1. Defining the Basics: Web Apps vs Native Apps

Web Apps

Web apps are applications accessed through a web browser and run on the device’s browser engine. Users interact with them via the internet, eliminating the need for installation from an app store.

Native Apps

Native apps, on the other hand, are specifically developed for a particular operating system (OS) and installed directly onto a device. They harness the device’s capabilities, providing a seamless and optimised user experience.

2. Technical Underpinnings: A Closer Look

Web Apps

• Development Language: Primarily built using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Runs on any device with a compatible browser, making them platform-agnostic.
• Access: Accessed through a URL, requiring an internet connection for real-time updates.

Native Apps

• Development Language: Utilises platform-specific languages like Swift for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android.
• Optimisation: Tailored to harness the device’s hardware and functionalities, offering superior performance.
• Access: Installed directly on the device, allowing offline functionality and faster access.

3. User Experience: The Interface Divergence

Web Apps

• User Interface (UI): Often resembles the browser interface, limiting the scope for mimicking the native look and feel.
• Performance: Slightly slower due to reliance on internet connectivity and browser capabilities.
• Updates: Instantly reflect changes made on the server, ensuring users are always on the latest version.

Native Apps

• UI/UX: Offers a seamless and native user interface, integrating smoothly with the device’s design principles.
• Performance: Optimised for superior speed and responsiveness, leveraging the device’s hardware capabilities.
• Updates: Require users to download updates from the app store, potentially causing delays in implementing changes.

4. Examples in the Wild: Web Apps vs Native Apps

Web Apps

• Example: X’s mobile web app (m.twitter.com)
• Pros: Cross-platform availability, ease of maintenance, and cost-effectiveness.
• Cons: Limited access to device features, slightly slower performance.

Native Apps

• Example: Instagram, developed separately for iOS and Android.
• Pros: Optimised performance, access to device features, enhanced user experience.
• Cons: Higher development cost and effort, longer update cycles.

5. Pros and Cons: Weighing the Trade-offs

Web Apps

• Pros: Cost-effective development, easier maintenance, cross-platform compatibility.
• Cons: Limited access to device features, potentially slower performance, dependency on internet connectivity.

Native Apps

• Pros: Optimised performance, seamless user experience, access to device functionalities.
• Cons: Higher development cost, longer update cycles, platform-specific development.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Path

In the grand tapestry of app development, the choice between Web Apps and Native Apps depends on your project’s specific needs and goals. While Web Apps offer cost-effectiveness and broad accessibility, Native Apps provide a polished, platform-specific experience. Consider your budget, target audience, and desired functionalities to embark on a development journey that aligns with your vision and objectives. The tech world may be complex, but with the right insights, you can confidently navigate the path towards app excellence.

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CCleaner

This app is a system cleaner that helps you remove unnecessary files and programs from your computer. It can free up space on your hard drive, improve the speed of your PC, and protect your privacy. Key features include the ability to clean your computer’s registry, delete cookies and browsing history, and remove unnecessary software. CCleaner is a freemium software and has a pro version with more feature, but the basic version is completely free.

Glary Utilities

This is a collection of system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC. It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage and delete browser add-ons, analyze disk space usage and find duplicate files. You can also view and manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized access and use, split large files into smaller manageable files and then rejoin them. It is a free software which is fantastic.

Razer Cortex

This app is designed to optimize your PC’s performance for gaming. It can help improve the performance of your PC by boosting system resources and managing background processes. Razer Cortex also includes a feature called “Game Booster,” which allows you to temporarily shut down background processes to free up resources for gaming.

Wise Memory Optimizer

This app is a lightweight and efficient memory optimizer that helps you free up memory and improve the performance of your PC. Wise Memory Optimizer monitors your system in the background and frees up memory when it falls below a certain level. It also includes a feature that allows you to optimize your memory with just one click. This app is also free for the base version.

IObit Advanced SystemCare

This app is a comprehensive system optimization tool that helps you clean, repair, and optimizes your PC. It includes features such as a system cleaner, registry cleaner, and privacy protector, as well as more advanced features like a startup manager and internet boost. The app is a freemium product with more features included in the pro version which costs around $19.99/per year

Keeping your PC optimized and running smoothly can be a challenge, but with the right tools, it doesn’t have to be. The apps discussed in this article are just a few examples of the many options available to help optimize your PC. Whether you’re looking to free up space, improve performance, or protect your privacy, there’s an app out there that can help. With a combination of these apps, you can make your computer run smoothly and efficiently.

The post 5 Apps To Optimise Your PC appeared first on AppTrawler.

Keep Your URL Short, But Sweet 

There’s nothing worse than having to remember and type in a 100 character long webpage address just to find the site you’re searching for, so keeping your URL short and sweet is the first and most important step of a productive commercial website. Make sure that your URL contains your brand name or at least a similar reference or catchphrase that your customers are able to recognise easily, otherwise they may not even associate your webpages with your business and simply continue scrolling. 

The Design Matters 

The style and design of your website is the next most essential feature, as boasting a sleek and professional theme can boost your authenticity and encourage customers to realise how serious you are about meeting their expectations. Failing to put any effort into the look of your website may inspire users to believe that you aren’t a trustworthy source, and they will presume this lack of effort carries through to your products and services. A minimalist design is often your best bet, as busy themes with too many graphics, patterns and colours can be distracting and even take a longer time to load in the browser. It’s a good idea to source a talented web designer that can produce a few potential options for you to choose between, so take some time to find out more about what’s available! 

Present Your Products Well 

Simply providing a brief bulletproof description for your products or services isn’t enough to accurately purvey the true quality and detail, so you must make an effort to present your wares in the most effective manner possible. Always use photographs (and even videos) to show your products or prototypes from all angles, and be sure to show off examples of your work if you provide any physical services. The more descriptive you can be the less likely you are to experience customer returns, as they’ll know exactly what to expect before their order arrives.

Crafting the most attractive and effective website has never been so simple when you can take the time to make the most of the brilliant tips and tricks that have been carefully detailed above. 

The post How To Craft The Most Effective Website appeared first on AppTrawler.

Some insights on Android TV

Android TV serves as a smart TV platform introduced by the web giant Google. Compatible with all Android enabled devices, Android TV creates an interactive television experience via a 10-foot user interface overlaid on existing television programming. Announced on June 25, 2014, this Android feature can be easily built into television sets as well as standalone set-top boxes. With Android TV, you can gain a quick access to the Google Play Store that serves as a hub for applications which allow you to cast media(photos, videos etc.) directly to your big-screen television. And that’s not all, Android TV also emphasizes on the usage of voice search feature which enables you to quickly find content as per your search criteria. Android TV’s interface is segregated into three sections viz: recommendations on the top, media apps in the middle and games towards the bottom. You can easily navigate through these sections via a remote control, a game controller or a renowned Android TV Mobile app.

Now, some words about Google Cast

Do you want to enjoy a big screen experience for your content? If yes, then Google Cast is for you. It is a software technology that enables you to send and control content(audio, video etc.) from your small-screen computing device like smartphone, tablet, laptop etc. to a large display like a television. You need to have an Android OS-based device that runs an application which you may also avail via any reputed Android App Developing Company that uses the Google Cast API. This API will serve as a platform for discovering and communicating with the receiver application running on your big-screen device like television etc. You may even choose to customize the communication between sender and receiver applications for authentication. The best part of Google Cast is that it enables you to multi-task on your device while the content is being played on the television screen. For example, you can choose to search for a video on your phone’s YouTube application and directly send the video to your TV via the Google Cast application. Moreover, you can also choose to play, pause, seek and control volume using your phone itself.

Here are some interesting Google Cast apps that have become an instant hit among serious television viewers:

VideoStream

VideoStream is a wonderful app that allows you to stream local media to your Chromecast. It supports a wide range of formats including MKV and FLV in addition to subtitle files. This free app comes with support for ads, playlist etc.

CloudCaster

CloudCaster is a brilliant Android media player cum viewer app that allows you to stream the cloud-based media including photos, video and music tracks directly to the Chromecast. This app supports streaming from Dropbox, Bitcasa, Drive and many other online data storage platforms.

Netflix

Netflix is yet another Google Cast-ready app that allows subscribers to cast the most recent episodes of popular television shows straight from the cramped smartphone/desktop screen to the wide television screen. While the video is being played on the television, you can enjoy surfing the internet via your mobile device.

Summing it all up

Android TV and Google Cast are indeed the sweetest surprises for television lovers residing in different corners of the world. If you too are one, then don’t delay in experiencing the features available with these two services. Hope this blog would’ve helped you gain a good insight into the same.

Do drop in your views/opinions on the above post using the comments box below.

The post Small To Big Screen Casting- Possible Via Android TV And Google Cast appeared first on AppTrawler.

Lucidchart’s creators bill it as a one-stop solution for creating any diagram type–it’s essentially the online answer to Microsoft Visio.  Lucidchart will help you create wireframes, mockups, flowcharts, mind maps, and technical diagrams like UML & ER diagrams.

Since this app is built on open web standards, it runs incredibly well in modern browsers, especially Chrome.  You’ll have worse luck if you try running it on an outdated browser.  There’s nothing to install, and each account type has a free trial option, which is good for our risk-averse readers.

How it works

Lucidchart starts you off with an open grid-based canvas that’s easy to figure out.  Your shapes are on the left side, design options are on the right, and a ribbon at the top of your screen allows you to customize fonts, line fill, arrow type, etc.

The app has a whole range of shape libraries, which you can pull up by clicking the ‘More Shapes’ button in the bottom left corner.  The interface is drag-and-drop, with almost unlimited opportunities for customization.  For example, you can tweak fill color, arrow types, color gradient, line thickness–even the curviness of the line can be customized.  I found it quite easy to snap shapes and lines into place, although you do have to spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the right-hand dock, where most of the design options are.

Real-time collaboration

Probably the best feature of Lucidchart is its real-time collaboration.  Since it’s cloud-based, multiple collaborators can hop on a document and work together in real-time, whether they’re on different continents or sitting at the same table.  Edits are synced instantly, which is a huge time-saver, and you no longer have to deal with multiple versions of the same document housed who-knows-where.  I can’t emphasize enough how this simplifies team projects, especially when it comes to bouncing ideas off of each other–an activity that usually requires another third-party service like Skype or Google Hangouts.  Another bonus of online diagramming is its accessibility–Lucidchart works on any browser, from any location, with any device.  Very convenient.

Sharing your docs

Obviously, you can maintain your diagrams in your docs list within Lucidchart.  But you can also share them to a variety of places, including popular image files (PNG, JPEG, PDF), a permanent online PDF link, blogs and wiki embeds, and so on.

Final verdict?  The experience of a online app is a little different from its desktop brethren, but we really enjoyed it.  Drawing was smooth and easy, and the collaboration features are top-notch.

If you’re still iffy about Lucidchart, try it yourself; they offer a free demo of the editor experience.  And let us know what you think!

The post Review: HTML 5 Web App – Lucidchart appeared first on AppTrawler.

Notes can also be organized using the tags feature and once written your notes can be emailed, printed, and even turned into a web page, should you want to share your ideas, shopping lists, or meeting notes with the world.

Additional functions include the ability to read notes in a full screen mode, a word counter, and pin important notes to the top of your list, otherwise the notes are organized in a most recently edited order.

The free version does have advert support but it is so unobtrusive you barely register them and with a paid version at only $20 a years they can be easily removed.

The premium Simplenote account also syncs your memos to a Dropbox account as well as allows users to e-mail entries to your account. Couple this with an increase in backups from 10 to 30 versions of each note so you can trace your revision history and you have a solid app for any budding writer, blogger and general note taker.

As a blogger I find this app invaluable as it allows me to write ‘everything’ down, access it everywhere, keep an eye on my word count and then when I’m ready, post it on the blog.

In a sea of note taking apps this is by far our recommendation for the best app in its field.

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplenote/id289429962?mt=8

The post Review: SimpleNote – Note taking made simple appeared first on AppTrawler.

Trello organizes itself through a series of ‘boards’, there is no limit on boards (that we have found anyways), and they essentially can be used to separate projects.  Once a board has been created, it again opens to a blank workspace where the user can begin to create the tasks which a project requires.  This is the point at which Trello becomes the most useful to the user.  When creating a card the user can insert all the relevant data in a myriad of forms.  There is room for notes, of course, but there are also ways of adding due dates, checklists, color coded ads, polls, and even attach and exchange files.  Once a card is created to a users liking, you can begin to invite other Trello users to participate in that card, and to a degree that board.  Although, users will only see the cards on a board they have been granted (and accepted) permission to see.

Trello updates in real time and keeps an archive of completed tasks in case you wish to review past information on a project.  As the logistics head of a Buffalo, NY dumpster rental company we use Trello to keep real time tabs on our dumpster locations, current billing cycles, and to help monitor deadlines for the upcoming construction of a recycling center.  The ease of use of the app has proven particularly helpful to our agents in the field.  Simplistic, private, and free, there is little more you demand of an app providing the services you need.  As such it is easy to rate the Trello app very highly.

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