The debate over application design for mobile and whether it should be natively built, HTML5 or a hybrid continues, it seems to have resulted in a “draw”. In a recent survey conducted by Kendo UI of 3,500 developers (you can get a copy here) they, despite their in-mass prediction that HTML5 would be the winner in the same survey just last year, are now indicating that they are doing what makes sense in each individual circumstance, not just going to HTML5.

Last year 94% of the same folks were certain that HTML5 would be taking over and had already begun coding primarily HTML5 apps. According to Todd Anglin, EVP of Telerik who makes cross-platform developmentt tools, “Developers … are quickly realizing that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for their mobile development process. The choice between native and hybrid approaches is dependent on business needs, app requirements, developer skill, development timeline, and other factors.”

You can’t count HTML5 out yet as it is still developing and many are turning to combining it with Javascript in order to overcome some of the initial problems, particularly its erratic behavior when using a browsers native rendering engine. This alone has driven many developers back to using native app development specific to individual mobile operating systems.

Famo.us believes it has the solution for gaining all that HTML5 promised without the performance issues that make it less attractive to developers, particularly those working on devices that won’t run Flash. Currently they have 7,000 developers signed up for the beta of the new framework and a quick visit to their demo site will give developers more than enough reason to check out this new approach.

Gizmox, a provider of HTML5 platforms and development tools, recently made Visual WebGui Version 7 available as part of its effort to aid developers in getting more out of HTML5. Itzik Spitzen, Gizmox CTO, promotes Visual WebGui’s ability to compete with native development saying, “The mobile features available in Visual WebGui 7 along with Visual Studio 2013 integration make an exciting combination for development teams creating and deploying data-driven business applications with native-quality user experiences.”

So how do you decide, if your a business that is considering developing one or more mobile apps, which approach to take?

Best to consult with an expert that can analyse your business and how you or your users can best be served. With the development world changing and evolving each day it is hard for internal, more focused, IT teams to keep up to date and making the wrong choice could cost you time, money or even customers. Reaching out to a development company with experience in all the options and a well thought out methodology for evaluating your business and business processes is the best way to avoid mistakes.

Either way, apps are expected to surge in numbers as mobile device use also surges worldwide. Businesses are quickly discovering that apps can and do improve thier bottom-lines if they are designed correctly and “future proofed” by using as flexible an implementation as possible. Careful examination of your audience’s use of devices, how they receive and react to information and what is in the best interest of your businesses bottom-line.