iPhone, Android, hybrid, PhoneGap, Titanium

1. Mobile Apps
Native, Web, or Both?
Bill Heyman
CodeMorphic, Inc.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

2. Smartphones 2010
Two major players in Smartphone market
support state-of-the-art web standards:
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

3. iPhone
• Arrived 2007
• 3 models (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)
• Tied to a single US carrier (AT&T)
• Installed base 85M (includes iPod touch)
• Almost 200K apps available
• Tightly controlled
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

4. Android
• Arrived 2008
• 25 different phones (plus other devices)
• All major US carriers
• Installed base of 8M and increasing
• Heading toward 50K apps
• Generally open, loosely controlled
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

5. Web Commonality
WebKit-based browser
As of Android OS 2.0, both iPhone and Android
support new web standard and HTML5 features,
such as:
<video> local database
geolocation canvas
<audio>
offline app caching transitions
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

6. App Spectrum
Web
Uses web standard technologies:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript
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7. App Spectrum
Web Native
Uses tools & compiled languages that are
targeted for the device.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

8. App Spectrum
Web Hybrid Native
Combines Web and Native technologies.
Generally, the web technologies are
wrapped by a native shell.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

9. Hybrid Apps ~ Native
Hybrid Native
• Packaged in a Native App shell
• Installed like Native Apps
• Distributed like Native Apps
But developed with non-native technologies.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

10. App Spectrum
Web Hybrid Native
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

11. Web Web Apps
Two types of mobile web apps:
1. Traditional
2. Offline
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12. Web Traditional Web
1. Thin-client apps (mobile browser-based)
2. Require a persistent Internet connection
3. Processing and persistence mostly on the
server-side (PHP, Python, Ruby, ...)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

13. Web Offline Web
1. Thicker-clients (mobile browser-based)
2. No persistent Internet connection
required
3. App web pages are stored on device; user
can quickly reference via a bookmark
4. Makes use of HTML5:
• application cache (manifest)
• local database
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

14. App Spectrum
Web Hybrid Native
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

15. Native Native Apps
1. Thick-client apps
2. Developed in standard
development
XCode Eclipse
languages, as defined
by the platform C/C++ Java/JVM
Objective-C
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

16. Native Native Apps
3. May include an in-app
web browser.
(Custom formatting)
4. The web browser
doesn’t have to use
the full screen. UIWebView WebView
(Custom control)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

17. Native Native Apps
5. Direct access to the native capabilities
of the device...
accelerometer file system
camera
audio recording graphics
as limited by the device provider
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18. Native Native Apps
6. May be distributed as an application and
marketed through the App Store or
Market
as limited by the device provider
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19. App Spectrum
Web Hybrid Native
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

20. Hybrid Hybrid Apps
1. Thick Client Apps
2. Use Native wrappers as an app package
3. Provide an in-app web browser to display
Web content to the user (HTML, CSS,
JavaScript)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

21. Hybrid Hybrid Apps
Some Web hybrid wrapper frameworks include:
Appcelerator
PhoneGap
Titanium
Both give access via JavaScript to some device features,
previously reserved for Native apps.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

22. PhoneGap
http://phonegap.com
FOSS framework
minimalist philosophy
easy to use: put files in the www folder
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

23. Hybrid Hybrid Aps
Some Web hybrid wrapper frameworks include:
Appcelerator
PhoneGap
Titanium
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

24. Appcelerator
Titanium
http://appcelerator.com
Commercial open source framework
not necessarily “free as in beer”
extensive JavaScript libraries
AIR-like: supports desktop, too...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

25. Hybrid Hybrid Apps
Some Non-Web hybrid wrapper frameworks include:
Adobe AIR Unity rhomobile
Flash
MonoTouch Corona
MonoDroid
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

26. Hybrid The Good
1. Quicker learning curve, can re-use your
existing skills
2. Easier to target apps for both iPhone and
Android
3. Use existing HTML/CSS/JavaScript tools
for development and testing
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

27. Hybrid The Bad
1. Slower performance (compared to Native)
2. App doesn’t quite feel right, sluggish, non-
responsive
3. Some device features may not be available
or not quite as accessible
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

28. Hybrid The Ugly
The Elephant in the Corner of the Room
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29. What’s with the
elephant?
• Apple’s iPhone OS is closed & restrictive
• API, device feature usage is limited
• Restrictive NDAs required to develop on
unreleased software
• App distribution is controlled by Apple
• If Apple doesn’t like your app...
Sorry, Charlie!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

30. Bad Apple
Apple sets the rules...
... and can change the rules at any time!
Like, just last week:
te d
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the
c
manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any
da
private APIs. Applications must be originally written in
e
Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the
R
iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++,
and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the
Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to
Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or
compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

31. Section 3.3.1
Adobe AIR Unity rhomobile
Flash
MonoTouch Corona
MonoDroid
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

32. Section 3.3.1
??
PhoneGap
Appcelerator
Titanium
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

33. Why?
As a developer, why put up with
Apple’s restrictions?
• Market: 85M devices (10x Android)
• App Store Exposure
• Large Market = Great Potential $$$
Apple’s restrictions do not apply to pure Web
applications (traditional and offline)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

34. A few words on
• Android provides access to more device
features than iPhone.
• You choose how to distribute your app:
• Via Google Market
• Via your own mechanism (web site)
• Android drawback:
Plethora of devices and device capabilities,
screen sizes, resolutions, etc.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

35. What to do?
1. Style your Web site using mobile-specific
proportions and style sheets.
2. Consider if there are portions of your Web
site that could be useful offline for mobile
users.
3. Best bets for Hybrid packaging: PhoneGap
and Appcelerator Titanium
4. Determine if a user may be better served
with a Native app.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

36. Looking toward 2011
• More WebKit technologies:
• WebGL
• SVG
• Android market penetration increasing
quickly.
• Another major player?
7
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

37. Thank You!
For mobile app development questions,
please contact me at:
Bill Heyman
@byteCoder
bill@codemorphic.com
Tuesday, May 11, 2010