"launched a new native app. I can't say I'm thrilled about that"
What's the reasoning there? The trend back towards mobile web vs. native? Or do you mean you're not thrilled about it not being a native wrapper around a web view?
Apologies if you've given background on this in a previous post.
I think native apps for news sites are ridiculous. It's one thing if you have some kind of content that the web doesn't handle particularly well (like streaming radio) or if you're writing an application that needs serious hardware. But it feels silly to have to download an app to read some relatively simple news documents, when the browser is right there.
I also have serious problems ethically with putting our journalism into someone's app store, particularly given Apple's terrible record for policing "controversial" content there. The web is where we're free to write whatever we want, as journalists, without any intrinsic gatekeepers (as much as Facebook tries).
That said, in this case, I don't necessarily make the case that the paper shouldn't have an app. If management wants that, it's fine. But creating an app that can't actually handle the richest stories that we create, especially when I was specifically hired to push the limits of what the Times does online, is frustrating.
Comments on
What's the reasoning there? The trend back towards mobile web vs. native? Or do you mean you're not thrilled about it not being a native wrapper around a web view?
Apologies if you've given background on this in a previous post.