There's an app for that. And that. And that. But should there be? Or will there be? Platform-specific mobile applications might seem like the next big thing, but there are indications that they could be a passing fad, like Flash splash pages.

That's the comparison offered in a MobileBeat article this week, one of a few recent readings that make a case against native apps and in favor of standardized solutions like HTML5. The two other pieces, from mobile notification and purchase vendor Urban Airship and tutorial site Nettuts+, respectively, address developers' and businesses' mutual interest in creating consistent user experiences, which native apps complicate, and cover ways HTML5 can already be used in app development.

Like Flash splash pages, Peter Yared writes at Mobile Beat, native apps are expensive to develop and cumbersome to update. And, for all the resources they require, each serves only a fraction of the market.

On top of that, Yared goes on, apps easily get lost in app stores (especially on Android), forcing publishers to hawk them on their sites anyway. In the case of iOS, it's worth adding, apps are subject to a sometimes lengthy approval process that enforces restrictions on publishers' content and how they monetize it.

In part because publishers are going to be developing websites and mobile websites with HTML5 anyway, HTML5 apps are an attractive alternative. This synergy, the comparatively greater pool of HTML developers versus platform-specific programmers, the removal of any app store restrictions, and the ability to serve all platforms with a single app, would expectedly reduce the cost and hassle of building and maintaining apps.

HTML5 apps can't, at least not easily, achieve quite all of the functionality that native apps can — like accessing devices' cameras and local files systems. And this is something one would expect mobile companies to try to maintain through the design of their software and hardware. Still, the Nettuts+ article notes, HTML5 can accomplish most if not all of what the average publishers' requires.

At this point, there are merits to both approaches, but, publishers, especially smaller ones, should carefully weigh what they are gaining and what they are giving up by packaging content in a native app versus an HTML5 app — or even just incorporating it into a robust mobile website.