Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use

Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by seanwilson on Saturday April 04, 2015 @06:28PM (#9322443)

So how would you rate a PhoneGap UX compared to a native UX? I agree the latter is better but I don't see the former as significantly worse. If you have limited resources, you've usually got the choice between supporting multiple platforms with a decent UX or a limited number of platforms with a great UX.

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Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by mbesto on Saturday April 04, 2015 @09:17PM (#9322764)

Having an app that isn't "significantly worse" can be the difference of having 5,000 or 1 million users. While it's impossible to prove, there is loads of evidence to suggest even just 200ms of UI delay can cause UX problems. [0]

Your comment does bring up a good point however, I've struggled to prove any of this with any scientific manner. I wish there was, because it would selling native solutions so much easier. The only proof really is the fact that the most downloaded apps in the world all use native, and many (FB and LI come to my mind) tried the hybrid solution and it failed miserably.[1][2]

[0] - http://www.nngroup.com/articles/response-times-3-important-l...

[1] - http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/23/3262782/facebook-for-ios-n...

[2] - http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/17/linkedin-mobile-web-breaku...

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Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by seanwilson on Sunday April 05, 2015 @01:36PM (#9324737)

Thanks, interesting links.

Obviously I'm not going to advocate apps that have 200ms delays no matter what framework you use. It's also possible to write laggy and bad native UIs as well.

Was the Facebook app really a failure that made the difference between 5000 and 1 million users? I think Facebook is an example of a company that has unlimited resources to throw at app development and can afford to spend a lot for even a little better anyways.

My only point is that writing native apps for multiple platforms does not come for free. While usually better than hybrid apps, the development costs need to be considered.

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Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by MBCook on Saturday April 04, 2015 @06:57PM (#9322510)

If you have limited resources perhaps supporting multiple platforms from the start isn't a good idea.

One well done app on a big platform may be much better than three decent/acceptable apps on three big platforms.

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Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by seanwilson on Saturday April 04, 2015 @07:22PM (#9322564)

Yes, it depends on the app if it's worth it.

You need to consider that developing two native apps is probably twice the cost of developing one cross-platform app for two platforms.

I think developers are overly aware of the differences between native and non-native apps, and overestimate how much a casual app user cares about a native experience to be honest. I'd love to implement native experiences for all apps I write but I have to take budgets into account.

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Re:Some thoughts after (almost) a year of real Xamarin use by MBCook on Saturday April 04, 2015 @08:24PM (#9322678)

> I think developers are overly aware of the differences between native and non-native apps, and overestimate how much a casual app user cares about a native experience to be honest.

I would expect the opposite. They may not be able to put a name to the issues or even describe them, but I'd expect average people to show a clear preference for native apps basically every time in a side by side test.

I think developers tend to underestimate how important good UI responsiveness and feel is.

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