What makes a mobile app, an app?
 

Hi guys,

I have just created my first mobile friendly website where my client can update his phone on a smart phone, ipad or through the web.

I have written the mobile section in php, javascript etc etc.

The site recognise that you are on a mobile device and then sends you to relevant pages which are made for the mobile device.

It works on all mobiles i have tested it on, iphone, nokia and samsung and all work 100% with no flaws.

In the admin the user can upload images, add, edit and delete content.

Users can sign up and create a profile and post comments.

Anyway i was talking to a friend and he stated this is not an app, this is a mobile friendly website.

So my question is what makes an app an actual app?

If you are talking about a native app(download and install on phone), then you should take a look at Phonegap.

Hope that helps,

-AJM

Hi thanks for the reply but i do not think that is relevant to the question i asked.

Thanks

I thought you meant how to turn php/html/css/javascript into an app, sorry. To answer your real question though(and I hope this is what you mean), for an app to be an app, I'm pretty sure that it has to run from the user's phone and not the web.

Hope that I could help this time,

-AJM

That is basically it. It has to be compiled for and installed on the phone. There are many ways to do this and some apps simply load a website inside of the app. You will get the best performance and user experience by creating a native application for the phone you are creating the app for.

Thanks, that is exactly what asking :)

So what code would fit all phones or do you have to code different for each phone?

As i doubt windows phones and apple phones are php orientated, windows in my guess would be C+

No code will work for all three. iOS apps are written in Objective-C, Android apps are written in Java, and Windows apps are written in Silverlight. There are some crossover compilers that allow you to write your code using a common API and compile to different native apps, but you sacrifice some performance doing that. Titanium Mobile, PhoneGap, and Adobe Air are a few of the programs that can compile for multiple phone OS's.