Mobile Website or iPhone App?
December 9th, 2008 MobileFreak
I ran across the iQ Search “iPhone application” the other day, and it struck me that it is not an iPhone app at all. Rather, it is a mobile website, with that unmistakable look and feel of the iPhone interface. In fact, because it is a simple website, you can use it right now on a Windows desktop if you’re so inclined. You don’t need an iPhone, an iTouch, or even a Mac for that matter.
Now, I do not have a problem with that in and of itself. The problem is when I see it included in a list of iPhone apps — it just irritates me that the author of those lists clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. If it’s not in iTunes, and it can be run on non-Apple platforms, then I say it’s not an iPhone app.
Getting back to the app mobile website itself, iQ Search can indeed be very convenient. Simply enter your search terms, then decide which search engine/social network/website you want to query. After using it a few times, I started to appreciate the ability to quickly decide which search engine would be most appropriate for that particular search.
Go check out this website from wherever you are!
iPhone App Mobile Website:
Editor’s note: Link updated. Our apologies!
Entry Filed under: Apple, The List
Here are a few related posts:
Use Your iPhone to Get a Better Deal on Your Next Car
Find WiFi From Your iPhone
iPhone App WebSearch – Makes Site Search Easy
Facebook for The iPhone
link does not work?
Link is fixed – our apologies pixites and all. Thanks for catching that!
It seems that if is not application, it does not exist ;)
Your observation about web sites versus a local app is spot on. The same is not only true for the iPhone but also Blackberry and Symbian. Handset manufacturers and network operators would like developers to only develop for their handset or their network but this conflicts with the developer’s goal of getting everything deployed everywhere.
Although it has taken nearly ten years, we do have an HTTP protocol and markup language that works on nearly every phone on the planet. Yes, phones have different screen sizes, color depth, “click-to-call” links, and other key factors, but they mostly speak the same language. Further, you can pair the web site with a technology like DeviceAtlas (www.deviceatlas.com) which will detect the phone make and model for you to allow you to dynamically adapt your site to the specific nears and aspirations of every browser (including the PC ones).
So if you want to easily build applications that work on all devices, look no further than the mobile web. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it works.
Paul Nerger
VP Advanced Services
dotMobi
Well said Paul, and thanks for contributing. As Salvador also implies, just because being an ‘iPhone app’ is trendy, does not make it so. It’s true that mobile developers can include the large majority of the functionality we see today simply through a mobile website that is available on virtually any mobile browser.
Some handset makers (Apple) and mobile platform providers (Google’s Android) though have pushed the envelope in adding newer functionality that uses information from the device OS itself. The perfect example is the accelerometer, which is available for both iPhone and Android application developers. These ‘hard-wired’ features not available to web developers are only going to increase.
With the growing level of interest in all things mobile already, not to mention the number and variety of devices, there will be plenty of room in the market for both mobile websites and platform-specific apps to flourish. But for those out there publishing lists of “iPhone apps”, please, let’s just call them what they really are.
The cost and time of developing for all mobile platforms is prohibitive, and usually not worth the device-specific benefits harvested by the applications.
All mobile devices come with standard web browsers, and for most applications, it makes perfect sense to develop mobile websites.
With GPRS and mobile wi-fi connectivity becoming cheaper, more available and mobile connectivity latency becoming bearable, the mobile apps market will collapse, and give way to operator/ISP-billed pay-per-use mobile websites.
The mobile-app market will quickly be relegated to specialized apps such as high-security databases.
Working on a couple visual aids to articulate difference b/t iPhone apps and iPhone mobile sites (two pages)