1. The great debate… We will have this as an ongoing theme!
An opening bid!
HTML5 VS NATIVE: THE MOBILE APP DEBATE
By Michael Mahemoff
Published June 3, 2011

2. HTML5 VS NATIVE: THE MOBILE APP DEBATE
mobile apps and HTML5
plenty of overlap!
web apps run in mobile browsers and can also be re-packaged as native apps on the various mobile platforms
wide range of platforms to support!
is HTML5 a "write one, run many" solution?
compelling reasons to go native

3. FEATURE RICHNESS POINT: NATIVE CAN DO MORE
the experience of the app itself, and the way it hooks into the device's ecosystem
swipe events, mutlitouch, GPS and camera
access to the operating system
full storage system
full range of access to camera, battery levels, etc…

4. FEATURE RICHNESS COUNTERPOINT: HYBRIDS, AND THE WEB IS CATCHING UP
HTML5 app is stuck in a sandbox with a limited API, limited access to device specific features
WHY?!
frameworks for building hybrids (e.g., PhoneGap)
exposes native features as web services,
in a hybrid app can hook into platform
adds complexity though!
web standards are evolving
modern mobile browsers are keeping pace with standards
offline storage, geolocation, canvas graphics, and video/audio playback, device orientation detection…

5. PERFORMANCE POINT: NATIVE RUNS FASTER
native apps don't have the web runtime barrier to deal with
this not a trivial topic!
run close to the metal and can take advantage of performance boosters like GPU acceleration and multithreading
this is REALLY not a trivial topic!

6. PERFORMANCE
COUNTERPOINT: WEB RUNTIMES GETTING FASTER, AND MOST APPS DON'T NEED THE SPEED ANYWAY
graphic rendering engines have also sped up the web
multithreading is a possibility
the majority of mobile apps aren't bleeding-edge 3D games
but, for those that are… WebGL
WebGL (Web Graphics Library) is a JavaSript API for 3D graphics that works with web browsers

7. DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE POINT: NATIVE IS EASIER TO DEVELOP
native apps use programming languages such as Java, Objective C, C++,…
you KNOW your target device
development faces a huge diversity
no guarantee feature X will be available when you do a port

8. DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE
COUNTERPOINT: WEB IS EASIER, AND TARGETS MULTIPLE DEVICES
develop an Android app in Java, and you're faced with a full port to Objective C to support iOS
develop a web app once and it will run in Android and iOS, not to mention BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and ...
well, that's the theory anyway!
"fragmentation" has always been this way on the web, and there are some well-known techniques to deal with it
the principle of progressive enhancement
target a basic device first, and add layers of platform-specific awesomeness where it's available.

9. LOOK-AND-FEEL POINT: NATIVE FITS PLATFORM
controls presented consistently and manipulated in the same way
platforms have standard idioms for such things, and you can't satisfy them all with a single HTML5 app
a lot of the expected look-and-feel "for free" just by using the native toolkit

10. LOOK-AND-FEEL COUNTERPOINT: THE WEB HAS ITS OWN LOOK-AND-FEEL
write a basic "one size fits all" version, and then progressively enhance it
target those platforms you care about
"browser detection”
many apps don't care
games
twitter clients

11. DISCOVERABILITY POINT: NATIVE APPS ARE EASIER TO DISCOVER
App distribution mechanisms, like Android's Market and Apple's App Store, are popular!
Any developer can submit their native app to the marketplace
users discover it through a combination of browsing, searching, and getting recommendations.
if you've done your job right, glowing ratings

12. DISCOVERABILITY
COUNTERPOINT: ACTUALLY, WEB APPS ARE EASIER TO DISCOVER
search engines
any individual can share web apps with their friends
just click on the link and launch the app in their device's browser
users can rate and comment on apps, but that's changing too

13. MONETIZATION POINT: NATIVE CAN BE MONETIZED
"6 year-old makes app during lunch hour, sells a zillion copies at $3 each".
mobile platforms offer several avenues for developers to directly charge for their apps
one-time payment, to unlock the app for all eternity
subscriptions
allow developers to convert a smash-hit app into a long-term revenue stream.
also monetize with traditional web models
advertising and sponsorship

14. MONETIZATION COUNTERPOINT: THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE GROWING
subscription-based "software as a service”
create a native "wrapper app" - for each platform you want to target,
create an empty native app that simply contains a web view
submit these apps to the various marketplaces (and hopefully watch the money roll in!)
web services like PhoneGap Build and Apparatio
point these websites to your code repository
out pops an Android app, an iOS app, and so on...ready for you to submit to the respective stores
No installing native SDKs on your machine; all you needed to build all these native apps was a a code editor and a web browser.
Web store?
Google introduced the Chrome Web Store last year for desktops

15. Winner?
some apps are best suited for native and some are best suited for the web
both are progressing at an amazing rate!
hybrid apps
web view where it's possible and platform-specific native components where it's not
want to target the multitudes of devices and operating systems around?

16. Phonegap
Easily create apps with the only free open source framework that supports 7 mobile platforms.
Wrap your app with PhoneGap
Deploy to multiple platforms!