January 7, 2009
Understanding the different platforms for different apps
A quick look from IT Management at some of the basic architectural issues in play for iPhone apps. The article raises concerns on whether it's always safe to download an app, but this part is useful in generally understanding the different types of apps:
The first wave of applications we’ve seen on the iPhone/Touch have been in a few different general categories. Stand-alone apps and games are one big category—basically, apps that require no special network connectivity in order to be able to run effectively.
We also have networked apps that simply acquire and display data from network sources—think news headlines, weather reports, and that sort of thing.
Then there are full-blown network apps that require authentication via user login credentials, and access the user’s account information on a server somewhere—think Amazon, Facebook, and the Apple application store itself. Most of the networked applications we’ve seen to date are basically mobile “desktop” versions of their web-based counterparts.
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