When developing an application using mobile technology, to design a solution to solve a user need, an important point to consider is the approach we have this application, and I mean to approach the decision of whether application will run via the Web (from a browser), or native (directly installed on the device).
is not a minor point because mobile market characteristics: a variety of devices (and basic software or operating systems), processing power and memory restricted (compared to traditional PC) and availability of Internet connection (which may have restrictions because of costs and / or coverage or scope of the signal.)
The arrival of the iPhone has complicated matters further, since there is now pressure to "copy" appearance (usability and attractiveness) of these applications, increasing the complexity of the developments. Advantages
Web Focus:
- support is cheaper.
- development speed is higher.
- development cost is lower.
- existing PC knowledge is reusable in most cases.
- No problem with the variety of devices.
- distribution is much simpler.
- centralized data and integration with multiple sources is easier.
- allows the development of communities.
- Extend existing Web site.
- Update / corrections are instantaneous. Disadvantages
WEB:
- Costs in some countries the rates of Internet access from mobile devices is high. Availability
- , applications need continuous connection (and fast) to the Internet and is not yet available everywhere.
- "Experience" WEB (application functionality, interactivity) on mobile devices is limited compared to what you have on PC.
- no way to take advantage of some specific characteristics of the devices (like the camera for example).
- access speed is limited.
- Many versions of browsers available, which offer different presentations to the same content as they are not standardized.
- Technologies that allow interaction such as AJAX and DHTML have limited support. Advantages
NATIVE:
- New business opportunities.
- Applications can interact directly with the device.
- detailed control what is shown and how it displays.
- Multiple forms of user interaction available (according to the device, for example, touch screen, keyboard).
- improved performance and optimized according to each device.
- can maintain the consistency of the interface (as seen, as it interacts as an answer) through of multiple platforms on which to distribute the application. Ability to work
- "offline."
- Flexible configuration options of the application, giving the user total control. Marketing
- simple: the user pays for the application and the download (it is a clearly identifiable event for recovery purposes).
NATIVE approach Disadvantages: Difficulty
- maintain portability (availability on multiple platforms) of the application due to the huge number of different devices that are launched continuously. Fragmentation
- development environments This requires knowledge and understanding of things unique to each environment and is difficult to determine which is best suited to develop a particular application (do you use J2ME or Flash Lite or C / C + +?)
- Increased development costs because the knowledge is more specialized. Minor
- speed of development by its complexity. Difficulty
- meet the many and varied requirements that each service provider requires.
- Tests have expensive as it touches the physical devices. Market
- may require application migration to other platforms.
- distribution model is complicated, if you use the App Store may require additional authorization. Correcting an error
- / out a new version involves re-download the application and consider the migration of current data.
As you can see the decision is not easy and much depends on what you want about the application.
If the application is an extension of something that already exists on the Web (and that is migrating or extending to the mobile environment) and does not require much user interaction then the WEB approach would be appropriate.
If the application requires access to data on the device (such as calendar, or any contact information) needs to interact with the user, has reduced the variety of devices must arrive (eg applications for iPhone only), and / or use features that are general to all models (eg basic J2ME no extension of the manufacturer) , then the NATIVE approach would be appropriate.
In short: it's faster and cheaper web approach, but there is more integration and performance with NATIVE approach.
Keep in mind that development environments are rapidly evolving: Flash can run in browsers for mobile devices soon and that will make it easier to develop mobile applications using the Web, the diversity of operating systems will continue to decline from the 5 "big" we have now (Android, iPhone, Symbian, WebOS, Windows Mobile), pass through 3 in the medium term (Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile or Symbian ), and that will make it easier to develop mobile applications NATIVE.
My conclusion is that the evolution of technology will become easier to use either approach, and as Internet and Web applications have not abolished the native applications on PCs, mobile WEB approach will not end the mobile approach NATIVE so both should always be considered at the level of application development. If your business
is application development and wants to go to develop mobile applications (or want to enter that business) must then be aware that need to be able to use the two options.
