Lecture 8

Mobile Ecosystems

Why the app on your phone is a different animal from the site in your browser.

Hour 1 — The two kingdoms

  • iOS vs Android: platforms, philosophies, and what it means for designers
  • Native vs hybrid vs web apps — the eternal trade-off (fidelity vs reach vs cost)
  • PWAs: when a website pretends to be an app
  • App stores as gatekeepers: review, distribution, the 30% question
  • Why your beautiful web app feels wrong on a phone: platform conventions (HIG vs Material)
  • Push notifications, permissions, offline — capabilities the web (mostly) doesn't have

Hour 2 — Studio

  • Exercise: Exercise - Mobile Ecosystem ComparisonExercise - Mobile Ecosystem Comparison
    iOS vs Android, from a product team's chair

    Compare and contrast the iOS and Android ecosystems for app development and distribution, highlighting the differences that would actually change a prod...
    — compare iOS and Android for app development and distribution, from a product team's point of view
  • Install your own web app to your home screen; discuss what's missing

Homework

  • Finish the ecosystem comparison writeup