The HTML5 speed tax

It’s odd, given how much HTML5 is celebrated as the grand panacea that will save us all from nasty native apps, that what should be the flagship example – the Facebook app – has just shifted from HTML5 to a native app on iOS:

This doesn’t mean that Facebook is abandoning HTML5, Johnson says. “The mobile web is still very important to us, as are all of our interfaces,” he said. Problem is, HTML5 is a technology that, while promising in the long run, isn’t able to deliver the type of speed and performance we expect right now. It’s a long bet, and something that Facebook aims to continue developing.

Sounds like pinning all you hopes on skirting round Apple with HTML5 web apps might not be a guaranteed solution. If Facebook can’t do it…