- September 3, 2013
- Posted by: Vishal Shah
- Category: Online Marketing
Web was never developed with the intent to transfer apps around the world; however we made it the way we want. It was actually created with the aim to share motionless documents, and what makes it most promising and contrary these days is, web browsers that have changed into a supporting platform for sites which looks or gives the similar feel of the modern web apps which we smoothly run on our smart phones or PCs. The current year, 2013 is becoming more established in technology, shedding rich insights to the developers as well consumers.
Do you remember the time iPhone was launched? January 9th 2007, we first spotted the alpha of what was to become the close to perfect OS and phone. If we retrospect, it’s quite surprising that it had only handful apps, which didn’t even fill the screen. Apple’s strict security concerns inhibited others from developing apps for iOS or even to install any add-on apps. Figuring the developers push for creating apps, which users could download via Safari web browser and hackers watch to decode Apple’s language, made Apple to create their own native apps. Now as the platform is rich with native apps, Apple store is flooding (900,000 currently) with iPad and iPhone apps meeting users demands.
Web Apps The Coming Future Of The W3?
Web apps are the evolution of the modern technology, basically is the standard built technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and web based tech. Once a web app is developed, any smart phone user, iPhone, Android, Windows, can access and run on the respective platform. A web app can easily function on any smart phone platform with a standard browser without re-programming or translating.
When you talk about native apps, they work on only one platform for which it is created. Apple Store and Google Play are hubs for native apps where users could pull it down to their mobile interface. To make simple, it works for specific operating system.
The present technology urges developers to move on and not stuck with it, so is creating similar apps again and again serve the real purpose of the giant user base platform, the W3? This could be the probable thought why native apps will soon get wiped from desktops and web apps holding the future.
Jo Rabin, head of the Core Mobile Web Platform Community Group at W3C, said, “creating products and services that are accessible across devices is obviously extremely important from the point of view of developed markets where people will regularly use more than one device.”
“The web quite clearly has the very significant advantage in that it has a totally cross-platform reach. The web is really the only viable platform on which you can say ’I will write this thing responsively and it will work, broadly speaking, on any device’.
“That can’t be said of native and that seems to me a clear advantage of the web platform, and one that will be emphasised over and over again.”
Possibilities That Web Apps Could Crash Native Apps
Offline Potentials
HTML5’s application cache has been widely featured for its defect during the first try to get offline work possibility of web app and was tailored across in long writings, “Application Cache is a Douchebag.” What most triggering was the unreasonable features it hold, for example: unable to load fresh content automatically, though user is online and cache is saved. This gave users a hell trouble making them not to do what they wanted to.
Rabin, added, “people found it difficult to deploy in the manner in which it was intended to be deployed.”
W3C is looking up to increase offline possibilities, as these capabilities will complete any offline work which uses web apps to run outside the web browser. As you know, browser is the first platform to develop OS, Chrome tops and now competing with the latest Firefox OS targeted smart phone by Mozilla. The recent developments by Google, “packaged apps”, basically Chrome web apps, performs much as native, and used outside the browsing platform at offline mode, behaving like a web app. Storage area, is looking for modernising, which would encourage more megabytes of data storage by the apps and the browsing sites.
Distribution
App stores like Google Play, Apple App Store forms heavy markets for their users to install native apps. Here respective native app creators dedicate themselves to make the app store an incredible one, robust with fascinating apps for users. As the competition steam up between the rivals, web apps are racing to catch up its position in the market, where undoubtedly web apps are fortunate enough to push back the competitors. Keep mind, the rich operating system platforms arise from the rigid browsers and the web apps created from these would work on any less efficient platforms, the only criteria is a standard browser.
Ever Changing Updates
App updates is one major area which put developers all time on watch and luckily, a hurdle which is already outflanked by web apps over native apps. The unfortunate developers often feel users’ not updating or missing app updates as it is spread across in different versions. For example, the latest tighter integration update of Pocket Informant 3.1for iOS is about to be released and when teamed up with Evernote (a leading event app for business), would make the best out of events, whereas if no update is made the Evernote app may not work that seamless and slowly lose its fame. But in the case of web apps, nothing becomes outdated. Each time you view the Google logo, the new version is automatically being viewed by the user. There is no download and no worry of updates for web apps.
Availability Of Platform Features
In general, native apps are the first to have access over the platform’s hardware features, whether it is the GPS or camera app of the phone. Ultimately, if one hardware feature becomes popular, the more you depend on browsers to get it implemented. Recently, more research is taking place at W3C to standardise APIs for web technologies to access over the latest smart phone features. System-level API aids web apps manage the phone’s contacts, novel API for switching information via NFC, messaging API for sending and receiving SMS or MMS, media queries for web design, are few of many work taking place in developing web applications. Last year already witnessed Systems Applications Working Group launch at W3C, ushering web apps abilities with that of native apps.
To make note, web has itself changed into the discovering platform for apps. According to UK’s Government Digital Service, Government will build apps which can be run on desktops, smart phones and tabs, than increasing the cost unnecessarily making apps many times separately for Android, iOS, Firefox OS or any mobile platforms. As developers adept in creating robust native apps, web apps platform stands no less, and with its growing capabilities, it could undoubtedly drive the future internet.
Bio
Katie Lewis, outreach person at Propeller Mobile, leading conference, exhibition and event app provider based in London. Are stumped on how to manage your events and track them for your next? At Propeller Mobile, we offer comprehensive mobile app solutions for businesses.