Web Apps vs. Native Apps - What Fits Your Business the Best?

Organizations  tend to lean more towards deploying their own business apps as promotional or marketing tools  in order to increase awareness about their services and products. Enterprise app deployment is a multi-step process, starting from idea generation to app testing and deployment. In between, these two steps come application planning, design and development, and documentation

One key decision that makes or breaks the app is whether it  will be installed on the device (native app) or if it will be accessed from a  web-browser (web app). Both native and web apps have their own pros and cons, but we’ve put together a list of factors that affect their viability the most. Let’s look at where both platforms stand with respect to those factors.

Maintenance Costs and Security

To deploy a native app, businesses need to get their applications approved by the relevant app store before it is made available there. ( available where?)  Even though the approval process is time-consuming, it guarantees security and quality, which is critical to an app’s success. That’s what smart phone users look for in mobile apps first.

However, web applications don’t require any approvals, as they are entirely browser-based and don’t have to install  onto the device. Web apps are designed using a common code base that consists of languages such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, or PHP, that makes maintenance easier and increases compatibility considerably. However, since every mobile platform uses a different programming language, a separate application has to be developed for every platform in the case of native apps. This increases both the development and maintenance costs, as well as the complexity. It also makes updates harder to roll out.

Native Apps vs Web Apps: Which is Right for Your Enterprise Needs?

Access Based on Operating System or Web Browser

A Native App is built specifically for an operating system. For example, a native app like the app store itself is developed for just that operating system. You can’t install the Google Play Store on a Windows based or iOS based device, and can’t install iTunes on an Android device. Additionally, native apps can easily use the hardware on the device such as the camera with some basic permissions.

Web Apps, on the other hand, are built especially for modern browsers that largely follow the same design principles and standards. They can easily run the code, without much of a problem unless a specific browser on a specific platform has some limitations. An example of this would be the Outlook web app. This app can be accessed from a mobile web browser without installation. However, a Web app has very limited access to the native features of a mobile device.

Updating Different Versions of Applications

As web apps are ‘installed’ on a single server, mobile users would always get the latest version. Developers and business don’t have to worry that much about tech support or update roll-outs. Conversely , native apps need updates rolled out for every platform, making them a hassle to maintain. Because of this, businesses need highly  effective tech support for native app users.

There are several other considerations as well when it comes to the native versus web apps discussion, but these are the most critical. , The right answer depends on each scenario. What might be good for one business might be a failure for another.

Have you considered deploying your own mobile app? What platforms and model are you considering? Do let us know in the comments below and thank you for reading!