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Hybrid HTML5 Apps Are the Cheapest To Build
Tue Jan, 2012 by Derek Mehraban
As the app explosion takes off the digital agency needs to become skilled in building them. One of the questions facing the development process had always been to build them natively to the operating system or to use HTML5. Forester Research has been answering that question for some time now with, it’s complicated. They have recently changed their mind, however.
The firm now says HTML5 is the way to go. The new tags allow the smartphone to tap into hardware functionality. It used to be the case that browsers were unable to access the camera or GPS functions. These days though the browser is able to go access most hardware functions on a mobile device. The question is about which OS is on the device and what it allows the browser to do. There is a performance hit, but that hit is lessening over time.
This matters because building apps using native code significantly drives up cost because of OS fragmentation, not only an iOS and Android difference but also differences among the Android platforms and the tweaks each Android carrier provides. As Windows phones enter the market this problem will become magnified. Because HTML5 can bridge the fragmentation issue, the cost of app development will drop significantly allowing better mobile marketing for firms.
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