Should you design a mobile app or a web app?
ProCreator Solutions
Nov 19, 2020
Apps have become a part of our daily routines. From ordering food to booking a doctor’s appointment, everything can be accomplished with either Mobile Apps or Web Apps. Well, if you have to build a product and you're wondering if it should be a mobile app or a web app. This one's for you. In this blog, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of both of these options are.Let's first understand the difference between the two.Mobile Apps - To users, these are the apps they download from a store like the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store on your phone. These apps are built, keeping the OS(iOS and android) in mind. Since these apps are installed on your phone, they do not necessarily require an internet connection to function well. Some examples of great mobile apps are - Spotify, Instagram.
Web Apps - These apps are basically websites that you access via your browser. They can be made responsive or adaptive to fit any screen size. Since these aren't installed on your phone, you will require an internet connection to use them. Some examples are.
We're going compare the two approaches based on the following parameters -
Although there's more to consider
Web Apps - These apps are basically websites that you access via your browser. They can be made responsive or adaptive to fit any screen size. Since these aren't installed on your phone, you will require an internet connection to use them. Some examples are.We're going compare the two approaches based on the following parameters -- Development Costs
- Functionality
- User experience
Development Cost
The cost of building a mobile app is greater than developing a web app since you gotta consider both platforms while developing a mobile app (Native Mobile App), without which you'd miss out on some of the key advantages of building a mobile app. Even if you opt-in for on a crosss platform, development the cost for building and maintaining a mobile app is way higher than a web app.
Functionality
With a mobile app, there are virtually no limitations to the functionality you can add. Be it accessing the GSP, camera, the vibration motor for haptic feedback, or even the different sensors present on the phone to provide a truly immersive and customized user experience. An app that does this beautifully is CRED. The beautiful design clubbed with subtle haptic feedback gives a perfect feeling of premium service to their user.
User Experience
There is no doubt that a mobile app delivers a better user experience. One of the many reasons for which is that we carry our phones everywhere. And it falls under a personal pretense in our lives. So mobile apps will always have the edge over web apps in this category. However, web apps can have a point for being convenient and not taking up space on a user's phone. Something that's always accessible when needed.Although there's more to consider- Web apps don't need to be installed.
- Updates can be pushed in real-time to web apps, whereas mobile apps aren't updated until the user updates it himself through their respective app stores.
- Websites are easier to discover through SEO and other marketing material. At the same time, apps are discovered mostly via a search on the app store.
- Mobile apps can engage users better through notifications and actions on the phone. In contrast, most websites can just push annoying notifications via a browser or send emails and SMS to engage users.
