Apps, Apples and Berries.

Apps, versus a competent browswer.

It is a known fact that Apple has the most amount of apps available for their iOS devices. It is also a known fact that RIM has a minute amount of apps for their BBOS devices, even lesser on their PlayBook.

Some PlayBook owners may argue that when you have a competent browser, the need for apps are greatly reduced, especially with the advent of html5 and the support of flash on the PlayBook. But I really don’t think thats the case, especially in a mobile device.

1. Screen Size - Constantly zooming in and out of a webpage is not fun. Having a well-conceived optimized app, text and user interface would be more usable.

2. Performance - Mobile device compromises on their performance. Having the need to constantly render multiple webpages in a single browser will definitely take more toll on the device, slower down the device. Whereas multi-tasking with apps would be more efficient as the background app could be dedicated less or no RAM. Making the app in the use work better.

3. Efficiency - I am not sure how true this is but I personally feel that if you have a dedicated app for a certain task, it means that most of the user interface contents and whatnots would be stored directly on your phone’s memory. The only thing the app has to do is to pull the contents over the network and load it, instead of loading the entire user interface every time you reload a webpage. Making it faster, and also uses less data. (as you know, carriers charge an arm or leg for excess use of data over the subscribed limit) Please correct me if i am wrong on this. Same thing as games. Flash games over internet, or native games? I am sure you know the answer to that.

So i think RIM really needs to start pushing for developer to adopt their QNX based platform. Creating a decent ecosystem for their customers. By decent i mean quality over quantity. I am sure it is already clear that apps are the way to go forward, at least for now. Just look at Apple and how successful they are. RIM really needs to get their act together and stop over-promising things. They still have two months to work and refine their OS 2.0, so do a good job and make sure you release it on time.