Mozilla: Web Apps vs. Native Apps.

Trying to get the word out about their mobile browser, Fennec, Mozilla's Jay Sullivan chimes in on the discussion on the future of web applications compared to native applications:

"As developers get more frustrated with quality assurance, the amount of handsets they have to buy, whether their security updates will get past the iPhone approval process... I think they'll move to the web."

"In the interim period, apps will be very successful. Over time, the web will win because it always does."

"We will sync browser tabs in real time. If you have five, 10, 20 tabs open on your PC and something happens and you have to leave, you can pick up where you left off on your phone."

via Simon and pcPro.

Why I blog this:

Rather than giving new insights, Jay's stating the obvious here: native applications are currently very successful and will continue to be in the future but web apps will also be big. Wow, big news.

Of course being polemic helps to get the word out, but stating that 'the web will win' is nonsense. It's not about 'win or loose' at all. The web on mobiles (no matter how it is delivered) will be huge (see Morgan Stanley: 'Mobile Internet twice the size of Desktop Internet' or ABI Research: '5 billion app downloads in 2014'). We are already seeing a fusion of web apps and native apps anyway: native apps pulling data from webservers, browsers within apps, etc.

For developers it's about delivering the best user experience, ease of programming and updating, monetization options and findability of their service. For users, speed, reliability and ease-of-use are very important.

And most importantly, on mobile it's all about catering to the user's one specific, immediate need - not replicating the desktop web experience (i.e. browsing with 20 tabs).

Opinions?

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