Really well written article on the debate about specific Apps verses web based “Apps Lite” by Matt Gemmell. The discussion on frames of interaction is especially interesting, and the whole area is sure to generate the kind of endless discussions that the screen resolution debate did back in the bad old days of 640 v 800 pixels.
Given that around 30% of adults in the UK are now using smartphones (bbc) the way that the deployment of apps pans out will be crucial.
Im a firm supporter of “proper apps”. I estimate that I do around 70% of my content consumption using one of my smartphones rather than my macbook or desktop mac. Think twitter (why would you want to use a computer?), facebook (ditto), news, amazon and ebay browsing, navigation, maps, photo sharing, weather forecasts, buying train tickets, tube maps, surf forecasts, accessing my mobile phone accounts, even managing my amex account.
I may not be wholly typical, but it is only a matter of time before this becomes the norm, so the differences between the best of class real apps, and the also ran web based “apps lite” make a big difference to teh user experience and the ultimate success of the services delivered by the apps.
Read the article here and make up your own mind… http://mattgemmell.com/2011/