Webview: The fifth element

Talk about different experiences related with mobile web and the android webview. Native vs Hybrid. Drawbacks and benefits of native and hybrid applications

Transcript

1. @fernando_cejas WEBVIEW: The Fifth Element
2. Who am I? •  GDG Organizer •  Android, Agile and technology Geek •  NFC Actions App •  Mobile Developer @fernando_cejas http://www.fernandocejas.com/
3. Agenda •  Native vs web •  Web developers •  Native developers •  Benefits and drawbacks •  The webview •  Experiences •  Advices  
4. What the hell…? …I am a native developer
5. Why the title? What were you thinking about?
6. Actually… •  Activities •  Intents •  Services •  Widgets •  ...and Webview!!!
7. Native vs web???
8. Web developers? Designers?
9. Native developers…????
10. Benefits of native development •  Default OS look & feel (UI conventions) •  Performance •  Access to device hardware (GPS, etc) •  App store/marketplace distribution •  Benefit from latest OS enhancements
11. Drawbacks of native development •  Tied to the particular OS you built for •  Maintaining a multi OS team/skill-set •  Dealing with the app store approval process •  Keeping app in sync with OS updates
12. Benefits of hybrid development •  Common codebase for multiple OS's •  Access to device hardware (GPS, etc) •  App store/marketplace distribution •  Skills you already have (HTML, CSS, JS) •  Potential code reuse in web site/app
13. Drawbacks of hybrid development •  Build for lowest common denominator •  3rd party SDK's might lag behind OS –  Want to use feature X? Wait for an implementation in abstraction layer •  An abstraction layer can have bugs of its own. Have to determine if a bug is in your code, the abstraction layer, or OS.
14. So, what should I build? • Desktop web app • Mobile web app • Mobile native app
15. We can live together…
16. Webview and the mobile web… • Webviews and Mobile web are almost the same…
17. Webview and the mobile web… • 2 small differences: – Mobile web authenticates with web session – Webview sets up protocols links
20. Webview and the mobile web… • 1 big difference: – Through webviews we can access native capabilities
22. Pitfalls…experiences? •  Android webview has a lot of bugs •  Too heavy widget (poor performance?) •  Differente capabilities depending on the OS version. •  Cordova webview implementation (not a silver bullet)
23. Some advice…and conclusions… •  Minimize number of connections •  Do not assume JS has loaded •  Minimize page weight •  Testing in your desktop is not enough •  Do not resize images on the client •  Have a version of the web that works everywhere •  The most important: know your users •  Test on real devices
24. Any questions?
25. Thanks! When you look at the dark side, careful you must be ... for the dark side looks back. @fernando_cejas www.fernandocejas.com