[sandman10]

some good points by Marty Beard in the IB blog.....

The Surprising Winner of the HTML5 Versus Native Apps War | Inside BlackBerry

[alan510]

Very interesting blog. I've never used the add to home screen option in my browser. Perhaps I'm too greatly influenced by the "app/ecosystem" discussions. I wonder how this is going to play out in the next few years and what impact it will have on closed systems such as Apple. Are we likely to hear the end of all those complaints about not having a specific app on the BlackBerry platform? Probably not but who knows.

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[Zirak]

I think we will start to see more generic apps come out. The apple/android app is still in its infancy and it's taught in school as cutting edge. Once the honeymoon is over it will turn into a write once -run anywhere platform.

Sent while driving from my Crackberry.

[sandman10]

I use the add to homescreen all the time!

example, the facebook mobile site works way better for me than the BB app

and as he stated in the blog, I already had the Uber app mobile site saved to my home screen and it works great! Who needs a silly app?

Closed systems are going out of style, and it will ultimately bite Apple in the ***.....

With BB embracing cross platform, and now Samsung too, the future looks good.....

Samsung throws down the gauntlet to Apple and Google with an open Internet of Things | BGR

[MrGlenn]

Native App > Browser based ≈ Port.

Saying the browser html experience is 100% identical to a dedicated app is a huge overstatement, apps offer a wide range of benefits that Browser versions can never get.
Sure it may offer the same viewing experience and it may be just as smooth, but the Browser is hardly memory efficient, you can't switch easily between different tasks (imagine 8 tabs open compared to 8 Frames?), you don't get any headless benefits either.

For me really the only thing that the browser has replaced are video related Android apps that have a html5 site. Because with those apps I can't stream to an external monitor Fullscreen (locked to 1:1 on phone), but in the Browser I do get the choice to Play On.
Or Android apps that don't use any app-specific features like notifications.

And if you do get universal html5 based Apps, why wouldn't you call those native? If the platform specifically supports html5 apps, and the app is specifically designed to work on it, that seems pretty native to me.
BlackBerry Passport signed @ C0007CC89

[donnation]

Ridiculous. For one, Add to home screen has been available on the iPhone since it was originally launched.

Secondly, this is a poor excuse for not having a native app. This goes back to Lazaridis saying you don't need apps when you have a web browser. Of course you don't need apps, but they make the experience better and more streamlined.

This is a sad rational for not having apps by saying well you can just use the web browser because BB doesn't have the native apps available.

What Beard is saying is a very poor excuse to give people for not having apps and shows that BB still isn't quite understanding today's market.

[Craig Abernethy]

I use the add to homescreen all the time!

example, the facebook mobile site works way better for me than the BB app

and as he stated in the blog, I already had the Uber app mobile site saved to my home screen and it works great! Who needs a silly app?

Closed systems are going out of style, and it will ultimately bite Apple in the ***.....

With BB embracing cross platform, and now Samsung too, the future looks good.....

Samsung throws down the gauntlet to Apple and Google with an open Internet of Things | BGR

Unfortunately the Browser doesn't give notifications when you get Facebook messages, given the fact that I use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, if I used the add to home screen option I would have to open each of these pages individually just to see if I had messages?

That isn't very time effective and it is constantly overlooked by people on CrackBerry who's quick fix is too tell others they don't need apps, just add to home screen.

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[sandman10]

Unfortunately the Browser doesn't give notifications when you get Facebook messages, given the fact that I use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, if I used the add to home screen option I would have to open each of these pages individually just to see if I had messages?

That isn't very time effective and it is constantly overlooked by people on CrackBerry who's quick fix is too tell others they don't need apps, just add to home screen.

Posted via CB10

yes good point. I realize I am in the lesser minority.

I absolutely detest having my phone dinging off every few seconds for silly notifications on social apps. I'd rather look them up at my convenience, not be bothered by constant notificatoins. hence why I'd never invest in a smart watch.

Some of us need to get real work done, and not waste time checking silly notifications for facebook.

Just my 2 cents, dont get upset with me! And I have no problem if your situation is different than mine!

[Rjinswand]

- no HUB integration
- no share menu integration
- not running in the background/headless
- need to run the whole browser on top of what ever functionality is intended to be offered
- ...


If the mentioned points aren't relevant for the app, it might be a good alternative but it certainly isn't the same in general.

[Craig Abernethy]

yes good point. I realize I am in the lesser minority.

I absolutely detest having my phone dinging off every few seconds for silly notifications on social apps. I'd rather look them up at my convenience, not be bothered by constant notificatoins. hence why I'd never invest in a smart watch.

Some of us need to get real work done, and not waste time checking silly notifications for facebook.

Just my 2 cents, dont get upset with me! And I have no problem if your situation is different than mine!

Actually in all fairness, maybe I would get more work done without notifications!

However I do still need them! I work as a personal trainer and half my contact with clients comes through social media, but I agree people may have different situations!

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[Rjinswand]

Some of us need to get real work done, and not waste time checking silly notifications for facebook.

Well, it might help your productivity to simply disable the app's notifications. I know, it wastes a few seconds going into the menu and all that stuff, but it should be doable in those rare spare time moments.

[LuvULongTime]

Very interesting blog. I've never used the add to home screen option in my browser. Perhaps I'm too greatly influenced by the "app/ecosystem" discussions. I wonder how this is going to play out in the next few years and what impact it will have on closed systems such as Apple. Are we likely to hear the end of all those complaints about not having a specific app on the BlackBerry platform? Probably not but who knows.

Posted via CB10

It's a nice option. I use it a lot.

For the folks saying native is better for headless and hub support and notifications, I don't disagree at all. If we had to ballpark it, what % of apps fall into this category? Social media? Banking maybe? Games? My point being that so many 'apps' are just thick client versions of websites. Travel related apps are a great example. Download the Trip Advisor app and then compare it to the website. Same goes for Hotwire, Expedia, Trivago, etc. They all look and function the same. In the case of Hotwire, the mobile site actually works better than the Android app.

For websites I only use occasionally, I'd rather just use the browser instead of install a thick client that doesn't ask for excessive permissions on my phone and may or may not be running in the background even when I am not using and it, and thus draining my battery.

BlackBerry needs to identify which apps absolutely need thick clients and go hard after those. Enterprise business apps are a big one that they are focusing on now, and this will bear fruit for them eventually.

[sk8er_tor]

I think some people are misinterpreting what he's saying. He's not saying that ALL apps can be browser based ones TODAY. The point is that many apps can be browser based or HTML5 based like the one used in the article; Uber. Of course if you need push notifications, then an app is necessary. Also, sometimes the mobile site can be clunky if not designed right.

Same goes for airline or hotel apps; those can easily be HTML browser based ones and this will be better for the devs because it's less work to keep updating across the board. Bank apps can also be browser based -- my bank has an app but I don't even install it because I can save icon space on my screen and use the browser when needed. I can think of many more.

[SirSti23]

yes good point. I realize I am in the lesser minority.

I absolutely detest having my phone dinging off every few seconds for silly notifications on social apps. I'd rather look them up at my convenience, not be bothered by constant notificatoins. hence why I'd never invest in a smart watch.

Some of us need to get real work done, and not waste time checking silly notifications for facebook.

Just my 2 cents, dont get upset with me! And I have no problem if your situation is different than mine!

Me and you brotha same mindset lol

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[avt123]

I would still rather have native apps than browser based or even hybrid apps. I am willing to pay for the higher quality and better performance and integration.

This sounds like Mike L sponsored his post.

[allengeorge]

Honestly, what else can he say?

He knows that BlackBerry has lost the native app war, so he says "We aren't fighting this war because it's the wrong one to fight - native apps are not the be-all/end-all for mobile access." He has to say that, because he has to convince CIOs out to purchase their next fleet of smartphones that the app-gap (though it looks horrendous now) will be a non-issue as time passes and developers migrate to this new paradigm. I'm skeptical.

[ubizmo]

For notifications, many services, including Facebook, offer the option of email notifications. In BB10 you can assign a distinctive alert sound to them, if you want. I'm not arguing that native apps have no advantages over web apps, but notifications aren't necessarily one of them.

[avt123]

For notifications, many services, including Facebook, offer the option of email notifications. In BB10 you can assign a distinctive alert sound to them, if you want. I'm not arguing that native apps have no advantages over web apps, but notifications aren't necessarily one of them.

And I would argue that notifications are. I'm sorry, but I do not want to flood my inbox with notifications that my device can handle itself.

Imaging having 20+ apps all receiving email notifications on top of all other email. I'd rather not.

[RubberChicken76]

or excuse to give people for not having apps and shows that BB still isn't quite understanding today's market.

So, I've read this a couple of times now and I don't actually see anywhere where Marty says what the original poster is saying.

What I do see is Finally, end users are enjoying an increased choice of apps on multiple platforms. On today�s BlackBerry devices, users can access many popular Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, all of the BlackBerry 10 apps from BlackBerry World, as well as the aforementioned easy, native-like access to Web apps.

I'm in the camp where I see benefits to native apps, but I also think that even there there "is an app for that", there doesn't always need to be ... on any platform. Many "apps" I've downloaded don't give good benefits and instead fill up valuable space on my devices. Others I would pick the app over a web app or site every single time.

[qbnkelt]

OK. The day my banks and insurance offer the same features as the apps I'll consider adding to Home Screen.
Right now they don't.
So this is pointless for me.

Sent from my gorgeous sexy white BEAST of a Note 4 ❤

[donnation]

So, I've read this a couple of times now and I don't actually see anywhere where Marty says what the original poster is saying.

When he says "native like access" through the web browser (which is BS except for apps that are simple web browsing apps) and when he says BB has the "add to home screen" option. The other mobile platforms also have the add to home screen option and have for years while also having what people want which is the app. IMO it's a weak way of saying "we don't have the apps but you can add a shortcut to the web browser to get sort of but not really the same thing as a native app." I'm not blaming him for saying it and BB can't do much about it but please don't give me the nonsense that a web shortcut or an Android app is the same thing.

[Im Mo Green]

OK. The day my banks and insurance offer the same features as the apps I'll consider adding to Home Screen.
Right now they don't.
So this is pointless for me.

Sent from my gorgeous sexy white BEAST of a Note 4 ❤

You should just get on with it and add to Home Screen immediately. I have them and its the way to go for me.

[BlackQtCoder]

I don't agree with Marty. I will always prefer top performance, great system integration of native apps

Sounds like Marty is excusing himself for not capable of getting more native apps from top brands, imho

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[LuvULongTime]

I don't agree with Marty. I will always prefer top performance, great system integration of native apps

Sounds like Marty is excusing himself for not capable of getting more native apps from top brands, imho

Posted via CB10

Do you feel the same way when you use your laptop and need to do your online banking for instance? Do you lament the lack of top performance and great system integration that a thick client would give you? I'm guessing you don't because the browser based version works so well. I get that mobile web sites are not there yet. But the day will come when they can match (and maybe even surpass) thick clients.

[donnation]

Do you feel the same way when you use your laptop and need to do your online banking for instance? Do you lament the lack of top performance and great system integration that a thick client would give you? I'm guessing you don't because the browser based version works so well. I get that mobile web sites are not there yet. But the day will come when they can match (and maybe even surpass) thick clients.

You are talking about simple browser based items. Computers are stuffed with applications that are needed that the web simply can't provide and isn't close to providing.