Differences Between Mobile Applications And Mobile Websites

• By Praveen Singh
• 16-03-2020
• Mobile Apps

More companies are now looking to embrace a mobile strategy as the number of mobile users has already overtaken the desktop ones. Similarly, more people now use apps than they do desktop and this has left businesses to think about whether they should stick with mobile websites or go with mobile apps instead.

While many in the industry are against the idea of a mobile app as they believe having a website that looks good and works better on mobile devices would do the job perfectly. On the other hand, there are many who believe mobile apps have definitely more benefits than a website.

So, it basically boils down to your business priorities and goals as both apps and websites have their own pros and cons. The right strategy is to understand in detail about how apps are better than websites or vice versa and then take the call for your business.

Mobile App vs. Mobile Web: What’s The Difference?

• Both mobile apps and websites can be reached or accessed via a phone or tablet

• While mobile websites have browser-based HTML pages linked together, mobile apps are standalone applications to be downloaded and installed on users’ devices

• There are responsive mobile websites as well made to adjust itself to different screen sizes and layouts but no such arrangements are needed with mobile apps

• While mobile websites can display text, images, data and video, mobile apps do work quite like websites in terms of pulling content and data from the internet which can be accessed without the net

Mobile App Pros

• For a company, an app will be a totally separate product from its website and often work as an extension of the brand

• Apps give business new branding opportunities as app development agency can use new styles and tactics with them

• Apps give users one more channel of engagement with the company

• Apps give users the benefit of personalization where they can customize it to suit their needs

• Apps are very helpful in tracking user engagement and also in offering updates and custom recommendations to users

• Apps can help provide a location and geography-based content to meet their browsing goals

• Mobile apps are great from user engagement perspective for its features like push notifications, camera, automatic updates, alerts and tab to call or mail

• Although many apps require a net connection to perform their tasks, there are apps that can run without the next as well offering users an opportunity to work offline

• Mobile apps have more interactive ways for users to engage with different types of content and contribute to better conversion rates

Mobile Website Pros

• Mobile websites are easily accessible across platforms and have greater search engine reach capability than mobile apps

• Mobile websites are definitely more cost-effective than apps

• Mobile-friendly websites will always rank better in search engines, therefore will offer superior website traffic and brand visibility compared to apps

• Mobile websites may be great for brand visibility but they surely lag behind apps when it comes to offering personalization benefits to users

• Mobile web experience will depend on a lot of factor including the network access, quality and speed which is not the case with apps

• But yes, mobile websites have wider audience reach as they can be easily shared and accessed and maybe that’s why they continue to be a top priority for businesses

Clearly, both apps and sites have their shares of advantages and you can always rely on a top app developer to build the one that meets your needs perfectly.