The dawn of smartphones have changed the way in which we think about the interaction between ourselves and information. While on the desktop the experience between the user and the web is still very much centered around the browser, on the mobile side, there is a very clear preference for applications rather than websites. In fact, users may detract from an application if it is merely a pointer to a mobile site.
I believe however, that what they do not like about the pointer app is not such much that it only redirects them to the mobile site, however the mobile site operates simply as a site rather than an app. The fundamental difference between the design ideologies of the app and the site is that the app is very much a reactive experience, in that there’s an expectation of smoothness from the user in its use, as well as the inclusion of reactive elements such as a visual indication of being pushed, or swiping across a page, or some other element which relays to the user that they are connecting with the application directly. A mobile site however tends merely only to display the information that it wishes to relay to the user. If there are interactive elements, then they are sparsely placed.
