Is Mobile Web App Development The Right Choice for SMEs

It's an eternal back-and-forth tug of war between native vs. Web apps in the mobile development arena. Announcements of major companies switching from one to the other abound. As do surveys claiming to show one approach is currently in favor amongst the coding masses (just pay attention to who conducted the survey and, perhaps, why -- is there "skin in the game"?).

As an SMB owner, at some point you may have to invest in developing a mobile application to improve customer retention. Irrespective of what product/service you sell, a mobile app is a necessity in this digital age.

James Long, a developer at Mozilla (and proponent of the web), insists that the mobile Web will never compete with native app development. Ever. While Long is intentionally provocative with his prophecies, he may also be correct. At the same time, it's increasingly clear that this debate does not matter.

The current mobile ecosystem has undergone several changes since the era of smartphones, touch-enabled devices, have changed the way in which people perform tasks that were usually done through a PC or a Laptop. Everything from buying tickets, to shopping, to making reservations and browsing through emails is now being done through smartphones.

Remember the debate a few years back about whether apps should be native to each platform or made universally available through a single Web app? Well, the native app has won that debate. ( Sorry, Jon Udell!) Thank goodness! But Web apps still have a place, albeit not as the main solution you should use.

Mobile website vs. mobile app can be a heated debate. Many people feel that you don't need a mobile app, you just need a website that looks good on mobile devices. Others say that mobile apps have benefits that a website cannot provide. Who is right?