First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology

Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

CHAPTER 2 : WEB APPLICATION & CONTENT

There are three main types of applications: desktop, mobile and web.

a. Explain the differences between them.

b. Some apps exist in all three formats and are available as not only mobile apps but
also desktop and web apps. Some apps are a mix between a web app and desktop
app (hybrid apps).

 Find 1 example of application that exist in all three formats. Explain the
differences between the user interface and provided functionalities for each of
the applications. State
 Find 1 example of application that exist in only two formats. Explain the
differences between the user interface and provided functionalities for each of
the applications.
 Find 2 examples of applications that exist in only one format.

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First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology
Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

a) Desktop applications are design to run on a desktop, and don’t need web access to
function. They could be represented by icons that same as the application icon on the
mobile.  Examples include Paint, Notepad and open shot. They could also relate to a
custom “application” used for a specific purpose within a corporate environment.

Mobile applications usually made for mobile devices, are downloaded on "play stores"
like iTunes and Google Play, and are accessed through an icon on your phone’s
desktop. Creating these can be challenging for a developer  as different mobile apps
need to be created for Apple, Android and Blackberry, and for the most part the code
can’t be shared between device platforms. Instagram, Facebook, many and social media
sites all have mobile applications. Today, when most people think “apps,” they see
smartphones, tablets, and icons.

Web applications use the web and browser capacities to accomplish honed task.
Differentiating web application from web is confusing, as boundaries are dynamic. The
important takeaway is apps are generally small, and do something specific. Some
photography sites are web applications where as a company’s marketing page is
probably a website. Such sites can be accessed by mobile device browsers, but only if
they have web access. Widgets fall under this category from a technical standpoint, but
their presentation is more similar to a mobile app. They’re built from the same programs
as web applications and access networks, but are packaged and installed more closely
to mobile counterparts. Examples of web applications include browser add-ons, online
retail stores, email platforms and Flash games.

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First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology
Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

B i)One of the example of application that exist in all three formats is Instagram.

Figure 1.0 Interface of Instagram on mobile application

Figure 1.1 Interface of Instagram on desktop application

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First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology
Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

Figure 1.2 Interface of Instagram on web application

As you can see, the user interface of Instagram application on desktop and web is actually
the same. The desktop version is only created to make it easier for the user to assess the
application. But the interface of Instagram on mobile are different from the other since mobile
have a small and portable screen size , so the interface have to fit with the size of the
screen. For desktop and web, the navigation bar is on the top right side of the page, but for
mobile the navigation bar are at bottom of the page, except the sign of “direct message ” are
maintain at the top right side of the page. Besides these, user are only able to post story and
picture with the mobile but not desktop or web, but user are still able to watch the others
story and picture using desktop or web version of Instagram. Last the desktop and web
version will show some suggestion of account for you below the navigation bar ,while mobile
will insert the suggestion account in the main page , between the post that your following
account posted.

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First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology
Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

ii) One of the example of application that exist in only two formats is Facebook. User are
allow to access face book through web or mobile application.

Figure 1.3 Interface of Facebook on mobile

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First City University College CDIT434 Internet Technology
Faculty of Engineering & Computing Tutorial

Figure 1.4 Interface of Facebook on Web

Based on the figure, the interface of Facebook on Web is much more easier to use because
of the size of screen so that more information can be show on a page. The mobile version of
facebook is actually a simple version of web version. The middle of web is actually same
with the mobile version, but in web version the page show additional information on the left
and right side such as some shortcuts of game, groups or page , advertisement , some of the
user contact and so on. For mobile user most of the information and feature are gather
with the “hamburger” feature that are show on the top right corner of the page on the
mobile. For the functionalities , both version of the application are the same , user are allow
to post picture , story , video, status on their timeline.

iii) 2 examples of applications that exist in only one format are tiktok and Pokémon go