As the information technology industry evolves, more and more consumers choose a fast and convenient way to communicate with companies via smartphones. So if you're going the app route with confidence, you must ensure it is worth your time and money.
What does it mean to be mobile-friendly? It is a primarily high-performance, high-speed Internet, and convenient push notifications in today's world. But does your company need it?
Let's say you've made a fast mobile app with an excellent interface and adaptive design. However, it never replaces a site because of an incredible effort to manage, duplicate and integrate multiple codebases, which seems insane. A mobile/adaptive website will make sense as the beginning of mobile outreach strategy implementation. Therefore, any company must build interaction with consumers on three basic principles:
Respect for customer choice.
Introducing a canceling culture of aggressive stimulation.
Applying modern technology to improve the user’s experience.
Entrepreneurs should think long and hard about whether a native app is the right way to go. The MPS editorial board created this guide for its readers to see all the pitfalls and advantages.
Before we start a fair comparison of desktop vs. mobile capabilities, it is worth briefly assessing their differences. The mobile website differs from the one on the PC by the interface adaptability on screens of different sizes. Also, additional smartphone functionality may include click-to-call or location maps. What about apps? Users download them from concrete platforms and can retrieve content similar to the website. However, an app creation must have a particular business purpose and rarely can be successful without an adaptive website. So, why do you need a mobile app? Let's get this straight!
The speed - mobile websites are instantly available
Mobile and PC sites are more user-friendly than apps because you only have to go into the browser and search for the necessary info. Before visitors see anything, an application must be found, downloaded, and installed. The list of these actions is an obstacle between conversions and the initial interaction.
Compatibility - an ability to use sites in different operating systems
While building mobile apps, you have to note various versions for each system (whether iOS or Android). But the same website can cover visitors from any corner of the globe and integrate with other technologies (e.g., QR codes, NFC.)
Frequency of updates - new versions of sites are more dynamic in terms of changing content
If you want to upgrade your web pages, all you need is a couple of clicks. The new app release goes through the approval of changes, backlog sprints, and testing. Only then it is presented to the people.
Easy crawling - information on the site is more available to crawlers
A well-optimized site will rank at the top of the SERP, significantly increasing the company's visibility within a particular industry. The app is primarily restricted to App Stores manufacturers.
Product lifecycle - a site is more durable
According to studies, the apps’ life is about 30 days, or even less, if they are not presented with something original and valuable. Well, web pages are always available if their content is up-to-date and useful.
Resources and maintenance of the site development will cost much less than apps
An app often needs a considerable investment of resources. Its support is also more expensive than a website’s.
Despite the many apparent advantages of web pages, apps remain a popular strategic decision that may sometimes kill biz or grow its capabilities with renewed vigor.
If you are confident in return on investment and earnings, you should create an app. So let’s find out if you need a mobile app.
Interactive activities
Games have 43% of all mobile users, indicating the expansion of such devices and ease of access. So this may be the best solution because it will cover the lion's share of your earnings.
Personalized services
If you offer a unique experience (like sharing information on Facebook), you should probably create an app. Think through all possible scenarios to meet all the basic and additional needs.
Additional features
When you launch an application, you are probably overwhelmed with expectations of something incredible. And to get it, you have to open access to the camera or processing power. Your app will become even more effective, won't it?
Push notifications
If the visitor has allowed push technology, this indicates more communication with the companies. Such an aspect is also inherent in websites.
Standalone access
Perhaps this is a potent argument for why you should create an application. Viewing content without access to the Internet and local storage solves numerous problems.
Consider PWA instead
There’s been a strong demand for progressive web apps (PWAs) in the past few years. A hybrid of an app and a web page is already predetermining the future of technology. Let's compare them from the programmer's perspective to understand what’s better: PWA vs. native mobile app.
Languages
PWAs apply HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Native applications utilize Objective-C and Swift for iOS; Java for Android.
Cost
Are you still claiming that your small business needs a mobile app? Be practical: assess whether your budget can cover the cost of developing, testing, launching, and maintaining the product. PWA has a lower price than the native app.
Updates
The relevance of apps depends on the speed they are updated: PWA is quicker to make and upgrade.
Ease of use
While building a web app, you must provide versions for concrete OS, pay a fee for registering a programmer profile, submit it to various App Stores, and meet several requirements to be published. PWA lets you not think about all that and only use the search field. Nevertheless, we should not rule out the obvious perspective of a rapid increase in conversions and branding.
Here are a few more advantages of PWAs:
SEO is more effective than App Store Optimization (ASO): a crawler will index the site, making visitors more likely to open it.
PWAs are reliable and safe because they have to run under HTTPS.
The visitor does not need to perform a series of actions to access information.
In comparison with an adaptive site, the PWA loading speed is much faster. But the native app is more potent than progressive web ones, if only because the code runs faster and does not need a large consumption of the device resources.
PWAs' functionality is inferior to native apps. For instance, push technology and NFC vary across platforms, but geofencing or smart locks are not accessible.
PWA is an excellent choice to build simple communication with your clients while having a limited budget and little time. To enhance your reputation, you should look at a full-featured application.
While there is no denying that mobile is taking over around the globe, you can expand your customer base with smartphones. But what about those who sit in front of a computer all day? A dual marketing campaign can satisfy all the needs of different audience segments. Nevertheless, before implementing such an experience, you should research desktop vs. mobile usage.
Instant purchases, a vast information field, and good performance have changed user habits and made it easier to interact with companies. In 2022, smartphone users are 6.65 billion, which equals 83.72% of the world's population owning a device. At the same time, more than 54.4% of users utilize mobile device website traffic. That means that entrepreneurs should increase the budget for website optimization.
Today, about a third of programmers choose cross-platform application development. This approach is helpful for visitors because they don't have to deal with updates manually. Remember that a tech stack won’t allow the same flexibility as a stack explicitly made for iOS or Android.
Note! Alphabet, Alibaba Group, and eBay are also applied cross-platform frameworks.
Will the app bring more sales potentially?
Mobile app functions present a unique user experience (UX) that increases brand loyalty and expands the audience. They are a gold mine for entrepreneurs and could make more than $935 billion in income by 2023. About 70,000 new Android apps appear in the Google Play Store every month.
We should expect an increased demand for mobile apps, reflected in clients’ preferences. Perhaps shortly, more innovations will improve the UX and create a unique relationship between the company and the customer.
Conclusion
We thought a lot about developing native apps and concluded that when choosing tactics, there are several principles to consider:
Are there any privileges of the app worth the expenses of its creation?
How do you intend to support it?
How viable is your interaction model in terms of income?
Our best advice for beginners is to make a plan and assess the risks. That will help determine the choice.
Every self-respecting business owner, at some point, thinks of improving employees' knowledge, mastery, and confidence. They may already succeed in creating an eLearning platform for corporate training. However, it still needs constant updating to keep the staff up with time and deliver the most relevant data. While developing online lessons is a lengthy process requiring experience and tech power, distributing tasks can become the only solution for companies searching for quick and efficient results.
Today’s busy and tech-savvy online customers are interested in mobile-friendly educational courses suitable for smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets. User-centric and accessible, gamified and bite-sized, mLearning can happen anytime, anywhere. You should learn how to implement it in the organization to make it a part of your corporate culture.
If you practice edtech in your organization, then you might already understand the crucial role of digital learning platforms in constant employee growth. Corporate training has a direct impact on your company’s productivity.
