Mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular, especially among consumers who want to save time and money. They are convenient, quick and easy to use. But they also come with some disadvantages.
We design Apps to be used on smartphones and tablets. They are usually smaller than websites and therefore easier to navigate. Apps are also often free to download. However, there are also downsides to using apps instead of mobile-friendly websites.
Whenever I get an inquiry from a business owner about developing a mobile app, I get disturbed. I get a bit disturbed because, in most cases, I realise that their attraction is to the trend where every brand seems to have a mobile app.
With a mobile app, the app marketplace restricts the visibility of your app. Click To TweetThese business owners want to jump on the bandwagon believing this will automatically translate into a successful business. In most cases, they don’t have a mobile strategy, nor do they know how the app design will fit into their marketing campaign or overall marketing strategy. They are clueless regarding the development cost of this mobile technology, measuring user engagement, or benefitting their broader audience.
They are eager to jump on this modern technology to wow their customer base. Some don’t even know what mobile feature they need in the app, nor do they understand what must-have or special features they need to include for the average smartphone user. So I try to help them face reality by highlighting what’s involved in getting a mobile application.
What Are Apps?
According to Wikipedia, a mobile application or app is a computer program designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. A web-based app typically requires a much smaller amount of memory space in a user’s device because the databases are stored on the Internet server.
Popular mobile apps include Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Telegram, Snapchat, Zoom, Messenger, Netflix, and Spotify.
Apps vs Websites: Which Should I Choose?
Today, mobile apps are everywhere. Whether you want to shop, play games or watch movies, you’ll find something on your phone. And since smartphones are now almost essential items, it makes sense that businesses would want to reach their customers through them. However, there are pros and cons to both types of platforms.
Generally speaking, a mobile website should be considered your first step in developing a mobile web presence. In contrast, an app helps develop an application for a particular purpose that cannot be effectively accomplished via a web browser.
Apps usually store their data locally on mobile devices, unlike websites that use web servers. For this reason, data retrieval happens swiftly in mobile apps. Apps can further save users’ time by storing their preferences and taking proactive actions on users’ behalf.
The main difference is that a mobile app is a program downloaded and installed onto a user’s mobile device. In contrast, a mobile website is simply a website adapted to tablet and smartphone formats.
Websites still give smaller companies a better chance to be seen than a mobile app. Creating a website is often cheaper and takes less time than creating an app. However, an app can give your business some unique advantages you can’t get from a mobile-friendly website.
Are Mobile Apps Safer than Websites?
Mobile apps are safer than websites because they are designed for smartphones and tablets. They also offer better security features such as two-factor authentication and encryption. However, some mobile apps do not use HTTPS for data transmission, so hackers could intercept information sent between users and the app’s servers.
Disadvantages of Apps Compared with Websites
Below are some disadvantages of apps compared with websites for mobile users.
Immediacy
So long as you have an internet connection, a mobile-responsive website is available. Your mobile website will be accessible to mobile phone users on different devices and platforms.
Mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular, especially among consumers who want to save time and money. Click To TweetBut with a mobile app, you’ll first need to download the app from the right app marketplace. You also need to ensure that it is compatible with your mobile device. Then whatever content is in the app is on your device.
Compatibility Issues
There’s more to building an app than meets the eye. You need to ensure that it’s compatible with your user’s mobile device. Your mobile app needs to fit the particular operating system to function correctly. Thus, every platform–iOS, Android, and Windows–requires a separate app version. Of course, it’s possible to develop a cross-platform solution that’s supposed to fit every operating system and device.
Your content is available to mobile users worldwide with a mobile responsive website. The mobile user can access your content with no hassle.
Your mobile app development company needs a detailed brief so they can give you an exact idea of the app feature you want. Click To TweetBut with a mobile app, you’ll first need to download the app from the right app marketplace. You also need to ensure that it is compatible with your mobile device. Then whatever content is in the app is on your device.
Compatibility Issues
There’s more to building an app than meets the eye. You must ensure that it’s compatible with your user’s mobile device. Your mobile app needs to fit the particular operating system to function correctly. Thus, every platform–iOS, Android, and Windows–requires a separate app version. Of course, it’s possible to develop a cross-platform solution that’s supposed to fit every operating system and device.
Your content is available to mobile users worldwide with a mobile responsive website. The mobile user can access your content with no hassle.
Your mobile app development company needs a detailed brief so they can give you an exact idea of the app feature you want. Click To TweetNeed for Regular Updates
You must regularly update apps to conform to revisions from platform providers, such as Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). As a result, companies that provide mobile application development services would put together a package that included ongoing updates.
New versions of mobile devices are churning out daily. It would be best if you kept pushing upgrades to your app marketplace. Then have your users download it from their app marketplace to their devices.
Application updates must be re-approved by application stores, so consumers must either re-download an entire application or download software updates to use the latest updates.
With a mobile-responsive website, once you update the site’s content, it is available to website visitors. Again, this is without further stress to your website visitors.
Doesn’t Help Search Engine Optimisation.
Search engines rarely index mobile apps. It is probably one of their most significant disadvantages. Thus you cannot optimise them for organic traffic – and Google or any other search engine cannot help users locate your app.
The link of the application, and listings of the application in stores, are the two primary marketing tools to drive traffic to a mobile application. Alternatively, you must wait for people to discover your app on the app store whenever they search for a specific app.
But with a mobile responsive website, you can submit your website to search engines like Google. Or to industry-specific web directories for indexing.
Submitting your site to search engines and web directories makes it easy for people using Google and other web directories to search for and find your content.
But with a mobile app, the app marketplace restricts the visibility of your app.
Short Lifespan
Your mobile-responsive website is available for life! Your domain and hosting account will remain valid if you renew them. And you also maintain a proper backup routine. Users can keep returning to them when they wish! But, unless your mobile app is pretty unique and helpful, its lifespan is short.
Not Versatile
Your mobile app development company needs a detailed brief so they can give you an exact idea of the app feature you want. The mere act of making an app may prove counterproductive and a waste of resources.
You can develop your website to mimic the look and feel of a native app. Simulating a native application eliminates the need to have a dedicated native application.
Costly Investment
Developing an app is undoubtedly costly. But it could improve productivity (if it’s a business app) or enhance the mobile experience, customer engagement, user experience, customer satisfaction, customer service, customer loyalty and sales (if it’s a customer-facing app) with your potential customer.
The time and cost required to develop a mobile-responsive website are less than that of an app. The cost of customer and tech support for a dedicated native app is more expensive than that of a mobile site.
You must wait for people to discover your app on the app store whenever they search for a specific app. Click To TweetAdvantages of Apps Compared with Websites
It will only be fair if we also look at some advantages. Below are a few you need to consider.
Stores Data Locally
Mobile applications are way faster than mobile websites because they store data locally and retrieve the relevant dataset instantly.
Personalised User Experience
Mobile apps can tailor a delightful customer experience based on user behaviours, geography, language, and interest.
Available Online/Offline
Keeping the relevant data within the device ensures that it performs pretty well in both online and offline modes efficiently. Serving the service offline develops a seamless customer experience as well. This also enables Mobile apps to leverage the features of native devices seamlessly. This also allows users to receive instant updates and push notifications. Your company can also use push notifications to aid its branding opportunity. Once push notification is enabled on their device, the user can receive your message whether they are online or offline.
Conclusion
As you can see above, if you use experts in developing mobile apps for your business, you can address all the potential disadvantages of having an app.
As a modern technology, apps may often be easier to use by your target audience or customer base, but they can also be less secure. They can also be harder to update and keep up to date.
In conclusion, apps are great for businesses looking to create mobile-friendly experiences.
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