Web applications, or “web apps”, combine the power of the Internet with the simplicity of your smartphone’s touchscreen interface. Designed to mimic the user experience of your individual phone, a web app is written in standard web languages and housed on a server alongside your normal website therefore allowing you all the benefits of an internet-based solutions such as:

• instant access, no requirement to go through Apple’s lengthy application process
• cross-platform compatibility, multiple versions for multiple phone platforms is vanquished
• instant updates, the need for users to constantly download updated versions is negated – every time you visit the web apps’ URL, you view the current version
• access to mobile phone UI features such as the iPhone GPS and accelerometer are still available

The downside to web apps is that by their very nature they rely on the user’s availability and quality of internet connection, not so much a problem in cities with a proliferation of Wi-Fi hotspots and 3G coverage but potentially more problematic elsewhere (although that will change). Consequently many web apps are relatively stripped down and make maximum use of HTML/CSS for styling and less reliance on bulky bandwidth-consuming images (not always a bad thing for usability actually!) to deliver a seamless operation.