Native HTML5 Mobile Apps
Web Design Terlingua Texas
Mobile apps development by Terlingua web design firm WLWeb.US leverages open source technology to create apps for multiple OS platforms from one code base.
The Mobile Web era has arrived. Today more people using mobile devices than desktop computers to access the Internet so successful online marketing initiatives will be those that leverage responsive web design for "pull" and native HTML5 mobile apps for "push".
And just what are native HTML5 mobile apps?
This breakdown will explain:
- A native OS app is a mobile software application that runs outside the browser and directly accesses phone features - like contacts or cameras - and executes phone functions - like geolocation or push notifications - via the smartphone's operating system, e.g. Android or iOS;
- A Mobile Web app is a mobile software application developed in XML/HTML, CSS and Javascript that runs in a mobile web browser - much like a Mobile Web page except focused more on providing utility than conveying content;
- An HTML5 mobile app is a Mobile Web app that draws on the rich presentation, animation and user engagement features and functionality of HTML5, CSS3, Javascript and jQuery; and
- A native HTML5 mobile app - also called a hybrid mobile app - is an HTML5 mobile app that uses native OS "wrapper" technology and Javascript-based APIs to access smartphone features and functions just like native apps do. Our cross-platform WeatherDemo App, for example, is a mobile-friendlier W3C-valid rewrite of a Forge single-page application (SPA) running on Node.js that uses a weather API to simulate OS function calls.
Much to the chagrin of Apple Inc. and other mobile hardware manufacturers using native apps to lock in customers, the great Native Apps vs. HTML5 Mobile Apps debate is drawing to a close and the winner is... BOTH! Based on open source technology, our hybrid mobile app development methodology is the same approach employed by the CIOs of many of America's largest corporations and for good reason: It enables the creation of cross-platform HTML5 apps with rich smartphone functionality for a fraction of the time, trouble and investment required to develop multiple OS versions that do the same thing.
Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?