Over the past year or so, there has been a lot of buzz about apps, in no small part due to the popularity of the iPhone and iPads.

Apple has successfully ushered in a whole new industry with its App Store, which offers both free apps as well as paid apps.

For each paid transaction, Apple takes a 30 percent cut. This even applies to paid subscriptions that people take out on newspaper and magazine apps. And this has rankled the media, which is already hurting from declining print revenue.

NONEThe digital and online space is supposed to be a new frontier for publishers but with a hefty 30 percent ‘tax’ on subscriptions, it will make it hard for some of them to make any profit.

The bad news for publishers is that, if you want people to download your app to their iPhones or iPads, you'll need to go through the Apple App Store.

The good news is that the old maxim ‘There are many ways to skin a cat’ applies to technology as well. Perhaps I should say that it especially applies to technology. Put up stringent barriers and some technology will emerge to overcome it.

In the case of apps, it's web apps that might do the trick. It won't replace the app store but it will deliver an app-like experience to your customers via the browser. So there's no download needed, just a browser.

To learn more about web apps, watch this YouTube video created by Google, a big proponent of web apps.

If you want to experience some web apps, visit Google's Chrome Web Store where you can play ‘Angry Birds’, for example, via web app. How well it works will amaze you.

NONEThe Financial Times (FT) recently decided to launch its own web app and is aggressively urging its readers to switch to this version.

"We have launched a new, faster, more complete app for the iPad and iPhone which is available via your browser rather than from an app store,” says the FT on its web app homepage.

“We're encouraging our readers to switch immediately to the new FT web app, as many new features and sections will be added over the coming weeks. Make sure you don't miss out on these updates."

The reason is obvious. It doesn't want to be constrained by Apple's strict app policies for publishers regarding in-app purchases as well as purchases made outside the app.

Alternative to Apple

Earlier this year, Apple had announced rules for selling apps that will prohibit publishers from providing links to their websites inside their apps. This is to prevent outside app purchases. All in-app purchases will naturally have to go through Apple.

Although Apple has since backtracked somewhat on its stringent rules, the publishers have already been stung and they want to have an alternative.

The FT web app looks and feels like its app sold through Apple’s App Store. The main difference is that there is no download involved and readers instead access it through a browser on their iPhone or iPad. Because it is browser-based, the content on web apps is automatically refreshed and doesn't need to be downloaded or synced.  

The emergence of web apps is a significant development for publishers because it means they are no longer at Apple's mercy. But for some publishers, it's actually the only way to give their readers an app experience.

NONETake Playboy magazine, for example. Because of Apple's ‘no pornography’ policy, Playboy's app would have been rejected by the App Store. The only way around that is to launch a web app, which is exactly what Playboy has done.

Launched in May, the web app gives readers access to every issue of the magazine dating back to its beginnings in 1953. It's not free, of course. An annual subscription costs about US$86 and none of that will go to Apple.

Another company that doesn't want to play by Apple's rules is Facebook, a tech behemoth in its own right. According to online media reports, Facebook too is said to be working on web app )codenamed ‘Project Spartan’( which is likely to be integrated with Facebook's micropayments and purchases system.

Will web apps one day replace native apps? It's still early days and only time will tell. But given the advantages of web apps and the ability to sidestep Apple's stringent rules and requirements, it's a safe bet that many more companies are going to give web apps a try.

 


OON YEOH is managing editor of a local publishing house. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/oonyeoh