HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Whether you already know how to develop for the target
platform
Whether your application relies on network connectivity or
some form of dynamic data stored online
What type of device features your application relies on (e.g.,
GPS, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Address Book, Calendar,
intensive CPU/GPU operations)
Whether there is scope within your project to port functionality
to other platforms now or in the future (e.g., iOS, Blackberry,
Windows Phone, desktop)
How frequently you will be releasing the application, and how
you will handle users not updating your application on their
devices
Time and budget
If you know how to develop using web standards already, then a mobile web
app might be the best solution. However, if you can develop for the target
platform already, it might be advantageous to make a native application. This
will, however, ever so slightly close the door to making an application that will
work on other platforms, as the same app will need to be re-created for all
platforms unless you use a cross-platform application framework such as
Marmalade.
Making a mobile web app can be a cost effective way to test or prototype your
application across all platforms before turning it native. By using analytics, you
can see which platforms you should target with a native app. By doing user
research, you can see whether creating a native application with platform-
specific features will be advantageous to your users.
If your application relies on APIs that cannot be accessed through the web
browser, such as the Phone Book, Calendar, Gyroscope, or Accelerometer, then
a mobile web application might be out of the question, as these APIs are not
currently available through most mobile web browsers.
If your application relies on dynamic data, it might be a sensible choice to
develop an application using web standards, as you can use Ajax to quickly
deliver content to your application over the network. You can also cache and
store files with a mobile web application, so your application can still be used
offline when there is no network connectivity.
If you frequently provide updates to your mobile application, you might
experience issues with users not updating to the latest version as often as you
would like. By creating a mobile web application, you can simply push updates
