Native App Decline and The Rise of The Web App
In 2018 the “app” as we call it, turned 10. Since the 500 apps in the first iteration of Apple’s App Store, there are now millions of them available on both iOS and Android. By June 2017, the Android Play store reached more than 3 million apps and there were over 2 million in Apple’s App Store. As the app development matures, however, is it still as useful as it once was?
The number of Android apps reached their peak in March 2018 at 3,6 million but has declined since then. In 2017 Apple saw the number of apps decline for the first time due to a mix of deleting old apps and seeing fewer app releases. (This Information is collected from Different sources.)
In light of the evolving landscape of online tech solutions, In this article, we will discuss the rise of web apps in place of native apps and compares the two especially for those companies who might be thinking of making an app, also may be delving into making a native app without thinking of other options that are available.
Understanding what app means:
The first thing needed is to clarify what the word “app” means. There are two main ways to build a digital face of products for mobile: native apps and web apps or web applications. Native apps are digital products that work on the operating system of your mobile phone, that must be downloaded first and it uses your smartphone’s features. This is a bit like an in-house employee who has the keys to all the doors. Web apps are digital products that work through the internet browser of your mobile phone which uses some features of your phone. They’re like external workers you hire in and have the keys to some doors, can still provide a great service and potentially work for you full-time if you wish to use them.
Native apps are coded with a different code according to each operating system. This means if you want to build a native app that works on Apple Phones and Android phones both, you’ll have to build it twice with different codes. A web-app is built once with one set of coding and works on all mobile phones as well as on desktops. To make things simpler, Below, is the distinction between website and web app. A website is informational, and a web app is interactive.
Native Apps: the pros and cons:
Once you’ve downloaded any native app that is a more autonomous solution. The app will offer you user experience that will be speedy, works offline and looks good. A native app can access all the features on your phone such as the camera, the contact list, GPS, and Bluetooth making the best use of what your phone has to offer with downloaded app.
However, native apps are time-consuming and costly to develop. These apps are less flexible and have high maintenance costs. They have longer download times and need frequent upgrades which could be frustrating for users. Furthermore, you could not use search engines or web-based links to bring users directly to the app in the app store. This means there are more restrictions to get users to download the app and start using it such as Facebook and Instagram.
Web Apps: the pros and cons:
Web Apps, on the other hand are less costly to develop, more flexible and have lower maintenance costs. These apps have minimum download time and are very easy to update. You also don’t need the app store to get it downloaded to start using it.
The downsides of web apps are that they work through the web browser, they do not have the same access to all the features on the phone and cannot use them. The user experience is not always optimized. As web apps evolve, however, the introduction of PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) has brought web apps even more close to the native apps.
Conclusion:
Native apps are here to stay but there is a shift that has started to happen that some companies have not fully realized yet. There are several possible methods of building a digital product adapted differently for certain clients and businesses. As the web app progresses as well as the other developed solutions like Facebook and Chrome add-ons, chatbots, a range of better-adapted solutions is already out there. Companies of all sizes must take a step back, focus on problem and take a moment to analyze the solutions before jumping into creating an app if they don’t need to have that app. There will possibly be a better solution out there and web app could be one of them.
Clarity is proud to have been providing Mobile and Web Application Development to North America for several years. With the addition of our Dotmantech division and an extensive team of developers, we will continue to surpass expectations.
Call Clarity at 800-354-4160 today or email us at [email protected]. We are partnered internationally around the globe and we are open seven days a week 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST/EDT. http://45.33.92.219 and https://dotmantech.com.
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