Does Your Business Need a Native Mobile App?

The Mobile Imperative

You've decided to build a digital application to better serve your customers—that's a smart move! A very important thing you need to be aware of is: The Mobile Imperative.

It's an established fact: most people access the internet primarily through their mobile devices. For many, a smartphone is their only computing device. Yet, astonishingly, some businesses still neglect this reality, clinging to the belief that "all our customers access our services via desktop." This mindset is a critical mistake.

If your application isn't accessible and functional on mobile, it will be impossible to reach its full market potential. An app that works seamlessly on mobile devices isn't a luxury; it's a fundamental requirement for any modern business.

Web vs. Native

Acknowledging the mobile imperative brings us to the next, more nuanced question: Is a mobile-optimized website enough, or do I need to build separate native applications for iOS and Android?

For the vast majority of businesses, the answer is clear: you'd be wiser to focus your time and resources on building a web application only. For many use cases, attempting to build and maintain native mobile applications introduces unnecessary complexity and delivers little tangible benefit.

The web platform is incredibly robust and feature-rich. It’s more than capable of handling not just informational websites but sophisticated applications like Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Content Management Systems (CMS), and e-commerce platforms.

The Complications of Native Development

Choosing to go the native route means committing to developing for two separate platforms: Android and iOS.

Cross-platform tools that aim to solve this by allowing developers to write once and deploy everywhere exist; however, this approach is far less straightforward than advertised, rife with pitfalls, and frequently results in inconsistent experiences across different devices.

In contrast, when you develop for the web, your application instantly runs on every device with a modern web browser—a ubiquitous platform that requires no special downloads.

Publishing & Distribution Headaches

For your native app to be available to end-users, it has to go through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store; this process introduces extra hurdles:

• Review and Approval: Both stores subject your application to a rigorous review and approval process. They reserve the right to reject your app or remove it at any time, for any reason.
• Updates: Every single update to your application must pass through this same process again, slowing down deployment and iteration.
• Cost and Registration: You must register with both entities, and in the case of iOS, pay a non-trivial yearly developer fee.

To publish a web application, you do not need permission from any third party; you just deploy code to your server, and updates are instantly available worldwide to anyone with your URL. Speed and agility are paramount in today’s market, and the web provides that advantage.

When Native Apps Win

There are, of course, scenarios where building a native application is the best, or only, choice. These are generally applications that require direct, low-level access to a device's hardware or demand extreme performance, like: Video games, 3D rendering engines, and professional-grade video/photo editing apps.

A Common Business Example

Consider a typical business application: a hair salon scheduling app. The product requirements for such an app are simple:

• Display a modern and mobile-friendly User Interface (UI).
• Allow customers to sign up and schedule appointments.
• Allow customers to post testimonials and be notified about events/promos.
• Send and receive data securely over the internet.

These requirements are low-to-moderate and perfectly met by any modern web browser. There is no technical need for this app to be native. Furthermore, it’s even possible to build it as a Progressive Web App and offer users some native-like features such as an icon on their home screen and even limited offline functionality.

Focus Your Resources Strategically

Focusing on the right platform means allocating time and resources efficiently. Don't complicate your project with solutions for problems you don't have. Your business likely doesn't need a native mobile application. Instead, invest your resources into building a fast, reliable, and exceptional web experience that works perfectly across all devices.