Having built YouTube Mobile, which is doing very strongly in both app and browser space, the question of browser vs apps on mobile frequently comes up.
Below are my thoughts:
- Now: Apps are better than browser
- The only way you can get an 'awesome' looking mobile interface is via a native app.
- People have been trained to use the app store to find the services they want rather than just visiting the website. App store is the new Yahoo Directory.
- Mobile website usage is also improving, but does not come close to most mobile apps.
- Mid-term:
- Browser based apps catch up with native apps for most cases, but are still available via app stores because of discoverability
- Long term:
- People will be back to visiting the services that provide the apps directly, making app stores less relevant
There are 4 factors that determine whether a mobile interface will be native app or webapp:
- Ease of development
- Quality of Interface
- Distribution
- Monetization
Apps vs Browsers
- 2011 will be all about Apps, but browser will start taking over towards the end
- HTML5 based apps will finally get to a point where they are actually of good quality and usable
- This is going to be the worst year for mobile developers, as they will have to deal with building a ton of apps which will drive more force towards html5 based apps