The fight between mobile browsers and apps is over (both won)

It’s funny how fast things change. Only a few years ago mobile applications were all the rage, partly because apps provide a controllable user experience, and mobile browsers were poor at the time. However, there were always some disadvantages of mobile apps. For most companies pre-loading applications onto devices was not an option, and downloading and installing apps was a pain for end users. Many people couldn’t even find the app after it had been installed. Fixing problems in an app, or upgrading to a new version of the app, was a pain too, because a whole new app needed to be downloaded. There are also several competing application technologies: Java J2ME, Symbian, Windows Mobile, etc.

As mobile browsers improved in capability and mobile networks improved in speed and reliability, the industry (and users) started to favour mobile sites over apps. In the last 2 years or so, mobile web usage has increased dramatically, and mobile app development became unfashionable.

Then Apple came along with the iPhone and the App Store. Suddenly it was easy to download and install mobile apps. Most serious players are following Apple’s lead: Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft, RIM, etc. So now mobile apps are fashionable again!

However, the latest twist is that with the help of standard open web technologies developers can create mobile sites that look and feel almost identical to apps. Last week Google launched the new Gmail site for Android and iPhone using HTML5 and Gears. The site is using aggressive caching, and the experience is very close to a mobile application. The most impressive thing is that it can be used offline too. You can open and read emails when offline, you can compose emails offline, etc.

The traditional differences between mobile sites and apps are disappearing quickly. For most types of mobile content, it will not be relevant to make a distinction between experiences developed as apps, and as sites.

Olof / Fjord Group