With increased focus on mobile apps these days, many are studying the distinction between web apps and native mobile apps as they move towards the mobile web. The increase in mobile application usage is skyrocketing, with little chance of slowing down as the market landscape continues to become mobile dominant.

1. WHITEPAPERON
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MOBILEWEBAPPSVS.MOBILE
NATIVEAPPS:WHYISTHE
DISTINCTIONSOIMPORTANT?

2. Page2
INTRODUCTION
Withincreasedfocusonmobileappsthesedays,manyarestudyingthedistinctionbetweenwebappsandnativemobileappsastheymovetowards
themobileweb.Theincreaseinmobileapplicationusageisskyrocketing,withlittlechanceofslowingdownasthemarketlandscapecontinuesto
becomemobiledominant.Becauseofthat,companiesworkingonexposingtheirbrandinthemobilespaceareapproachingaweb-centricstrategy,
anative-mobilestrategy,orboth.Thepurposeofthispaperistolookatpreciselythedifferencesbetweenthetwo--aswellasanalyzewhichstrategy
ismostsuccessfulforaparticularbusiness.
WheniOS,Android,andothermobileplatformscreatedtheirrespectivedevelopmentenvironments,eachdevelopmentlanguagewasplat-
form-centric,designedtotakeadvantageofthefeaturesofaparticularmobileplatform(andatleastiniOS’scase,thehardwarebuiltspecicallyfor
thatplatform).Thismeantinmanycasesthatdevelopershadtotakea“compartmentalized”approachthatvariedsomewhatfromplatformtoplat-
form(intheearlydaysthemobilewebcouldseedifferentcompaniesutilizedifferentapproachesforplatform-specicapps,often ndingthatfea-
tureswouldbemissingfromoneversionofaparticularappthatwerefoundinanotherone.
Onesolutiontotheproblemofthiscompartmentalizationcamewiththeriseofresponsivedesignontheweb:tosolvetheproblemofalackof
nativedepthonsmartdevicesviewingwebsitesdesignedforadesktopplatformsuchasWindowsorLinux,developersapplieda“responsivegrid”
systemthatwouldmakeiteasiertocreatewebsitesthatwerefunctionalandconsistentacrossbothsmartdevicesanddesktopsystems.Becauseof
this,manyapps(andthisisstillpossibletodoonmajorplatforms)wereinfactwebsitesusingawrappersystem:thewrapperwouldfetchcontent
frfromtheresponsivewebsiteanddisplayitinternally.Whilethiswasfarfromaperfectsolution,it--forthemostpart--providedthemobileuserwith
aconsistent,iflimitedexperienceoverall.
Thepowerofwebapps,however,wasnaturallylimitedbywhatthehostdevicecoulddo,andthusabare-minimumapproachhadtobeadoptedin
ordertocreateaconsistentexperience.Asmanysmartphonesarenowmoreadvanced“underthehood”thanmanydesktopsystems,thiswould
eventuallybecomeanunworkablesolution.Thankfully,asmorenativecross-platformsolutionsformobiledevicestakeshapeandthetechnology
gapbetweenmobileplatformsisvirtuallynon-existent,anewageofmobileappdesignhastakenshape,whichtakesadvantageoftheuniquefea-
turesandabilitiesthatmobileappsprovide.
Newmobileappsareinmanywaysclosertoactualprogramsondesktopsthantheyarewebsites,regardlessofhowmuchmemorytheyuseinthe
cloudoronthedevice.Appsnolonger“display”information;fromcomplexgamestoaccountingtofullprogrammingenvironments,nativemobile
appsarenowmorepowerfulthantheyhaveeverbeen,andthisisundoubtedlythedirectionofthefuture.
WHATISAWEBAPPASOPPOSEDTOANATIVEAPP?
Thebiggestandmostobviousadvantagetodesigningamobilenativeappisfamiliarity:nativeappsaredesignedforthesystemandcantakeadvan-
tageofanenvironmentmoreeffectively.
Thereareanumberofadvantagestodesigningmobilenativeapps,butthe rstandmostimportantisthattheexperienceofamobileappisintense-
lymorepersonalthanthatofadesktopsystem.Whileitisundoubtedthatmanylovetheirdesktops,thedesignofthedesktopinterface(withthe
exceptionofrecentmovesinthisdirectionbyMicrosoft’sWindowsoperatingsystem)isbuiltaroundstorageandretrieval,whereasmobiledesignis
basedalmostentirelyaroundpersonalpreferences.
Withoutgettingintoaturgiddiscussionofdesignelementswhichpersonalizeasite,thesimplerealityisthatthemobilenativeappexperienceis
andwilllikelyremainapersonalexperience.Thedesktopwebremainsbuiltaroundtheideaofaccessing“theweb”asaprimarycomponent,an
onlinedestinationultimatelyasecondaryconcern.Bycontrast,amobileexperiencecanbedesignedaroundthedirectexperienceofauserwitha
nativemobileapp,andinfactisoftenincorporatedintoitsdesignprinciples:itsprimaryfocusisontheinteractionbetweentheuserandtheuser
ininterface.Thisdirectconnectionmakesaverybigdifference;whilemostwebsiteswhichrequireuserloginshavesomelevelofpersonalization,the
nativeapp,onceauthenticated,canactasadirectconduittotheuser’swishes.
Agoodexampleofthiscanbefound--touseanubiquitousexample--withSpotify.Largelyknownasamobileservice,thereisawebanddesktop
platform.Butbothoftheseexperiencesrequireintermediarystepsunknowninthemobileuniverse.Goingtothebrowser,searchfororgoingtoa
bookmark,andthenconnectingareafarcryfromlookingatabuttonand“turningonyouronlineradio”.Thenatureofthemobileauthenticationpro-
cessmakesitfareasierforausertogetconnectedtoafavoriteapp--meaningthatengagementonawell-usedappwillmakeitthatmuchhighera
pprioritytotheuser.Themobilenativedeveloperhasarealadvantageinanenvironmentthatisuser-centricandaplatformdesignedwithunique,
uniformmultimediaabilities.
THEADVANTAGESOFMOBILENATIVEAPPS
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3. Page3
WHENMOBILEWEBAPPSAREUSEFUL
Successfulmobilenativeapps,therefore,arethepinnacleofmobileachievement;a“holygrail”ifyouwillfortheappdeveloper.Nomatterwhatthe
monetizationstrategyinuse,engagedusersarelifebloodofsuccessfulappdevelopment.Forexample,arestaurantwouldmuchratherhaveanapp
onauser’sphonethanhaveagenericwebappwhichlookslikethewebsite,orawebsiteitself.Withasufficientlysimpleloginandauthenticationpro-
cess,thatusercancontactarestaurantdirectly(onaphoneapp),makeanorder,andmuchmore.Theriskofpotentiallylosingacustomerthrough
adadvertisingonotherplatformsishigher.Becauseofthis,manybusinesseshavenativeappsthattheyusetoretaintheircustomerbases,evenusing
themforpromotions.
Becauseoftheuniquenatureoftherelationshipbetweenmobilenativeappsandtheirusers,however,thecostandamountoftimespentindevelop-
ingapropernativeappcanmakeitcost-inefficienttodesignforsomebusinesses.Whilealmostanynichebusinesscancreateawinningapp,few
businessescanorknowhow--leadingtoinefficientwebappdevelopment.Aplumbingcompany,forexample,isn’tcalledallthatoftentowarrant
thespaceonamobileapp(they’reusuallycalledforemergencies)andsimplydoesn’talwayshavemuchwithwhicharealkillerappcanbedevel-
oped--becauseonlyasmallshareofusersgenuinelyfocusontheirsmartphonesforhomemaintenance.Becauseofthis,however,thereisstillan
openingforamobilewebapplicationwhich“packages”thewebsiteforeasycontactandlocationintheappstoreifthatisthe rstplaceacustomer
looks.
Whereamobile-rstdesigncanbecomeusefulinthefutureiswiththeadventofthesmarthome,asmoreandmoreofourhomemaintenancesys-
temsbecometiedtotheweb.Atthatpoint,itwouldbeasmartideatobeginintegratingaplumbingappwithasmarthomeappthroughdeeplink-
ingfordirectcontactwithaclient.Smarthomeinstallerswouldthendowelltoknowthattheiraffiliatemaintenancecompanieshaveadirectconnec-
tiontotheirconsumers,andcouldevenmonetizedeeplinksbyratioofhomevisits.
Anotheradvantageofusingamobilewebappisconsistencyforclientswithalargedesktopbaseofusers.Wrappingthewebappformobileinthis
casemakesthemobileappanextensionofthewebplatformfortheirusers.Thisisparticularlycommonforonlinesystemswithaninvolvedserv-
er-sideback-endwhichwouldbenetlessintheshorttermfromdevelopingtrulynativeapplications.
Bycontrast,mostsitestodaythatarestillusing“wrapper”systemsare ndingthemselvesincreasinglyoutdated.Thereisnogoingbacktothepast,
anditisfarmorelikelythatthebestwaytodesignanappwillbethroughnativemobileplatforms(thetwolargest,iOSandAndroid,makeupover
90%ofthemarket)anddesktopusagewillslowlyconformtomobileplatformstandardsanddieout.
MOVINGTOWARDSAMOBILEWEB:THEENDOFTHEDESKTOP
ASWEKNOWIT
Ifthelastparagraphseemedimpossible,therearetwotrendsthatcontributedirectlytothisposition:thedecreaseyear-over-yearindesktopmarket
shareandtheriseofdesktopsystemswhichmakeuseofwhatweretraditionallymobileplatforms.Becausedesktopsarenowovertakenbymobile
insearchandbeingreplacedwitheverythingfromhybridtablet-notebooksystemsanddesktopsystemsrunningunderAndroid,thetraditionaldesk-
topmarketisslowlyreducingitsvisibility.Asdesktopsonceservedassmallersubstitutesformainframes,mobileplatformsarebecomingmoreper-
sonalthanpersonalcomputers.
Mobileplatformsarenowovertakingtraditionaldesktopplatformsinsearchvolumeandmuchmore.Howacompanychoosestoapproachthat
mobilebase--whetherthroughwrappingtheirdesktoppresenceformobileorcreatingamobile-centricsystem--mustbeviewedinthelensofden-
inghowtheywanttorelatetotheirclientbaseoverthelong-term.
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