Native App vs Server App

finisklin

Hi folks,

I hope someone can help with this......I am trying to understand apps. What is the difference between a Native App and a Serve App.

I am not that technical, hence the question.

Any help appreciated.

f

Gregor Samsa

"Web App" might be a more common name than "Server App", but that's a minor point.

A Native App physically runs on the device in question, and the user needs to install it. A Web App runs in a browser, and instead of installing it, the user visits a link or bookmark.

With a native app, the application has access to many of the features of the device in question. So, on the iPhone, things like the digital compass and GPS, the accelerometer, notifications, camera, etc. Web Apps only have access to whatever the browser has access to, which in many cases isn't all these features.

Lets take a simple example of a unit converter: An app that converts feet to meters, Celsius to Fahrenheit and kilos to pounds (and visa versa). And take the example of an iPhone as the platform.

For a native app to do this, the developer would need to code the application and make it specifically for the iPhone. In doing so, the developer would include formulae in the program that handles all the conversions from one unit to the other. It would then be uploaded to the App store, then users would download it and install it to use. Since it's a native app, and since the formulae for doing the conversions is embedded in the app, the user wouldn't need to be connected to the internet for the app to work once it was installed. The speed of the app would be dependent on the device it's installed on - so in iPhone terms, you'd get your results of you conversion back instantly. But the app would only work on iOS devices. If the developer wanted to make a version for Android or Blackberry, they might be able to use some of their code, but they'd still have to compile and maintain different versions for each platform.

For a web app version, the developer would make an application that basically runs on a web server. All all the processing of the conversions would be done by the server. Users would visit a link to access the web app, so obviously they'd need to be online to use it. If they didn't have internet access, they wouldn't be able to access the app. The speed of getting the conversions back would also be dependent on the speed and reliability of the internet connection. But the one web app could be used by users on any platform - once they have a browser and an internet connection, it wouldn't matter if they were on iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, etc.

Also, if the developer finds a bug or wants to update his app - for the native one, he has to publish an update and hope that users download it. For the web app one, he makes his changes, uploads them, and everyone is using the newer version next time they visit it.

Say the developer wants to add a feature that tells you the distance from where you are now to Paris. This would be possible with the native app, as it has access to the GPS data from the phone. It wouldn't be possible from the web app version, as the browser isn't allowed access to the phone's GPS data.

So, there are some situations where a Web App is the best solution, and some where Native is the way to go. All depends on the app, and the audience.

(Pedants please note: Most of this is a gross generalisation, and is merely to illustrate the point. There are exceptions to everything.)

finisklin

Thanks for that....much clearer!