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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-25T05:53:36+00:00

I would like to build an iphone/ipad app that has social networking capabilities and

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I would like to build an iphone/ipad app that has social networking capabilities and the ability to sell magazines and specific articles. I would also like this app to be able to be as flexible as possible for future features.

Should I insist the developer use objective C or could he accomplish the same thing with HTML5 etc..

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  1. Editorial Team

    If you’re the client, and have specific technical requirements, you should document them from a technical POV. If not, well that’s why you’re hiring a developer–for their expertise.

    There’s pros and cons to each and we’d need to have a lot more project details to be of any specific help for you.

    Do note that selling items via an app has its own set of red tape political issues with Apple. You may want to tackle that aspect of the project first. If you don’t want to route any payments through Apple so they can take their cut, then you might want to rethink the app model and consider a mobile web site avenue instead.

    UPDATE:

    In general, here’s some high-level comparisons:

    Native Apps:

    Pros

    • can access native device functionality directly
    • can leverage the native UI more directly
    • can be much more performant in situations like heavy game animation, 3-d, image/video editing, ec.
    • may be smaller file sizes

    Cons

    • have to be written per-device
    • different devices use different native IDEs and Languages

    HTML5/Phonegap apps

    • can be written with cross-platform Web standards
    • can still leverage native device features to an extent
    • are easier to port from device to device (though still takes effort)

    Cons

    • you won’t be creating graphic-heavy game-type apps with it now
    • may be a bit slower than a native app

    Pure HTML5 local web app

    This is different than something like a phonegap solution. PhoneGap takes HTML5 and compiles it into native code. That means you can send it through the app store. There’s another option, however, where you put the HTML5 app on your web server, and then a user requests to keep it locally on their device. The advantage is that this allows you to bypass the app store completely (though in most situations, people prefer to go through the app store)

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