Early smartphones had poor connectivity and the web at the time had very poor offline support.
While Apple initially said that apps would be web apps they never really walked the walk. No html-css frameworks for optimizing sites for the iPhone. No frameworks for offline support.
And this was at a time when Apple and Google were good friends and Google were developing their Google Gears for offline support (you could use gmail offline with google gears back then)
Apps offered 4 things: a development environment, offline support, a monetization strategy and a cool factor.
Make it 5: they also supported things that are more than a glorified webpage.
While Apple initially said that apps would be web apps they never really walked the walk. No html-css frameworks for optimizing sites for the iPhone. No frameworks for offline support.
And this was at a time when Apple and Google were good friends and Google were developing their Google Gears for offline support (you could use gmail offline with google gears back then)
Apps offered 4 things: a development environment, offline support, a monetization strategy and a cool factor.
Make it 5: they also supported things that are more than a glorified webpage.