[ksec]

As a user, I dont really care about it being an App or Mobile Web. It needs two things,

1. An Icon on my Springbroad, so i can easily view it whenever I want to.

2. It should be butter smooth and dont warm my pants after reading. ( i.e lots of CPU cycle. )

Native Apps does better in both department. And whenever users gets a choice most would likely prefer the App version. HTML5 or Web has definitely improve, and it could or will do better then the web if we dont have the Ads constantly loading in the background. ( Ad blocker is another topic )

I guess atavist already have their group of loyal customers it makes sense for them to change.

Personally I see the article mostly complain about the Distribution and Discovery Problem. And some App Store Approval process.

[amirmansour]

I agree with you, but I must also add that not every site needs to have an app. Mobile web is plenty appropriate and sufficient for many types of apps. Many news and blog sites are a great example of this. In their case, an installable app would make sense if they are offering a feature or experience that requires the privileges of an app. Lets not unnecessarily crowd up our phones and app stores. The World Wide Web is still a good idea.

[cmod]

Techmeme is a prime example of this — bookmark it on your homescreen and it's as good as an app. Their mobile design is, IMO, easier to parse than the web, too.

[danny8000]

Financial Times does not have an iOS app - just a mobile website. They have been very clever in building the site so that it is very app-like, for instance they use local storage to store the days download stories.

But, was initially confusing because I couldn't find their app in the app store, where I was expecting it.

[untog]

But, was initially confusing because I couldn't find their app in the app store, where I was expecting it.

In my experience this is a huge problem. Along with the process of adding to home screen - people just don't get it. Once they have it installed they're very happy, but getting them to that point is difficult.

[eloisant]

I'm not sure about that.

1. You can have an icon for web apps

2. That's only true if the web version is crappy and overloaded with ads and trackers. A decently designed

I prefer mobile web for publications, because it's just a link that doesn't impact my phone. The native integration usually only brings annoyances, like unwanted notifications or sucking the battery to fetch articles I may not read.

Apps are for applications. For content, nothing beats the web.

[TeMPOraL]

> Apps are for applications. For content, nothing beats the web.

Exactly. I don't want to read your article over your own dedicated app, I already have a perfectly good browser...

...BUT! I also hate applications made as webpages, because no one can perfectly hide the fact it's not native. In webapps, UI pretty much always lags somewhere, breaks down completely under spotty Internet connection, or does something weird because there's no way for webapp to replicate every aspect of expected UI functionality of user's phone.

[issaria]

Not to mention that the app is usually behind the web feature wise.

[Angostura]

Let's add in

3. It should working without a network connection, unless there's an over-riding need

[marrs]

That's probably the only good reason to have a native app. It amazes me how many app developers just don't even think about doing this

[pornel]

1. Both iOS Safari and Android Chrome have "Add to Home screen" feature. Is that not enough?

[pc86]

The vast majority of non-technical users have no idea you can do this, and I've even heard many say that didn't know you could do it with any site - e.g. they thought they could only do it if the site had a popup that said they could do it.

[dr_zoidberg]

My mother is 70 and did it on her own once her facebook app killed itself in a botched update (bad install or something). And then she complained that she was using the web version and couldn't find how to do some stuff hehe.

Edit: btw, she's a school/music/languages teacher, so she has very little technical background. In her own words, she "touch[es] everything until it works".

[endemic]

That is awesome, I hope I still have that exploratory attitude when I'm 70.

[zhte415]

> Personally I see the article mostly complain about the Distribution and Discovery Problem. And some App Store Approval process.

That was there, certainly, but what I read most was the resource cost of covering many platforms, something I completely empathise with.