The advantages of native applications over the mobile web
Both mobile websites Y native apps accessed through portable devices. That’s where the similarity stops. Apps are downloaded and installed on iPhones, Android phones, and tablets, while the browser-based HTML pages of a mobile website are optimized for a smaller screen. Businesses have two great options for building a strong mobile presence, but there’s no denying that each has its own set of unique benefits. You may consider investing in native mobile apps if your end goals and/or situation are similar to the following:
Offer a specific user experience
Customer-facing solutions deliver powerful experiences. They encourage commitment and generate results. Native mobile apps provide the flexibility to create specific user experiences. Apps can unlock one or more of a smartphone or tablet’s advanced features, such as camera, GPS, voice memos, gestures, accelerometer, or scanning, or work best for those who use Evernote or similar devices on a regular basis. If you want to tailor an experience to each user’s personal tastes, a native app is a better option compared to a mobile website.
Help for complex calculations and reports
An Android or iOS app is always a good idea when you have to display complex calculations, reports, or graphs. If the software needs to perform complex algorithmic calculations or follow a certain flow, then an app can provide the information more intuitively. For example, stock price charts, investment banking research reports, and diagnostic data can be more easily accessed through a native application.
In this sense, the applications work well for e-commerce companies. They are increasingly used by e-commerce companies for SMS integration to encourage social sharing. Mobile app capabilities allow users to share via Facebook, SMS, or email. Users can also take full advantage of time and location-based reminders, as well as interactive pop-ups.
Best interactivity or games
The closed environment of native apps makes it a preferable choice for gaming on mobile websites. Being fast and refined, the apps also lend themselves well to high-performance gaming. The high responsiveness associated with a native app is one of the reasons Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg replaced the mobile web with a native app in 2012. Apps don’t rely on the internet or network speed to present information at your fingertips. This responsiveness encourages greater ease of use, a major reason why some businesses prefer them over mobile sites.
Games that require more advanced performance features often use native development, while the API adaptability of web and hybrid applications makes them well suited for games that don’t require a high level of performance. Although mobile websites are slowly catching up when it comes to speed, native apps currently win the competition for responsiveness, which is essential for delivering an enjoyable gaming and interactive experience.
Eliminating the need for a connection
While HTML5 offers in-browser caching, native apps are a natural choice when you want to provide offline access to content or perform tasks with wireless or network connectivity. Android or iOS apps can also be configured to periodically sync with back-end sources. This is beneficial for users on the go, as they do not need an Internet connection every time they perform an update. It also keeps data costs low.
So will mobile websites make native apps obsolete? Due to the current state of the Internet, browser technologies, and computer hardware, we don’t see mobile websites that make native apps obsolete for quite some time. It’s a safe bet that native apps will be around for at least the next seven years. “There’s an app for that” is here to stay!
