The future of mobile apps and the mobile Web
Is a native app the best bet for your real estate business?
By Tom Flanagan, Tuesday, November 15, 2011.
On Nov. 9, 2011, Adobe finally announced that it would no longer develop its Flash Player for mobile browsers.
Danny Winokur, vice president and general manager, interactive development at Adobe, stated, "HTML5 is now universally supported on major devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across multiple platforms."
The announcement had many pundits not only contemplating the future of mobile app development, but the future of the Adobe Flash desktop Web browser plug-in, as well. Ultimately, the announcement paves the way for open Web standards.
Mobile Internet usage is projected to surpass desktop Internet usage by 2014. As a real estate professional, have you optimized your website and content for the Post-PC era? Have you been contemplating whether to create a native app vs. a Web app?
A native app is developed in a specific programming language (Java for Android and ObjectiveC for iOS), is typically downloaded from a marketplace such as the Apple App Store, and runs on the device's processor.
A Web app can be created using HTML5 and CSS3 and is accessed through the mobile device's preinstalled Web browser.
Native apps are elegant, streamlined and have sparked the mobile revolution. However, every real estate brokerage should have an optimized mobile version of its website.
If you don't have a mobile version of your real estate website, I recommend prioritizing a Web app.
It is crucial for businesses today to have a mobile-optimized website. With open standards being defined and innovative techniques such as Responsive Web Design (a flexible Web design that changes dynamically according to the devices screen size) being developed, there are many advantages to creating Web apps:
- Web apps are typically less expensive than native apps to develop;
- Unlike native apps, Web apps do not need to be developed for multiple platforms (iOS, Android and BlackBerry);
- Web apps do not have to be downloaded from a marketplace;
- Web apps do not have to be upgraded manually by the end user; and
- Most important, consumers are accessing your website on their mobile device.
It's also important to note that marketing a native property-search app is a competitive space dominated by the likes of Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com.
According to a Compuware report, "What Users Want from Mobile," "57 percent of consumers would not recommend a business with a bad mobile site." It's time for real estate pros to begin developing mobile strategies and spending the appropriate time refining content and the mobile user experience.
To help, Google launched GoMo, a website devoted to assist businesses in developing their mobile websites. It is a valuable resource whether you are in the exploratory phase or already have a mobile website and want to optimize the experience.
What does the future hold for mobile app development?
Net Applications, a Web monitoring company, reported that Apple had 61.5 percent of the mobile and tablet operating systems market share in October 2011. Apple is certainly committed to the native app ecosystem -- it is the foundation of its platform.
Android Market and Android native apps have been very successful, as well. However, the data indicates that consumers also want a fast, streamlined mobile Web experience. The real estate industry needs to focus on cross-platform applications and deliver this to its clients.
Tom Flanagan is the director of information technology at Residential Properties Ltd. in Providence, R.I. You can contact him at tflanagan@residentialproperties.com or @tflan on Twitter.
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Submitted by Matt Carter on November 15, 2011 - 1:54pm.
Move Inc. has rolled out an HTML5 Web app to provide mobile access to Top Producer. Realtor.com's Errol Samuelson told Inman News that in addition to not having to develop separate native apps for every mobile platform, advantages of Web apps include being able to push out updates instantaneously and not having agent teams using different versions of an app because they are on different mobile platforms.
Submitted by Christian Sterner on November 15, 2011 - 3:18pm.
Because of the focus of our team (web and mobile video content, where content is being shot and uploaded via mobile devices, not just consumed), we have always had to have both a mobile web for viewing and app strategy. I can tell you without any hesitation that applications are MUCH more maintenance. Each platform update tosses bugs into the court of your team and--in the case of Android--every handset operates differently. Yet, the mobile web lacks specific functionality that is 100% necessary, especially triggering and leveraging native functions of phones and tablets. In our case, examples of this is opening the camera functions of phones.
This post does a really good job of outlining the landscape. Ultimately, we are all in the same place as a few years ago: apps are a means to an end but mobile web is where it is all going.
Submitted by Jean Feuillet on November 16, 2011 - 5:25am.
Adobe knew Flash was coming to an end, but obviously the Realtor associations and MLSs did not have the vision. As the previous post mentions, it's been in the making for several years.
Yet, Florida Reators is unable to provide its membership with their new Forms Simplicity package running on HTML5. And, what to say about CoreLinx with its MarketLinx application. There are still struggling to put out a decent version of their new Fusion MLS application running on Safari.
It seems that Realtors are well aware of technology, but their association are absolutely clueless. That's a shame for the amount of money we pay them year after year.
Submitted by john fenton on November 16, 2011 - 1:23pm.
Great points Tom,
Consumer expectation is high, and first impressions can make or break you, if you are an agent sitting around waiting for the phone to ring on your listings, remember that mobile-friendly websites deliver; customers can call right from your site.
Submitted by Tom Flanagan on November 17, 2011 - 9:23am.
Thanks for the feed back everyone. Learning that Mobile Internet usage is projected to surpass desktop Internet usage by 2014 has really sparked me to reevaluate our mobile strategies!
Tom Flanagan
Technology Director / Syndicated Technology Columnist
Submitted by Aaron Kardell - HomeSpotter / MobileRealtyApps on November 17, 2011 - 7:49pm.
App vs. web shouldn't be either/or... there are pros/cons to both...
The primary factor in deciding between the two should be frequency of usage; mobile web is perfect for quick access to one-time use info; apps are better for repetitive use.
For example, if i want to know what hours a specific restaurant is open, that restaurant ought to have a mobile optimized website. It's unlikely that I would download their app just to find out what hours they are open.
However, if I want to provide the best way to search for a restaurant, that should be done in an app (e.g. Yelp). An app can provide the richest user experience, the fastest access, and it's the most natural way to end up on someone's home screen. Moreover, features such as robust map support, augmented reality, and push notifications are only currently possible through an app.
In our MobileRealtyApps product line for RE brokers, we see mobile web as an entry point / gateway to apps (a sign rider at a property leads to a mobile website for that property, which encourages consumers to download apps).