But is it native?

• There is a common "vague question" when it comes to apps whether "is it native?"
  • Usually this question is proping whether the app has been built with the "cannonical app stack" (e.g. Swift for iOS, ...)
• I'm thinking this question is should be more about whether an app feels native in respect to the targeted platform and whether it supports the most relevant user interactions for a given domain and whether the used technologies are not noticable in a bad way (e.g. app feels slow)
• Typical cases: Electron apps have a bad reputation
  • It's actually possible to build native-feeling Electron apps that people love
• Interactivity of window when not focussed
  • Hover states, window dragging, ...
• Sub windows
  • e.g. for app settings
• Drag & drop files from/to app
  • e.g. dragging a file from Slack to Superhuman
  • drag and drop between different app windows
• Loading states
• App background activity (e.g. syncing, ...)
• Performance
  • Speed
  • Memory footprint
• Case study
  • Video conferencing (e.g. Zoom vs Google Meet)
• Goal: invisible technology
• Cursor behaviour
  • In the web everything is a cursor: pointer

Thoughts by Brent

some random thoughts that came to mind for me

• Offline support - a native app is usually expected to run offline. Similarly, a web is not expected to run offline (it feels odd every time I use YouTube to watch downloaded videos on a plane without wifi... and sometimes it doesn't work)
• Matches user's expectations - ui and interaction patterns that are native to the first party apps on the platform
  • swipe to dismiss screens on iOS or perform a quick action to an item in a list
  • long press the back button on ios to see the full title of the screen you're going back to
  • tap a tab bar icon to go back to the root of the navigation stack in that tab, or if you're already at the root of it, then scroll to top
  • if an app is built with swift/uikit for ios but they have a completely custom ui, navigation, and gestures that disregard conventions, it might not "feel native"
• Share content to and from the app on mobile
• in general, "native" apps tend to use platform features because they're easier to reach and use, while non native apps tend to go for their own custom stuff that feels off