Do I need an app or a website?
Most businesses need a website, and many ideas that sound like an app are better built as a web app that runs in the browser. You only need a mobile app from the App Store or Google Play when your product depends on something an installed app does better: working with no signal, heavy use of the camera or sensors, notifications at the heart of the product, or people opening it every day. If none of those describe your idea, start with a website or a web app. This article explains the difference and gives you a way to decide in about ten minutes.
Website, web app and mobile app
A website is pages people read. It tells visitors who you are, what you offer, and how to reach you or buy from you. A restaurant’s menu, a law firm’s practice areas and a plumber’s contact page are all websites.
A web app is something people log in to and do things with, in a browser. A booking system, a customer portal where clients see invoices and upload documents, a dashboard your staff use to track orders. There is nothing to install. It works on phones and computers from one web address, and it often sits alongside your website.
A mobile app is installed from the Apple App Store or Google Play. It lives on the phone’s home screen and is built for that phone’s operating system.
The line between a website and a web app is accounts and actions. If people only read, it is a website. If they sign in, save things, pay or change data, it is a web app.
Why most businesses do not need a mobile app
When someone tells us they need an app, what they describe is usually a web app. Customers book, pay and check their account. Staff log in and update records. None of that needs an app store.
A web app has practical advantages for most businesses:
- One build reaches every device: iPhone, Android, laptop and office desktop.
- No store approval. You publish when it is ready.
- Updates reach everyone straight away. Nobody has to download a new version.
- People can open it from a link in an email or text message, with nothing to install first.
A web app can also be added to a phone’s home screen, where it opens with its own icon like any other app. On most modern phones a web app can send notifications too. That covers a lot of what people want a mobile app for. Support does vary by device and browser, though, and the experience is close to an installed app without being identical to one.
What a mobile app costs beyond the build
A mobile app can be the right product. It also comes with costs that are easy to miss when you first price it up.
- You usually build for two platforms. iPhone and Android are separate systems. There are tools that share code between them, but you still test, release and maintain the app on both.
- Every release is reviewed. Apple and Google review each version before it goes live, and they can reject it. A fix you need out today may have to wait.
- The stores take a share. Both charge a developer account fee, and both take a commission on digital purchases made inside the app, such as subscriptions.
- People resist installing. Asking a customer to find, download and sign up to an app for something they do once is a big ask, and some of them will give up. A link that opens in the browser skips that step.
These costs are worth paying when the product needs what only an installed app can do well.
When a mobile app is the right choice
An installed app earns its place when your product depends on one of these:
- Working without a connection. Field staff in basements or rural areas, or anyone who has to record information where the signal drops.
- Heavy use of the camera or sensors. Scanning documents or barcodes all day, tracking location in the background, or connecting to devices such as fitness trackers.
- Notifications as the core of the product. If the whole point is an alert arriving at the right moment, you want the most dependable notifications available.
- Daily, repeat use. When people open something several times a day, a home-screen icon and a quick, native feel matter. Messaging, habit tracking and ordering the same coffee every morning are good examples.
If your idea fits one of these strongly, a mobile app belongs in the plan. It can still come second.
A sensible order for a new idea
For a new product or service, we suggest building in this order:
- A website to explain it. Say what it is and who it is for, and let people sign up or get in touch. It is quick to change and tells you whether anyone is interested.
- A web app to prove people use it. Build the core of the product in the browser. You can change it as often as you like while you learn what customers actually do.
- A mobile app once they use it often enough to want it on their phone. By then you know which features matter, so the app is built around how people really use the product.
Our own product is built this way. FFSN is a subscription product for fantasy football leagues, with accounts, payments and live updates. It is a web app that runs in the browser on phones and computers.
Decide in ten minutes
Answer these five questions about your idea:
- Will people use it once or daily? Once, or now and then, points to a website or web app. Several times a day points toward a mobile app.
- Do they need to log in? No login usually means a website. A login means at least a web app.
- Does it need to work offline? If working without a signal is part of the job, lean toward a mobile app.
- Does it need the camera, location or other phone features? Occasional use, such as uploading a photo, works fine in a browser. Constant or background use leans toward a mobile app.
- Who are the users, customers or your own staff? Staff tools are usually best as web apps, because everyone gets the same version the moment you publish it. Customers you deal with once are unlikely to install anything.
Then find your situation in this table:
| Your situation | What you need | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I want customers to find me and get in touch | A website | People need to read about you and contact you. There is nothing to log in to. |
| Customers need to book or pay and check their account | A web app, usually alongside a website | They sign in and do things, and it works on any device from a link. |
| Staff need a tool to do their jobs | A web app | One version for everyone, on phones and office computers, updated instantly. |
| People will use it several times a day on their phone | A mobile app, often after a web app | At that frequency, a home-screen icon, notifications and a quick feel matter. |
| It must work with no signal, or relies on the camera or sensors | A mobile app | Installed apps handle offline use and phone hardware best. |
If you land on more than one row, start with the simplest option that does the job. You can add the next piece once the first is working.
Your next step
Write down your answers to the five questions. If all you need is a few pages and a contact form, a website builder you set up yourself may be enough for now. If you want a site designed around your business, our web design and development page explains how we build them. If your answers point to a web app or a mobile app, app development covers how we plan and build both. If you are still unsure, send us your answers and we will tell you which one we would build first.