“I think the biggest mistake that we made as a company is betting too much on HTML5 as opposed to native. We just never were able to get the quality we wanted from the HTML5 apps we were building. We burned two years. That’s really painful.” - Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
Many organizations have made the mistake of going down the path of "web" apps. These can include HTML5, Xamarin, React Native, Cordova and Ionic. A big reason for this is CTOs wanting to optimize code, allowing one source code to rule everything. This happens because iOS and Android resources are hard to find and expensive. When a web agency or small shop can’t afford both sides of the equation, they rationalize one code base.
You should know no web app has ever hit the top 100 charts on any store (iOS or Android). The user experience is nowhere near the same as it is within a native app. Hybrid apps can not follow proper design guidelines for each platform as well. This causes animations to not be fluid and scrolling to lag. It's also important to note that any passage of information through end points should be using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Web apps leave a lot of room for security breaches by not consistently complying.
If you want your app leveraging all of iOS and Android’s latest innovations, native is your answer. With native development tools, you can implement new features instantly such as touch ID, face ID, Siri, iMessage, AR, you name it! And because all applications must now be optimized for tablets on both iOS and Android, native has become even more vital. This requirement is not achievable through web apps.
An HTML5 app is basically a mobile website wrapped in ‘sheep’s clothing.’ All the UX and performance issues mentioned above will ultimately apply. Because these apps require constant net connection, they restrict a consumer’s ability to utilize them in low or no bandwidth areas. Custom, native mobile apps offer excellent consumer enjoyment with the most functionality. They have rich, clean UI, use cutting-edge device talents, load much faster, offer sturdy performance both online and offline, establish higher discoverability, and provide superior security.
So don’t waste time with anything less than native. Invest in what works and what will continue to work year after year.
