LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012: Developers and businesses debated the potential of HTML5-based apps to replace their native siblings at Congress today.

Speaking on the ‘Mobile Applications: Apps for All – How Apps are Changing our Lives’ session, TripAdvisor VP, Mobile Partnership, Nathan Clapton, said fact the apps are “so well established in the consumer mindset around the world” means it will be tough for web apps to outcompete them. “I think on a technical level there are certain functions that native apps provide much better than HTML5,” he added.

CEO of apps analytics firm Distimo, Vincent Hoogsteder, agreed that native apps will survive. “I don’t think [HTML5] will kill native apps. What we sometimes forget is the consumer doesn’t care. If you build something that fits one purpose really well, if that’s HTML5 or something else, it doesn’t matter.”

Head of Telefonica’s BlueVia, Jose Valles, said the increase in internet-connected devices will make HTML5 web apps more relevant but not to the extent that web apps will be wiped out. “I don’t think [HTML5 is] going to kill native apps but there is going to be a migration of the percentage of usage of the applications to HTML5.”

Session moderator, IDC analyst Scott Ellison, meanwhile suggested that native apps will always be one step ahead of web apps. “As we see HTML5 begin to catch up to native OS capabilities, the native OSes will evolve again,” he said.

However, FT.com MD Rob Grimshaw argued that HTML5 does have the potential to replace native apps. FT.com replaced its iOS native app last year, replacing it with an HTML5 web app, which has proved popular. The company has also boosted revenue from the app as a result, with Apple no longer taking a cut from subscriptions.

“HTML5 will take down native apps. Why do you need a native app if it can all be done on the web? Apps are the aberration, not the web,” he said.