Why do you need a Mobile Website? Web Apps vs Native Apps
Why do I need a Mobile version of my Website?
Every day more and more users get smart phones. Its predicted that the next largest number of online customers will come from smart phones, so having a mobile version of your website is important.
The reason you need a mobile optimized website is because of the usability issues normal websites run into on the small mobile screens. Drop down menus, excess of content and large images all add to a bad experience, and sometimes unusable website.
Native Smart Phone Apps
A Native App is a piece of software (a program) that needs to be installed on a device, like the applications you would find on the Apple iTunes store or Android Market Place. Because these apps are installed, they usually have the added advantage of running offline and can take advantage of the built in hardware and software of the mobile device like the gyroscope, camera, accelerometer and more.
Native apps are device specific, meaning one that runs on the iPhone wont run on an Android or Blackberry. However developing mobile applications with PhoneGap allows you to publish native apps to multiple platforms, which means less investment for a larger market.
Mobile Web Apps
A mobile web application is more or less like any other website, but it has been optimised for viewing on mobile device web browsers. Building a mobile web app enables you to publish to the internet the same way you would with a website. This means there is no ‘approval process’ from the app store required, and it can be instantly used by other smart phones so you don’t need to do any phone specific development. Of course each phone has its own unique browser technology so some compatibility still needs to be taken into account, and the application will not appear identically on all devices of different platforms and screen sizes.
The major setbacks of web applications are older or less capable browsers on older devices that don’t take advantage of CSS3 or HTML5.
The Hybrid Web App Wrapped in a Native App
Because native apps have full access to the system hardware and software they can do some things a mobile web application cannot. For example taking photos. Additionally native apps allow the use of the built in browser inside a special view. This means any capabilities a web app can do can be replicated in a native app. This opens the exciting possibility of developing a mobile web application that runs online, and can also be compiled for iPhone and Android and be submitted to their online stores all with the same core code.
Why do you need a Mobile Website? Web Apps vs Native Apps
Why do I need a Mobile version of my Website?
Every day more and more users get smart phones. Its predicted that the next largest number of online customers will come from smart phones, so having a mobile version of your website is important.
The reason you need a mobile optimized website is because of the usability issues normal websites run into on the small mobile screens. Drop down menus, excess of content and large images all add to a bad experience, and sometimes unusable website.
Native Smart Phone Apps
A Native App is a piece of software (a program) that needs to be installed on a device, like the applications you would find on the Apple iTunes store or Android Market Place. Because these apps are installed, they usually have the added advantage of running offline and can take advantage of the built in hardware and software of the mobile device like the gyroscope, camera, accelerometer and more.
Native apps are device specific, meaning one that runs on the iPhone wont run on an Android or Blackberry. However developing mobile applications with PhoneGap allows you to publish native apps to multiple platforms, which means less investment for a larger market.
Mobile Web Apps
A mobile web application is more or less like any other website, but it has been optimised for viewing on mobile device web browsers. Building a mobile web app enables you to publish to the internet the same way you would with a website. This means there is no ‘approval process’ from the app store required, and it can be instantly used by other smart phones so you don’t need to do any phone specific development. Of course each phone has its own unique browser technology so some compatibility still needs to be taken into account, and the application will not appear identically on all devices of different platforms and screen sizes.
The major setbacks of web applications are older or less capable browsers on older devices that don’t take advantage of CSS3 or HTML5.
The Hybrid Web App Wrapped in a Native App
Because native apps have full access to the system hardware and software they can do some things a mobile web application cannot. For example taking photos. Additionally native apps allow the use of the built in browser inside a special view. This means any capabilities a web app can do can be replicated in a native app. This opens the exciting possibility of developing a mobile web application that runs online, and can also be compiled for iPhone and Android and be submitted to their online stores all with the same core code.