Mobile Asset Management - Native vs. HTML5

In the mobile industry, there’s been a long discussion about native versus web or HTML5. I asked Otto Pulkkinen, product manager for mobile development at Trimble Energy, where we stand in that debate.

​Since, indeed, the battle has touched us, too. “It's like a religious debate, both sides have their strong arguments,” Otto laughs.

​Curious as they are, the guys in our product development have of course experimented with them both. However, after starting off with native development, we switched over to the web-based technologies. “We felt that the advantages were really much more significant with HTML5,” Otto explains. “The huge advantage is that you are immediately compatible with practically every device there is, which is in line with the whole philosophy of not focusing on the device”.

“It's not about the device, it's about your work, and the intelligence supporting that work.”

​​“An HTML5-based application can be taken to use without a need to load anything,” Otto continues. For example, in case of a major storm, the number of field crews can multiply rapidly when you suddenly need to get a lot of new contractor users into your field work solution, fast. In a web-based solution, the number of field users scales up easily, without downloading and installing. “There’s an argument for the native in having the application store as a ready-made distribution channel, which sure is relevant for consumer apps. But for utility applications, there is a specific, yet dynamic set of users and for them, the advantage is not in the app store, but rather in the fast deployment”.

Otto Pulkkinen has involved himself with mobile technologies since the beginning of the mobile boom.

Another advantage for the HTML5-based is the rapid development cycle. “When there is no need to make different versions of the code for different platforms, we can use that time for developing the features and the usability of our applications,” Otto adds.

“Obviously with HTML5, you are missing some of the most advanced native capabilities of the devices”, Otto admits. However, since there is a lot development taking place, he points out that the feature gap is closing all the time. “For example, the support for offline use and notification technologies are going to improve also for the web-based applications, and we’ll absolutely continue improving those, as well”.

“For instance, the number of field users scales up easily without downloading and installing.”

“It's important that we're not limited to any platform or restricted to only the latest and the most powerful devices. Basically any device will do, because we're doing this based on the browser technologies,” Otto wraps it up.

Not that the debate would ever be over, though – who knows how the winds will blow, say, next year?

-Hanna

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