Content is king, and apps are the easiest, most accessible way for people to view it. Everyone seems to live on their smartphones lately. So as a marketer, it makes sense to get your content in front of them that way. There are two kinds of apps you will need to consider as a marketer. Native apps and web apps.
If you’re going to build an app, you need to know the difference between the two. Which is the right kind for your business? In this article we’re going to delve into some of the details so you can figure out which kind of app your business needs.
Native mobile apps
Native apps are normally for news, social media networking and shopping. The word native applies because the apps are designed to be native to a particular platform, such as Android, Apple, or sometimes Blackberry and Windows.
The point of these apps is that they make the user experience so much easier. They look great and they perform well. When they’re designed for use with a specific platform, they are optimized for use with that platform which enhances the customer experience dramatically.
There is only one drawback here: if you want your app to be used on various platforms, you will need to design it to work with each one.
The three main platforms and their languages
Apple uses iOS, which are built in what is known as ‘Objective-C language’ or ‘Swift’, an even faster language. They’re not easy to learn, taking half a year for aspiring developers to master.
For Android apps, developers must use Java programming language. This is more common than Apple’s Objective-C and is easier to learn. Previously, Eclipse was the most common language. Plus, Google now offers a development environment, Android Studio. It’s fully integrated with support.
Windows Phone is supported by Microsoft, but it’s not as popular as the previous two. It’s good for those wishing to build enterprise apps, though. The languages used for Windows Phone apps are VB.NET (Visual Basic) or C#. When building an app on this platform you’ll be able to use Microsoft’s Visual Studio, which is one of the easiest to master.
Hybrid mobile apps
One plus point of Hybrid mobile apps is that they can be installed and run though a web browser. Hybrid apps are creating with HTML5. Native apps have taken over though, as they’re faster and more reliable. Native apps download images much more quickly. Users can transition between the available content more easily.
The good thing about Hybrid apps is that they save you having to build apps on separate platforms. This literally halves the work you have to do, and consequently the number of people who need to work on it. Hybrid apps could work well for you if you need to deliver a lot of content on multiple platforms.
Traditional, responsive and adaptive web apps
You’re more likely to be familiar with traditional web apps. These are fixed in appearance. Then there are adaptive apps; these have identical designs to the web apps, but they just fit the screen better on mobile devices.
Responsive web apps are designed to morph into the most appropriate format for the device you’re using. It will look different on your mobile than the appearance you’ll get on your laptop, for example.
Although web apps are easier to build than native apps, there are a few drawbacks. For one, web apps can’t use the device hardware. So there will be no accessing a camera roll the way Facebook’s app can. One major drawback is that web apps don’t appear in the app stores; they’re only accessible on the internet, which makes it more difficult for potential users to discover.
Where to start with native apps?
You’ll probably agree that native apps are the way to go, for the most part. But as these are typically the most difficult apps to build, you could be wondering where to start. If you have a spare six months and a lot of determination, you can learn to do it yourself, sure.
If you don’t, you’ll probably need to hire a developer for your app. It just so happens that we know a team of experts who are fully trained, with lots of expertise. You guessed it… it’s Optimasit. We have a wealth of experience developing native apps for our clients in Marbella and beyond. In fact, app development in Marbella has never been more accessible.
If you’re looking to build a native app, the next logical step is to contact us so we can talk you through what is required and figure out a plan that works for you. If that sounds good to you, get in touch.