uk-netmarketing Archive (2011-2015)

Hi All,



Sorry, but there is some conflation of issues going on here.



If you use standard web development tools (HTML5 / CSS mobile / Jquery
Mobile / Node.js  etc)  you can achieve ‘app like’ interfaces on mobile
devices,  if you have the interface development experience and choose to.
So you can use web technology to produce something that displays
‘application’ like user interfaces.   Let’s not forget that ‘web
applications’  are in fact websites,  delivered within the browser (think
CMS,  or something like Gmail),  but using richer user interface tools and
technology.    The fact that you choose to deliver that optimised to a
mobile or tablet device is just an extension of that.  If one follows best
practice web standards then  ‘Adaptive’ and ‘Responsive’ interface design
techniques are just design patterns for catering to different (browser)
screen sizes,  they are absolutely not a technology solution.   The web
standards based approach uses standards based skillset and broadens your
device reach,  as that is the aim of web standards (= cheaper and easier to
support across devices).  This is your ‘write once,  run everywhere’
approach.



The web standard HTML5 supports offline data caching, to allow a user to
browse data offline,  within your ‘app like’ interfaces, if you designed
them as such.    This data could be updated bi-directionally via a mobile
or wifi network,  when available and therefore taken away to SXSW or on a
weekend break, for example.   The size of the offline cache depends on the
browser,  but you could use an additional underlying application to
overcome that, as required.  To do that you would need an installed
application,  even if it were using web standards based user interfaces for
the ‘presentation layer’.    Either way you can deliver content for offline
browsing either via the browser,  or within a web based
application-a-like,  so no roaming charge there -  if engineered
correctly.   If you wanted to geotag photos and send them back to the
internet with a review at SXSW  then there is no escaping the fact that you
need access to the internet,  and that this might cost you – regardless of
whether it is done via an application or through a connected web browser.



You can also use a (thin client)  application wrapper to encapsulate your
‘app like’ web application (website)  and deliver it via an app store
(apple  / android etc),  additionally giving you easy access to on-board
device tools (accelerometer / camera / GPS etc) .  This might then look
just like an ‘app’ and have an icon etc,  but be predominantly built using
web standards based technology.



You could also go the completely native software application development
route and use the Apple or Android software development kit (SDK) to create
something unique to each environment,  if your use cases demanded.  Using
objective C and the apple SDK, for example
https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action or Java and the
Android SDK http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html   If you wanted to
take your iOS application and deliver something similar on Android you
would have to re-engineer it, and use a different development environment
and development teams ( = costly to develop and support),  but appropriate
in some cases.



Talking about ‘sites’ is really a distraction in this discussion and a
‘mobile website’ may be something you navigate to within the browser,  or
something that displays application  like characteristics and has an icon
(like Linkedin) – they can be one in the same.



Whichever approach you take this is getting into proper web application and
software development  (not ‘web design’!),  so choose your development
partners carefully,  they need to know their web application development
onions,  if you don’t have cavernous pockets.



regards



Angus





--

Angus Phillipson

Byte9 <http://www.thebyte9.com/>



angus at thebyte9.com

+44 (0) 771 043 8972

+44 (0) 0208 780 6350
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