LinkedIn and FT fuel native vs web row
FT kills pulled iOS app as LinkedIn uses HTML5 with iOS 'frame'
Two reports showcase ongoing experimentation within the field of mobile web apps. paidContent reports that the FT is switching off its iOS app, completing a transition it began last summer. The FT argued that it can't maintain features within the iOS app. Elsewhere, VentureBeat has reported on LinkedIn's iPad app essentially being a frame around an app built on web-standards. According to Kiran Prasad, who heads the company's mobile team, the app relies heavily on Node.js and is a "95 per cent" web app. "As long as we can make the experience fast enough, nobody can tell the difference. It still feels right," said Prasad.
Mobile developer Mark Kirby told .net that this gradual shift to web apps – even when they're under the guise of a native app – isn't surprising: "With each iPad release being more powerful, the experience on HTML5 apps can compete with the native experience. The limitation is perhaps not with frameworks, but the speed at which the iPad can execute the JavaScript code. That now seems to be very fast." Kirby added that web apps can also get around issues with Newsstand, such as "long download times, which don't run in the background, and large download sizes that require you to micro-manage magazines, deleting those you've finished, to conserve space."
However, iOS developer Matt Gemmell told us performance isn't a particularly relevant factor, because either 'native' or 'web' can be "good enough", and the same is largely true for 'look and feel'. "For me, the salient points are: native apps provide far richer functionality than – deliberately-limited, for security reasons – web-based applications; native apps provide a native look and feel for a fraction of the development effort of web apps, which must replicate and mimic those interfaces and behaviours; and native apps provide hardware and OS/ecosystem integration, but web apps reside in the 'poor cousin' category, forever lagging behind in those areas."
Gemmell said it's notable app-focused web frameworks "tend to expend considerable effort replicating APIs and features which are already available to native apps" and yet the converse isn't true "because native apps already have access to everything the web has to offer – web browsers themselves are just apps, after all." And while he admitted there are reasons in support of making a web app instead of a native one – cross-platform deployment, instant updates, maintaining control – you can never negate the essence of that sacrifice and compromise. "In a lot of cases, users may never notice – and that's great. But let's just not kid ourselves that that makes web apps and native apps somehow universally equivalent."
Get top Black Friday deals sent straight to your inbox: Sign up now!
We curate the best offers on creative kit and give our expert recommendations to save you time this Black Friday. Upgrade your setup for less with Creative Bloq.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.