web app - Should iOS native app be distinctly different than the responsive website's mobile version?

I was in a training session, where a room full of designers were learning iOS prototyping in Xcode, and there was an individual there who came from Apple to make sure everything in the course was done properly, and if there were any questions, she would be the point of contact (mind you, she was a developer). Then she brought up a point where native iOS apps should be distinctly different than a website's responsive mobile site.

Apple's ideology is that the iOS native app should be different than their web experience, but from the data we are getting, users don't make a distinction between mobile and native and that the experience in both should be consistent.

I believe they shouldn't have different experiences, and leveraging the web's assets into the native app should be the way to go (hybrid apps: Amazon does it, Twitter does it, but Apple doesn't).

I downloaded Apple's native app, and yes, their experience is different. But why? Why does a mobile native app have to have a different feel? Does it? But if it doesn't, then why is Apple doing that? Is there something we, the public, are unaware of? If we don't need very different experiences then why does having to create a iOS app have to be a thing (putting aside that it's faster and more responsive in terms of interactions and animations - let's just pretend that responsiveness is equal in both environments).

Answer

If your app is the same as your website, then why have an app?

As a mobile user, it drives me crazy how every single website tries to convince me to download a dedicated app, which often turns out to be nothing more than the same web functionality repackaged. This adds no user experience benefit at all.

I'm sure the company in question thinks it is a major marketing benefit to have a dedicated icon cluttering my home screen, but I just find it annoying. And since these apps are often done poorly, they create plenty of negative feelings toward the company when I try to use them.

This is something that "the data [you] are getting" may not capture. If you are just asking users to evaluate the app itself, you might not be capturing the experience of being asked to download and use the app within their phone environment. There is a definite negative here if your app just ends up feeling like a website, in my (subjective but very strong) opinion.

In short, if you're gonna make an app:

• It should have a reason for existence. There should be a need for it that the website doesn't meet well. And I am talking about a reason the user wants it, not a reason the company wants it to be on the user's phone.



• It should work well as an app, integrating into the phone environment. Often this does mean having a native look and feel. I suppose an app that does not follow platform conventions, but works well and accomplishes its task, may work fine in some cases. Not having a native appearance is a risk, though, as it may mean it is counterintuitive to users.

This rant might be a bit misdirected, and my apologies if it doesn't really apply to you. But even if this doesn't directly describe your company/client, I still think this is a good way to think about the issue.