promoting HTML5.

HTML5 has a future but at the moment, native applications still have the performance advantage.

justindhill• 13 years ago

Not to mention, the article was written in 2011.

minopret• 13 years ago

I doubt that a definitive choice is possible between native iOS and HTML5 when an individual developer wishes to adopt only one of these. So I turn to a heuristic that I call What Would Matt Might Do? http://matt.might.net/articles/how-to-native-iphone-ipad-app...

bound008• 13 years ago

Why not have it both? I built an open source framework that routes views in your iOS app based on their restful urls. If you have a native view, boom. If not, HTML.

If you release a new feature you just make an HTML template for it and it works in old builds. Then when you are ready for native, release the native view controller in a new build. Everyone wins! (Especially the users, which I why I wrote it)

http://RESTMagic.org http://github.com/RESTMagic/RESTMagic

HTML5 vs Native: The Mobile App Debate

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