How iOS app could play a role in content platform

Hi frens,

I’ve seen vocus and Matters recruited “iOS” app developer. Not together with Android app developer. Not (cross platform) mobile app developer. Both companies do not have mobile apps at this moment, and that’s interesting.

Do we really need an app for that? Or, who demanded it?

The software industry is like fashion; trends change. In 2010, the smartphone apps were booming. In 2020, productivity web apps on traditional PCs made a comeback.

At its core, a mobile app developer is equivalent to a frontend developer. The development mindsets for frontend and backend are so different that each deserves a separate job title. Briefly speaking, backend focuses on functionality on the machine side, and frontend focuses on usability on the human side.

Every major platform will eventually adopt mobile apps, offering a distinct user experience. I won’t go to details of whether web apps can be as good as native apps, or how productivity software companies in 2020s mostly make poor-quality mobile apps through embedding a giant web view.

The development between (mobile) native apps and web frontend isn’t just technically but also culturally different.

On the technical system level, native apps have access to better tooling for performance, security, hardware resources utilization, etc. The web began with static information pages, constrained yet facilitated by open web standards. In contrast, mobile apps are intrinsically interactive, and seasoned mobile app developers naturally embody craftsmanship due to the nature of their work.

On the business side, in-app purchases (IAP) is lucrative for both developers and platforms, particularly on the iOS side. Mobile app developer holds the key to join the ecosystem (and you have to), despite having terrible developing experience for IAP.

Looking back at vocus, it has been mainly focused on paid subscriptions but dropped vocus Premium, which resembles Medium membership available in IAP. Matters has been focused (and experimented) on donations, which only seen popular on live streaming platforms. Both platforms have ads, and very likely still rely on investors.

There appear to be no compelling business reasons to justify the extra effort of building a mobile app. So the question remains: who demanded it?

Your friend,

Denken