NATIVE APPS OR WEB APPS
Which direction makes sense for your business?
Deciding whether you should build your mobile app as a native app or mobile web app shouldn’t be complicated. But if you’ve been stuck on this question, you’re not alone. There are two big causes for native versus web indecision: lack of clarity on native app and web app features and benefits and lack of clarity on business goals.
Based on research and interviews Lextech CEO Alex Bratton conducted with industry leaders and fellow mobile app experts, you now have a mobile app development decision guide, written with a business-first approach.
First things first. Let’s get clarity on native versus web by discussing what they are, then moving on to what they do.
A native app is an app built for a specific mobile device and operating system. It is downloaded
from an app store and stored on the device.
A web app is an app that runs in the mobile device browser.
A hybrid app is a web app that functions in a native container and gives access to the devices
features (maps, camera, contacts, etc.).
Your road to choosing a native app or web app begins with three primary considerations. If these first three questions don’t give you a firm understanding of the best mobile app approach for your business, there are several secondary considerations.
Primary Considerations in Choosing Native or Web
1. What is your app supposed to do?
device camera or processing power for calculations or graphics, you need a native app.
The mobile device features accessible to native apps include ones users expect but you might not consider like multi-touch, calendar, and phone functions. Some device features such as GPS might have limited functionality in mobile web apps. Newer device technology, like Touch ID for Apple devices, is also available to native apps before tools are built to make it accessible to mobile apps.
Erik Kinzle, Application Projects Team Leader for Advocate Healthcare, sees it this way, “When you’re working on an app and the experience matters, where responsiveness matters, when the need to have functionality matters, native shines.”
John Bartucci, Sr. Director of Product Development for Master Lock - Digital Security Systems, sees the value of linking the app to the OS, ”[Native apps] take advantage of the fundamental characteristics of the OS you are working with.”
If your app will use device features, native app development is your best choice.
Compass points to: Native app if your app uses device features.
2. Where do people use your app?
If users require access to content within your app when they don’t have an Internet connection, you need a native app. This is particularly true when all or some of your users have situations where connectivity fluctuates or is non-existent.
Kinzle focuses on the data use case: “It’s not a matter of the data. It’s a matter of the use case for the data. It’s how the user is getting access to that data. Sometimes they won’t have that Internet connection.”
A native app can be built to provide a glassy smooth interface and a better experience when a user has connectivity issues. A mobile web app is going to have latency and clearly show performance problems with poor or non-existent connectivity.
“When you’re working on an app
and the
experience matters, where
responsiveness matters when the
need to have functionality matters,
consideration. Users will get frustrated with your app if connectivity is a challenge for them and they can’t load content. This will be an issue if your content is resource heavy, meaning you need to access things like photos, video, the device camera, GPS, or you need to access data quickly.
Compass points to: Native app if you’re connectivity dependent.
3) Is your app for internal or external users?
A successful app is an app that gets used. You have to consider your users.
According to Comscore, users have chosen to spend far more of their time with native apps than mobile web by a wide margin. As of January 2014, time spent on mobile apps has even surpassed the time users spend on desktops.
If you want an app that gets used, go with a native app.
If your users are internal, you can mediate or control their use a bit more.
But those same users are using native apps a lot more than web apps.
Kinzle sees a role for web apps to internal users, “Sometimes you just need a static web page for a price list or list of PDFs.” Bartucci has a similar view of the importance of user experience (UX), “Companies delivering low UX aren’t going to last.”
Users will translate their experience with your app onto your brand and company. There is little tolerance for a poorly performing app when all their other apps seems to work just fine. Here are two points to remember about your users: • People have high expectations from using native apps primarily. That makes the case for
developing a native app.
• Users expect familiar navigation consistent with each operating system’s standards.
CONSIDERATION
NATIVE APP
MOBILE WEB
Uses device hardware
Needed if using device
features
Okay if not using device
features
Connectivity
Can store content locally Needs a connection
Users - internal or
external?
The overwhelming choice
of internal & external
users
Possible but not
preferred for external
users
Native apps are often the right direction to go. Facebook learned this lesson quickly.
Facebook started with a hybrid app. When they replaced that with a native app, their score in the Apple App Store went from 1.5 stars to 4 stars in just 3 weeks!
If Facebook used this guide, it would have been obvious:
• Their app takes advantage of device functions - Native App • Users prefer not having to be connected - Native App
• The app is for external users who prefer native apps - Native App
If you need additional help with navigating this choice, here are three more considerations.
1. App Support/Ongoing App Performance
Kiran Prasad, LinkedIn’s Senior Director for Mobile Engineering, provides insight from experience on supporting mobile apps.
He said the benefit of creating native apps for the major platforms is that they come with tools that provide a lot of information about issues in production. For example, if a native app crashes, it can be configured to send the developer a report about what happened. “On the mobile web side, getting those desktop tools to work for mobile devices is really difficult.”
If you want to know how your app is performing, you want access to more mature and robust tools that are part of a native app.
2. Cost/Timing
The usual argument in favor of web apps is that they are less expensive to build and support than native apps. Web apps are often less expensive initially, but the reality isn’t quite as clear cut.
When asked if native apps are too expensive, Bartucci shared, “I would challenge them with the costs of not gaining user adoption and try to quantify that relative to building a web app only.” Kinzle reiterated a similar point, “Mobility is your new brand, especially for millenials. To them your company isn’t the office. It’s the app. If you make that app poorly and cut corners, you’re sending a bad signal about your company.”
Developing and supporting a web app can be just as or more expensive than developing a native app. Even with the benefit of a core set of reusable code, your developers will have to develop, test, and update for a variety of browsers on multiple operating systems. SDKs and development tools available to native app developers can make the job of developing a native app easier.
Compass points to: Native apps tend to have higher returns long term.
3. App Speed and Performance
Beyond device features, native apps typically deliver better speed and performance to users. It’s not that you can’t deliver a terrific user experience with a mobile web app. You can, but it’s not easy.
Nick Abruzzo, VP of Digital Strategies and Services for the American Medical Association, said, “I haven’t seen a mobile web experience as good and high performing as a native app. Native is better architected to deliver a better experience.”
Kinzle echoed a similar sentiment. “If we lived in a mobile web world, we’d be missing out.”
What you plan to do in your app matters. This includes but goes beyond the device features we covered above.
If your app is pretty basic, a well designed web app might do the trick. If you’re doing anything beyond basic, you’ll want a native app.
Compass points to: Native apps provide the best overall experience.
“Mobility is your new brand, especially for millenials. To
them your company isn’t the office. It’s the app. If you
make that app poorly and cut corners, you’re sending a
bad signal about your company.”
- Erik Kinzle
Where do you want mobility to take you? If you are convinced that user experience is paramount to getting a return, signs point to native. If you need access to high resource data and features, signs point to native. With time and costs long term being equal, signs point to native. Web apps have virtues and in certain circumstances work when developed well, but as you can see there are many advantages to native app development.
Reach out to Lextech if you have questions about whether native or web apps are the best choice for your needs or if you need help choosing the right apps to support your business goals.
