![]() since developers are able to write the core code once and run the application on multiple platform without much effort. Data from Vision Mobile last summer showed that 42% of North American mobile developers were already using HTML, CSS, or JavaScript today in some fashion.Īccording to Belanger, hybrid apps help save time and money. Technology research firm Gartner predicts that by 2016, 50% of mobile apps will be hybrid. Why hybrid apps are so popular and powerful today This way, Dropbox does not need to re-implement the login functionality for another platform. “Probably most people don’t realize that when you launch the Dropbox desktop application and see a login page, it’s actually loaded as a web page!” said Belanger. In this way, the hybrid app not only has access to high performing features provided by the specific platform, but also enjoys the cross-platform compatibility and code reuse for those pages loaded in webview.ĭropbox, which has just one codebase written in Python, supports several desktop applications for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The experience is just seamless!” A hybrid app is developed based on the native platform but uses a “webview” to load some pages dynamically from the internet. So what is a hybrid app? “A hybrid app contains both native and web elements that co-exist to form a cohesive user interface. Web apps require Internet connection to download the application on runtime, which makes it easy to iterate, distribute, update, and maintain the application. Web apps are written in browser-supported programming languages (such as HTML, CSS, Javascript) and then rendered by the browser, supporting cross-platform compatibility. However, since a native app is tied to a specific platform, developing native apps for multiple platforms implies more effort is required to develop and maintain different codebases for all supported platforms.Ī web app, as the name implies, is an application that runs in a web browser with internet. In addition, some native apps can be used without internet connection. For instance, a native app on MacOS can use functionalities like pop-up animation and high-resolution image rendering provided by MacOS. It has access to features provided by the operating system. How do you choose the technology to build hybrid apps?īefore introducing the concept of hybrid apps, we first need to know what web apps and native apps are.Ī native app is an application coded for a specific platform such as MacOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, and usually provides high performance and a high degree of reliability. Why are hybrid apps so popular and powerful today? What is a hybrid app? How is it different from a traditional application? His sharing covered the following three aspects: Using web technologies to build hybrid desktop applications makes the development process and product iteration a lot faster. “What do I do at Dropbox? I enjoy creating new ways for people to work together!” said Belanger. Maxime Belanger, who joined their engineering team when there were only 20 employees, shared how he used web technology to build their hybrid desktop application at the World Internet Developer Summit 2015 two weeks ago. In fact, Slack has leveraged web technologies to develop these hybrid applications on different platforms.ĭropbox is another example of a fast-growing startup that has developed a hybrid app. Shortly after launching its successful web-based work-collaboration application, Slack released desktop and mobile applications for multiple platforms at such fast pace that it made everyone wonder how they did it. Founded less than two years ago, the workplace collaboration startup is valued at 2.8 billion dollars in its newest round of funding. Slack is no doubt one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley today. ![]() Posted By Eric Haibin Lin on 1 Jun, 2015 | 1 commentīy Eric Lin | Photo credits: Internet Society Hong Kong | 2 June 2015
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |