Did you know that many of the seemingly “native” smartphone apps you use every day aren’t really native apps at all? For example, popular smartphone apps like Facebook, Netflix, and Linkedin (to name a few) are actually hybrid apps–a cross between mobile web apps and native apps. Today, let’s examine the hybrid application approach, and learn why so many businesses are taking that approach.
Now, before I explain hybrid apps, let me first say this: Many businesses turn mobile apps into a bigger and more expensive job than it needs to be. The fact is, mobile web applications are more than enough for most companies, and they’re easier to build, work across all platforms, and can handle most anything that a native app can handle. If your company is considering mobile apps, mobile web apps are most likely the best option.
That being said, some companies actually need (or think they need) native apps. Maybe they need an app that can access the camera or microphone. Maybe they want to place their app in the app store/market. Whatever the reason, if your company needs to build native apps, the hybrid approach will save considerable time and money. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s a great new template in the project exchange that you have to check out. It’s called the “Quicksand template”, and it uses a really cool jQuery effect to bring animated sorting and filtering to your web apps. 
Every Friday, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles cover a wide range of topics, from changing enterprise software to mobile apps to outsourcing and much more. I hope you find them useful:
What’s keeping your company from modernizing those legacy applications? If our 2011 survey is any indication, the answer is “There’s not enough time.” In fact, the survey results show that modernization is the biggest need, but a lack of time keeps most companies from addressing that need.
