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Comment by marknutter | Hacker News Reader

Download LinkedIn's iPad app. It's a situation where a WebView-based app is as good as native.

Sorry, but I'd disagree. The transitions aren't very smooth and often times you're faced with a blank screen while waiting for assets to load.

I was actually very hopeful that the app would feel as good as native after I'd read about it, but I was disappointed.

It may have to do with the hardware. On my iPad 3 it feels exactly as good as native.

That hasn't been my experience. "It's as good as native" seems more driven from hope than reality, or more generously, ignorance of the differences that would stick out like a sore thumb to someone intimately familiar with the native platform.

I note that you're a web developer. Full disclosure, I work in the native mobile development space.

I do native development as well as web development. It's easier to get a performant native app than an HTML5 app, no question. But you can create a native feeling HTML5 app that really only the trained eye of a developer would be able to notice the difference of. Most people don't even know the difference between a native and an html5 app. Devices will continue to get faster, and just like on the desktop native applications will be relegated to hardcore apps like 3d games and content creation programs like iMovie, etc.

Completely agreed that a well-optimized native app will outperform a well-written HTML5 app every time. I do think, though, that the difference is getting smaller - especially for apps like Facebook, which are almost entirely content-driven. Things like games are obviously a totally different story. Even five or ten years out, it's hard to imagine HTML5 games with WebGL or whatever seriously competing with native apps.

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