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Comment by Apocryphon | Hacker News Reader

I'm sure this observation was probably made tens of thousands of times before, but- is the React Native and frameworks like it the beginning of the end of the "native vs. mobile web" debate? A synthesis of both approaches?

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What I'm betting on is the mobile web browser. I know going HTML5 on mobile has failed in the past, but the future can still come. On desktops, desktop apps ruled until web apps became super powerful. I'm betting on the same fate for mobile web apps.

Now that Chrome supports notifications (on Android) I was able to uninstall the native Facebook app and rely exclusively on the web version (which actually loads faster for my anyway).

Still have the icon on my homescreen, still get the same notifications -- the main difference is how much better my battery life is now!

Not to mention you don't have to store a 100MB app.

So you download it each time?

On my mobile I absolutely use and prefer native applications. I only use my mobile web browser for web browsing tasks. On my desktop, I only use my web browser for web browsing (searches, news, content, etc) and I hardly use any web applications.

I don't feel like I'm unique in this.

I think this "synthesis of both approaches" has merits.

Searches and news are web applications. Not to mention Hacker News.

"The general distinction between an interactive web site of any kind and a 'web application' is unclear. Web sites most likely to be referred to as 'web applications' are those which have similar functionality to a desktop software application, or to a mobile app."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_application

An easy distinction I use is: can the user alter the content? If so, it's an application. If not, it's a website.

There are times when the native app is great, but all the permissions that you have to give up have me fallback to the web version. There is a native phone app for a popular online course that has recently started asking for access to 'Phone Id/what not' on Android. Why? Just show me the videos of the courses I paid for. I refused to update and these days I just log in via Chrome and play the video on there. Not the best UX but that is what I will associate with that product going forward.

I wish Android would make something granular (and understandable) or at least let me disable permissions after the fact.

You can, starting form android 6.0. Adoption of the latest Android versions is as slow as ever, though.

But native applications use webviews more than you might expect. I've heard that the conversation view in the Messages app is a webview, and I know from first-hand experience (CSS not loading) the Instagram feed is one too.

I think that webviews get a bad rap because you only notice then when they're done badly.

Messages is definitely not a web view.

I'm the opposite of you. I'd much prefer to do everything in a browser. I hate downloading new apps for every little link. I was really hoping the Firefox OS worked out.

I don't even have a lot of apps, though. And using an web application is just as much work: logging in, bookmarking, etc.

I think so. Reducing the language/framework barrier to mobile development definitely makes makes arguments for mobile web weaker. If you have a lot of mobile users and you want them to have a really good experience, going the React Native route makes a lot of sense.

I don't think so. I've participated in enough native / mobile web flamewars to last a lifetime, but the main argument this doesn't resolve in any way is the question of freedom. A react native app is still subject to Apple's App Review, or can be removed on a whim by Google (remember the ad blockers recently?). Some people have a real problem with that.

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