Authors:
Henning Heitkötter
;
Tim A. Majchrzak
;
Benjamin Ruland
and
Till Weber
Affiliation:
University of Münster, Germany
Keyword(s):
App, Mobile Web App, Framework, Cross-platform, Comparison, Evaluation, User Interface.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Accessibility Issues and Technology
;
Internet Technology
;
Multimedia and User Interfaces
;
Usability and Ergonomics
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
;
Web Interfaces and Applications
;
Web Programming
Abstract:
Mobile Web apps are an alternative to native apps when developing mobile applications for more than one platform. They can be accessed from almost any current smartphone and tablet using a browser. However, developing a Web app adapted to the particularities of mobile devices such as limited screen size and touch-based interaction requires consideration and effort. Several frameworks with different strengths and weaknesses support creating mobile Web apps. In this paper, we develop a set of criteria to be met by mobile Web frameworks of high quality. Based on these criteria, we evaluate jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch, The-M-Project, and Google Web Toolkit combined with mgwt, thereby assessing their suitability for certain situations. We find Sencha Touch suited for mobile Web apps of moderate and increased complexity, while jQuery Mobile is a good starting point for apps primarily concerned with a mobile user interface.