Is the future of the mobile internet apps or web browsers?
Despite the current popularity of apps, particularly those offered through Apple's App Store and Google's Android platform, many believe that eventually we'll interact far more with the mobile internet through the web browser than we do with individual apps.
For that to belief to become reality, however, mobile web browsers are going to have to have to become far more capable. The popularity of mobile apps is borne of a simple fact: in many cases, developers can only develop compelling mobile experiences through apps.
But if the new features in the Safari mobile web browser shipping with the newly-released iOS 4.2 are any indication, that might start changing. These features include browser-based support for the accelerometer and gyroscope, the WebSockets API, AJAX 2 and HTML5 form attributes, amongst other things. What this means: developers can do things in the browser that they weren't able to do before. In theory, for instance, a developer could build a web-based game that uses the iPhone's accelerometer and gyroscope. Previously, access to the accelerometer and gyroscope was limited to apps.
Of course, it's unlikely Safari's new iOS 4.2 features will have an immediate impact on the market. This is still very early on and these additions in no way turn the Safari browser into a substitute for the iOS SDK. There will be a lot of functionality that can only be implemented with an app for a long while, and even if the browser eventually reaches some level of parity with app development platforms for all but the most sophisticated applications, app stores will still be attractive for a number of reasons, such as built-in monetization.
But the mobile web is evolving and as it does, developers and consumers will have more options. And that's always a good thing.
Photo credit: Emrys.Roberts via Flickr.
Patricio Robles is a tech reporter at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter.
Recommended reports
Mobile Marketing Buyer's Guide
This buyer's guide is aimed at those who are investigating the market for mobile marketing, with profiles of 14 leading suppliers offering platforms and related services. The report provides details on the issues and trends affecting this sector, as well as information about best practice and tips for successful mobile marketing and advertising campaigns.
Mobile Statistics
The Mobile Statistics documents are part of Econsultancy's Internet Statistics Compendium package, a comprehensive compilation of internet statistics and online market research with data, facts, charts and figures that are ideal for presentations, business cases or client pitches, RFPs and understanding the marketplace as a whole.
3:15PM on 24th November 2010
Thanks for the overview! I've noticed with one of my JavaScript-based iPad games that it *seems* to run faster on iOS4 (i.e. no more small lags if a bigger number of sprites fills the screen, in the game Knights vs Knightesses [versuspad.com]).
9:44PM on 24th November 2010
I actually didn't realize these changes, probably they are not well promoted or I just didn't pay enough attention.
As you mention, things aren't gonna change immediately, but the potential is there for future developers to take full advantage of.
7:24AM on 25th November 2010
Of late i am hearing a lot about Safari's iOS 4.2. This is a big leap ahead as far as Safari is concerned but i am quite confident that it would garner a good response eventually because of it's ability to do a lot of things that was previously unthinkable for mobile apps.