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If you plan to build a mobile app for your business, it is a good idea to understand the different types of mobile apps you can have. Understanding their differences will also help you determine which type of app is best for your business. We will guide you through the process of developing a mobile app to help you make an informed decision.
What is Mobile App Development?
Mobile app development is the process of developing mobile applications for mobile devices, such as a smartphone or tablet. These applications can be pre-installed, or users can download them to their mobile devices later. Creating a mobile app requires careful planning, and you must think of the software installed on a device, data accessibility, and testing.
Most Popular App Development Platforms
Ah yes, the age-old feud between Android and Apple. These are the two most popular mobile app development platforms. While they both have similar software development kits (SDKs), the most significant difference is that Apple’s iOS platform is exclusively for their own devices. The Android platform is available for other companies to use.
Types of Mobile App Development Platforms
To determine the best mobile app for your business, you must learn the differences between them and how each one operates.
Native App – Native apps are built specifically for a mobile device’s operating system (OS). For example, iOS is exclusively for Apple devices.
Web App – Web apps are accessible by a web browser on your mobile device. They are responsive websites that adapt their user interface to the user’s device.
Hybrid App – Hybrid apps are web apps that look like native apps, and it is a mixture of web technologies and native APIs.
Native Apps vs. Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
Native Apps are built specifically for a mobile device’s operating system using the tools and SDKs offered by platform owners like Apple and Google. Because they are made for specific platforms, you can’t use an iOS app on a Samsung phone.
Progressive Web Apps are native apps running inside a browser. This type of app runs through a browser on a URL using the network connection. So, if your network connection is not great, you tend to lose interactivity.
Advantages of Mobile Apps
There are quite a few advantages to having a mobile app, especially considering that most online traffic today is powered by mobile devices. There is almost no limit to how much use you can get from them. Here are a few advantages of having a mobile app.
Personalized Experience
You gain direct access to user information and collect data from user sessions with an app. It’s a marketers goldmine! Some additional features that help you create a more direct approach are:
- Push Notifications – Users are more likely to opt for notifications than email marketing.
- In-app clickthrough rates – Calls to Action (CTAs) and advertisements will always have a higher clickthrough rate within apps.
- Response Time – User engagement time is much faster within a mobile app. Users tend to respond immediately; versus email marketing, you could be waiting for a response for up to 6 hours.
Available Offline
Offline apps allow people to use a mobile device without having the presence of wifi or cell signal. Offline capabilities enable people to access information or capture new information when they need to. Offline apps make it possible to:
- move content off the server before the user needs it. This then makes the data accessible on the users phone.
- collect data and store data on the phone even if the user is not connected
- Complete tasks and store them in the field without a connection
Monetize App Platforms
When analyzing the best ways to utilize app monetization models, it’s crucial to consider your user journey and experience. Here are a few popular ways to monetize your app.
In-app purchases
In-app purchases allow for a discreet monetization method to enhance the user experience.
Subscription Services
You can monetize your app by offering a subscription service to your users. Depending on what your app offers, you may even consider setting up multiple tiers with different levels of value. For example, you can provide a free service, a basic service, and a premium service.
Monetize your Apps with Ads
In-app ads are probably the most common way to monetize your mobile app, and this method also commonly allows your app to remain free in the app store.
The Statistics on Mobile Apps
Did you know that 18-24-year-olds spend 66% of their digital media time using smartphone apps? If you stop to think about it, it makes sense that most of our screen time is on mobile apps. Below are a few statistics that will convince you to stay up to date on app development trends.
- The number of smartphone users in the world is 3.8 billion.
- In 2020, the average smartphone user had about 40 apps installed on their phone
- The mobile app market was predicted to generate up to $581.9 billion in revenue by the end of 2020.
- 87% of smartphone users spend their mobile time in apps, not web browsers
Mobile App Development Cost
When it comes to the cost of app development, you have two options—hiring an app development company or developing an app in-house. App development companies will often have the experience needed to build more complex applications along with the capability to follow a proper timeline. If you choose to develop an app in-house, your development cost decreases, but you do risk not following your intended timelines and fixing more mistakes (which could cost you more money) due to the lack of experience.
App Development Benchmarks:
Putting a price on a service is never easy, but there are some benchmarks that you can use to help guide your decision.
- Simple app development price tag – $16,000 – $32,000
- Medium complexity app development price tag – $32,000 – $48,000
- Complex app development price tag – $72,000+
- Cost of hiring a US app developer ~$105,000 / year
Develop your App with NW Media Collective
Now that you’ve learned how app development can help your business, are you ready to create one? If so, NW Media Collective has an experienced app development team. With the ability to create iOS and/or Android apps, as well as mobile response-ready websites. We also have the ability to track and report customer engagement from multiple platforms, websites, searches, social, etc. Get started with us today by filling out our contact form.
