Abstract
The extensive growth and expansion of smartphones and tablets and therewith the use of mobile web applications that utilize HTML5 and related technologies are frequently discussed and debated in media as possible replacements for native applications. The aim of this study was to explore the viability of replacing native applications with mobile web applications in a developing country setting. Two mobile web applications were developed. The first mobile web application tracked runs and the second mobile web application was a booking system for scheduling â??slum runsâ?. The subjects who tested these apps were elite, semi-professional Kenyan runners primarily from the Kibera slum area outside of Nairobi. After a 6-month test period the participants concluded and results indicated that the mobile web application for tracking runs performed poorly compared to native applications due to poor GPS performance, while the mobile web application for booking slum runs performed well. The conclusion from this study is that mobile web applications that require hardware interaction such as using the GPS, GPU, or camera are not yet viable alternatives for native applications. However, mobile applications that only require a native interface and content consumption are suitable substitutes for native applications.
Highlights
The immense growth and popularity of smartphones is a global phenomenon and the popularity of such devices continues to expand
The second section presents the results for the mobile web app for booking “slum runs”
The conclusions from this research are that native apps are still the best choice for hardware intensive apps
Summary
The immense growth and popularity of smartphones is a global phenomenon and the popularity of such devices continues to expand. Statistics show that despite the existence of 5 billion mobile subscribers around the world, there are only 1 billion smartphone users, but the market is growing roughly 42% per year [1]. The use of native applications (native apps) on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is universal. The application repository concept and its usage is basically the same despite that existence of two dominant, yet exclusive mobile operating systems, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, with a slowly gaining third actor in Windows Phone. It is estimated that roughly 56 billion smartphone apps will be downloaded in 2013 with approximately 58% being for Android, 33% for iOS, and the remainder for Windows Phone and BlackBerry [2]
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