You should still STRONGLY PREFER Web Apps. The cost and headaches of a web app will be MUCH LOWER than native or even hybrid app development.
BUT, if you need a Native App, make a Native App and don't try to fake it on Web.
It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
181–190 of 322 posts
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#182"Building" is very small part of software life cycle. Is it also cheaper to bug fix, add features to, update apps when each native platform updates, hire developers who know details of each platform, etc.
I'll disagree and say its cheaper, faster, and less risk to bug fix and add features if you only maintain one codebase.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#183No.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#184Even if this is true, I doubt it's a wise idea, given that the average US consumer downloads zero apps per month:
http://qz.com/253618/most-smartphone-users-download-zero-app...
Unless you're in a very fortunate niche, you can't afford to not do the web. You can afford to not do apps.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#185I think this is a bit of "grass is greener" syndrome.
I developed web apps for 14 years before building ios apps for 5 years.
The last couple of years I've worked on both native apps and responsive web sites.
Both can be pains in the ae. But the pain points are different.
Both are moving rapidly. eg Ios: having to rejig xibs to storyboards was annoying.
Css: Supporting older versions of IE has been a pain.
I could go on at length but plenty of people have already done so.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and the only web devs that know the ins and outs of every browser enough to make it work are unaffordable and unavailable. Really? More unaffordable and unavailable than at least one native developer for each platform you're targeting? I find that hard to believe.
Ye gods people. The entire article is saying "I used to believe it was too expensive to do native apps so we did web, I now believe I was wrong, even though it may seem cheaper at first the costs of the web are far less predictable and it's now economically better to just do native apps"
But the author didn't actually compare the difficulties and costs of web development to native development. The article just lists a bunch of (debatably valid) difficulties of web development. But most (all?) software development has difficulties and annoyances.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#187"You want mobile notifications? Sure, but not on mobile Safari." You can do this with PhoneGap. "Multiple line ellipsis? Sure, but only on webkit." Okay, yeah, this sucks. "Consistent rendering size across browsers? Just fuck off." This is probably your fault. "We fix a layout bug on Safari and break something on Edge." This is probably your fault. "We change font size on Chrome and now all you can see on Firefox is…
You can't disable auto-complete in a web app (or can you? If so, I'm sure it's different for each platform). We're not just talking about iOS and Android. You've got Chrome mobile, the ASOP browser, Firefox mobile, whatever shitty browser the carrier wants to include and all the various versions of those that will never get upgraded. Personally, I really like the ranty tone of this article. I don't think it's unjusti…
It seems doable https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Securi...
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
this is also pretty substantive. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck you, and shut the fuck up, dear reader. More fuckity fuck because the author has a keyboard macro that expands "," to "fuck". I don't know, I thought it was pretty much a waste of my time. Read the top of the page you're looking at right now, read my first sentence. There, saved you a few minutes.
It does make a couple of interesting points: 1. The cost of building an app can be calculated in the back of a napkin. The cost of a web app that works consistently across devices? Not so much. 2. The cost of building backend services has been commoditised to a degree. Front end web development? Its downright hard finding someone that can do good front end web work. 3. The reality that big companies (silos) will push…
> The cost of a web app that works consistently across devices?
To me the problem is right here: why must every web app work on all devices? And why, if you build an iOS app do you have to build one for Android too?
If you're a small business, getting your first 50k, 100k, 200k customers is what matters. You can do this more effectively at lower cost by focusing on just one platform / browser / environment.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
this is also pretty substantive. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck you, and shut the fuck up, dear reader. More fuckity fuck because the author has a keyboard macro that expands "," to "fuck". I don't know, I thought it was pretty much a waste of my time. Read the top of the page you're looking at right now, read my first sentence. There, saved you a few minutes.
It does make a couple of interesting points: 1. The cost of building an app can be calculated in the back of a napkin. The cost of a web app that works consistently across devices? Not so much. 2. The cost of building backend services has been commoditised to a degree. Front end web development? Its downright hard finding someone that can do good front end web work. 3. The reality that big companies (silos) will push…
> The cost of a web app that works consistently across devices?
To me the problem is right here: why must every web app work on all devices? And why, if you build an iOS app do you have to build one for Android too?
If you're a small business, getting your first 50k, 100k, 200k customers is what matters. You can do this more effectively at lower cost by focusing on just one platform / browser / environment.
Re: It’s cheaper to build multiple native applications than one responsive web app
#190I think this is a bit of "grass is greener" syndrome. I developed web apps for 14 years before building ios apps for 5 years. The last couple of years I've worked on both native apps and responsive web sites. Both can be pains in the a e. But the pain points are different. Both are moving rapidly. eg Ios: having to rejig xibs to storyboards was annoying. Css: Supporting older versions of IE has been a pain. I could g…
Was just going to comment that "the grass is always greener..."
For example, here is something that was on the HN front page just a few weeks ago: http://clean-swift.com/mobile-development-projects-fail/