Field Force Apps, 3 Reason to go Native

Posted by on Feb 7, 2013 in Mobile Industry Trends | 1 comment

field force apps
Mobility and field force apps go hand in hand. Native apps offer a unique set of attributes that cannot be achieved through web-based or HTML5 technology (can be but only with a unique development platform called Blackberry WebWorks, we will talk more about that in another post). Below is an outline of why mobile software rather than mobile web should be used for field force initiatives.

Field Force Apps – Offline Mode = No Wireless Data Costs

The great thing about native apps is that they can work without an internet connection. This allows enterprises to save on data costs and upload cached information once field force staff get back to the office or if necessary, the closest coffee shop.

Field Force Apps – Camera Integration and Storage

HTML5 and web based solutions do not offer camera integration, therefore attaching photos and storing them on the device is unproven. A native app can integrate with the camera application programming interface and store photos on the device. Therefore users can attach photos to forms and other field force initiatives

Field Force Apps – Native Apps Offer Stability

Native based mobile software offers much more stability than web-based solutions, especially when storing and caching photos and media. Since native apps are running off the device and not a browser, they are able to store files without connectivity. HTML5 offers caching capabilities it has yet to be proven for field force enterprise solutions.

Well, there are multiple options when it comes to building a field force app. If you are interested in discussing how we can implement an app that suits your needs and objectives, fly me an email

Take a look this post about Blackberry 10!

Blackberry is Back, with a New Name, Revamped Brand, and Different Stock Symbol

Short URL: http://bit.ly/UEMrXt

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One Comment

  1. Larry February 7, 2013

    These reasons may make sense only if you’re working on a platform that doesn’t support web technologies as first class citizens.

    On BlackBerry (for at least 3 years) so-called “web apps” weren’t executed in the browser, so it’s been possible (and there are many great examples) to write an HTML5 app that 1) runs offline just fine and is fully-functional, 2) has complete access to the camera and all other device capabilities and functionality like the file system and sensors, and 3) is just as stable as a native app.

    HTML5-based apps on BlackBerry 10 are treated by the OS as, well, regular old apps. Their runtime engine is webkit-based, but they’re not running in a browser context and there’s no requirement for a network connection. We have a javascript library, called WebWorks, which facilitates access to device-specific features that are not yet part of the HTML5 spec. As device features become part of the specification, we’ll adopt them and drop our webworks API bridge.

    Learn more here: https://developer.blackberry.com/html5/documentation/what_is_a_webworks_app_1845471_11.html

    Hope readers find this helpful.

    –Larry McDonough

    Principal Evangelst, BlackBerry
    @lmcdunna

    Reply