Why develop iOS/Android apps to replace web pages?
I can understand why you would want to write an app for a game like Angry Birds, but I don't really see the point for Facebook or Linkedin.  These platforms already provide a browser and the sites in question operate perfectly well from the browser on my desktop.  The last time I checked, HTTP included information about the type of browser that the request is coming from, so why don't these companies generate specialized HTML that's geared toward the screen size and capabilities of these devices instead of generating and supporting an entirely new code base?  What am I missing?
Why develop iOS/Android apps to replace web pages?
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I can understand why you would want to write an app for a game like Angry Birds, but I don't really see the point for Facebook or Linkedin.  These platforms already provide a browser and the sites in question operate perfectly well from the browser on my desktop.  The last time I checked, HTTP included information about the type of browser that the request is coming from, so why don't these companies generate specialized HTML that's geared toward the screen size and capabilities of these devices instead of generating and supporting an entirely new code base?  What am I missing?