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0 pointscriddell10y ago0 comments

Do you really think so? What are some of the best internet apps?

I think a native app will always give a better experience because they can always just contain a browser view (it's basically a superset). Plus native code will always be more efficient and in mobile, that matters.

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rockdoe10y ago

A native app is already lost at the start because it requires the user to install it. Also at least on Android I don't buy the efficiency argument at all, Java and JavaScript are both JITed. You think Java JITs better than asm.js?

The integration argument is decent, but it's only really relevant for apps that get a lot of use, not the long tail of stuff that you use once or twice.

criddellOP10y ago

> A native app is already lost at the start because it requires the user to install it

The billions of installed apps indicates that the friction isn't significant.

> I don't buy the efficiency argument at all, Java and JavaScript are both JITed

That's how everything worked back in the Gingerbread days. Android's ART system compiles applications to native code when they are installed. You can also install actual native code with Android's NDK.

If you like the idea of asm.js, then you should check out Go on Android. It does the same thing - offers a restricted set of the language that runs very fast.

There's definitely a subset of apps that work very well in a browser. But you can do more, faster, with lower power consumption with native apps.

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