HTML5 contains additional features which facilitate developers in designing attractive web-pages. It has eliminated the need of flash in web-sites, a plug-in or a third-party application to embed and play audio and video files on a web-page.
While native application demands the development of a separate mobile application for each platform, HTML5 standardized the development model for each platform. Separate development for each platform is time consuming and equally expensive, whereas HTML5 development requires considerably less time and has low cost.
HTML5 is even supposed to be a light-weight language for mobiles and tablets, since deployment of Flash for mobile web-sites was
- Complex for developers,
- Resulted in touch screen problems in tablets,
- Causes battery drainage and over heating for mobile devices and
- Introduces CPU straining in mobile devices.
Some differences between two application development concepts are:
- Development process: Separate development and coding has to be performed for each mobile platform in native apps, whereas HTML5 works on the principle of "Build once, deploy anywhere".
- User Experience: Native applications give a more static and stagnant feel and look to the user for the user interface, but HTML5 aims at providing attractive and customized UI for each application.
- Security: Native applications sets up a secure SSL connection while connecting with internet, whereas HTML5 code is editable during the browser session so hacking attempts can be more as local databases can be manipulated.
- Updates: In native applications, updates are separately required for each platform i.e. if update for Android is launched before windows mobile platform, then windows users have to wait until the update has been released to upgrade the application, whereas in HTML5, users always have the access to the latest functionality.
- Distribution: Native apps are distributed from the app store of different platforms like Android store or other for different platforms, whereas HTML5 apps are freely available from web-sites or through e-mails recommendations.
- Performance: Native apps are superior in performance for their specified platform due to the reason that they are specifically designed using the base libraries of the platform and its compatible functions etc. HTML5 apps works fairly nice on various mobile platforms due to its generalized behavior for all devices.
- Storage: Native apps support data storage on local device with a pre-requisite of encryption. Data is fully encrypted before being stored on the local machine. HTML5 also supports client-side database, but limited to few mega-bits as compared to the OS inbuilt applications.
In a nutshell, we can conclude that while native applications, provide better applications through learning and experience gained over years in mobile application development, HTML5 being a new technology is coming up with better design methods. Native apps are more stable due to absolute compatibility with platform according to specifications; HTML5 is still learning to provide such stability and is providing the equilibrium for platform independency to a certain extent.