It has been a while since the Apps vs HTML5 debate has really been just that – a debate. Now articles and research is coming out which is perhaps putting the debate to rest. In their slide deck series “The Future of Mobile”, Business Insider points to research from Nielsen to the fact that apps share of web traffic is simply dominating the mobile web:
Despite advances in the standard, and the announcement of better and stronger browsers, apps keep dominating. While I have argued before that you really need to account for all possible user experiences (because some times people want Pepsi in a can, sometimes in a bottle), the browsing experience will always play catch-up to the app experience. As devices become more powerful for each new major release by the manufacturers, the quicker app developers are to take advantage of it – but creating extensions to features such as tracking where your eyes are looking are likely never to happen in a browser. Mobile apps are all about user experience – and a superb designer will simply always be able to do a better job in an app than a browser.
The software industry has almost completed a full circle in its cycle from shrink wrapped to Web based and back to native apps with the Web now serving the purpose of distribution platform.