Nowadays, the common phenomena is to develop a website for a browser and then co

Question

Nowadays, the common phenomena is to develop a website for a browser and then corresponding apps for Android phones, iPhone, tablets and so on.

Since all the platforms come with a browser, why aren't companies using CSS to accommodate them? Surely we can detect from the request which browser was used and from which platform the request came. Reading those values, why don't we just implement the corresponding CSS for different platforms. Like we do for IE, Chrome and Safari. This way we can use the platforms' browser capabilities and don't need to develop subsequent apps for a platform.

Explanation / Answer

Making CSS specific for each platform is possible, but a lot of work. It also means maintaining multiple CSS files. Also, it is better to do feature-detection, instead of browser detection. I'm no expert on the matter, but you can just Google it, and you'll get enough results.

But, you say, isn't it also a lot of work to build and maintain multiple apps for multiple platforms? It is, but I think another reason comes into play here. And that is that native apps is what a lot of people expect these days. Native apps also have better/different capabilities than browsers, probably also better performance. Plus, native apps can be run when offline. And finally, native apps can be sold in an app store, creating revenue.

A mobile website probably also means using the lowest common denominator. So if a feature is supported by mobile browser X, but not by mobile browser Y, you can't use it or need a workaround. Then it's probably better to have native apps and use the full potential of the platform, without having to worry about the other platform.

So in short, the reasons can be

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