Mobile: a big step for apps, a small setback for Apple?

The salmon pink paper on which the Financial Times is printed is not now its only distinctive trait in the media landscape.

The FT has unveiled a new app for mobile devices. So far, so uncontroversial. Where it gets interesting is the fact that the app is not available from Apple's App Store. Nor is it available from Android Market (for devices running that increasingly popular operating system). Indeed, it hasn't gone at all for what is known as a 'native app' - one designed to work with a particular operating system, either Apple or Android.

Instead, the FT is now available via a mobile web app which can be directly downloaded via the browser - from app.ft.com - using HTML5, the very latest language for displaying content on the internet. (Interestingly, BBC Radio 1 has also gone down the same route and released a mobile web app.)

Why has the FT gone mobile web and not native? The FT explains on its website (registration or subscription required) that one of the main reasons is "to secure a direct relationship with its readers", amid concerns that Apple has been reluctant to share the data it acquires about users of its apps.

There's also a financial reason: Apple's terms and conditions mean Steve Jobs' highly profitable company keeps 30% of the revenue from purchases made from the App Store. With around half of all visitors to the FT online accessing it via mobile devices, that's a lot of 30% that the FT is potentially keeping to itself.

The FT's move highlights a major debate in mobile circles: should companies build native apps or these new web apps?

Native apps, by their very nature, have to be developed for each operating system. Not only is this costly and time-consuming, while a native app is great for those with the relevant phone, it excludes everyone else.

The iPhone only has 10% of the UK market, so an iPhone-only app is missing out on 90% of phone owners. Native apps also have to be approved by each store or market place, while they also require regular user updates via the appropriate store.

What's good about native apps is they can function offline and can be customised to get the best from the individual operating system.

Mobile web apps, on the other hand, can work across platform, meaning they're a lot cheaper to develop, and device detection - whereby the most appropriate content automatically displays - ensures each user gets a maximised experience. In theory, mobile web apps can work on any device that can access the internet, and there's no need for intermittent app updates.

There's no definitive answer for which way companies should go; but the FT's move could foreshadow a major shift in how content is delivered to mobile phones and tablets.