Mobile Applications on Personal Computers?
Mobile Application Developers Ponder the Thought of Creating Computer Applications
The growth and demand of the mobile application industry has been so successful the past few years that many mobile application developers are now starting to wonder if desktop applications can achieve the same amount of success that mobile applications have been receiving. Although mobile applications are primarily meant for wireless devices such as Smartphone, these mobile applications are now starting to pop-up on other electronic devices such as Blue-Ray Players, tablet PC’s and automobiles which are technically not considered “mobile” or “wireless” devices. This has made many mobile application developers to wonder if mobile applications can be as successful being ran on a PC or Laptop as they have been on mobile devices.
The main challenge that mobile application developers face with the idea of a mobile application on a PC or Laptop is the fact that the application will be competing with web browsers which can perform the same (if not more) functionalities as a mobile application could. For example, if an individual wants to stream a movie from his/her PC/Laptop, that individual needs to open the web browser, go to Netflix.com and navigate throughout the website before choosing to stream a specific movie. At the same time, if that individual wants to stream a movie from his mobile application (on their iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Windows Mobile 7), he/she simply needs to open the application, navigate thru the user-friendly interface before clicking on the movie they want to stream.
Now one may think that both methods are the exact same but when actually using both of those methods, users will likely experience a much easier time navigating and selecting a movie thru the mobile application compared to the web browser. The reason for this is because mobile applications have a superior user-friendly interface/layout when compared to web browsers and the simplicity of it still allows users to do the same things they could have done on a website. Mobile Application Developers are now venturing into the idea of developing applications (exactly the same as a mobile application) onto the desktop where users can have a much easier user-interface, accessibility when compared to using a web browser. No longer would individuals have to go on a web browser and type in the website in order to access the site, they will simply have to click on the specific application (Netflix for example) and everything will instantly pop up from there.
How successful PC/Laptop Applications will be compared to Mobile Applications is another key question which mobile application developers have been debating. Why would an individual use an application to access specific content when they can simply use a web browser? Will applications on the computer generate as much demand as mobile applications have generated on mobile devices? Is it worth investing money into computer applications or should mobile application developers continue riding the mobile application wave which continues to grow everyday?
What the future holds for mobile application development and mobile application developers is still unclear but one definite fact is that applications, specifically mobile applications are becoming more popular everyday. If this trend continues, it would not be surprising to see applications take over and potentially even eliminate the use of web browsers in the future. Until that happens, mobile application developers and the mobile application industry will continue to grow this industry to heights never imagined possible before.