The main difference we can see between mobile apps and web apps is, a web app is one that is available online and can be used on multiple devices, whereas a mobile app is one that is exclusively available on mobile devices.
According to statistica between the years 2019 and 2020, there has been a significant increase in mobile app downloads from 205 billion to 218 billion mobile app downloads. Hence, mobile phones are accounted for around 50% of all internet traffic. While mobile phone usage increases, the use of desktops and laptops fall below mobile usage in 2021. But there are many people who depend on web apps for work and personal use.
The Way of Comparing Mobile Apps and Web Apps
Applications designed for use on smartphones, tablets, and other smaller touchscreen devices can be referred to as Mobile Apps.
To install a mobile app, you normally go through a store such as Google Play (Android), Windows Store (Windows), or Apple (iOS). They provide customers functionality equivalent to that of accessing a web app from a desktop computer.
On the other hand, web apps are executed in a web browser and can be made to fit the size of the screen you’re using. Web apps may be as simple or as complicated as you want. They can be designed to serve a single function, as many mobile apps do, or they can be designed to perform several purposes.
The Functions which made Mobile Apps and Web Apps Different from Eachother
Most mobile apps focus on limited functionalities than fully-fledged web apps. For example, Spotify is a mobile app that allows you to listen to music, Shareit allows you to share files between mobile devices, and a popular mobile app which is Tiktok allows you to make videos and share them with people.
Web apps on the other hand provide a far greater range of functions than mobile apps. Adobe Photoshop, for example, provides customers with both a mobile app and a web version. The smartphone app, on the other hand, has limited options for sketching and painting, but the online applications allow you to use the full capabilities of Adobe Photoshop, providing a superior user experience. Google Applications, Microsoft 365, and Gmail are some more examples of online apps.
There are 2 types of mobile apps,
- Native Apps: Native apps are designed to work with the operating system of a mobile device. If you have an iPhone you can only install apps designed for iOS, not Windows or Android. It is not feasible to combine native apps.
- Hybrid Apps: These apps are capable of running on several operating systems whether it is Android, iOS or Windows does not matter. The download method is the same as a native app. These hybrid apps are essentially web apps encased in a native app shell.
Many businesses provide online and mobile versions of their products. The main difference between mobile applications and web applications is that web apps are independent. A web app can be accessed if you have an internet connection. Mobile applications, like desktop apps, cannot be accessed unless they are installed directly on a device.
Creating Mobile Apps
Developers are often hired by companies to develop a native or hybrid mobile app. Anyone can try developing a mobile app if they have programming skills. Previously, developers had to use the software development kit (SDK) for Android, iOS, or Windows Phone to create apps for those systems. Now with the development of the mobile app development field, developers can use intermediary languages such as Javascript for mobile app development.
Native mobile applications are built by developers using the platform’s identified language. The mobile app is downloaded from an app store and saved in the device’s memory. The mobile app is accessed by tapping on its icon. Many smartphone applications are designed to be used in the absence of an internet connection.
Native applications have a benefit over web apps since they can access your device’s hardware and other features such as Camera, GPS, Sensors, Address book, and Calendar.
In terms of design, hybrid applications provide more freedom. HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript can all be used together. This is due to the fact that they are web applications intended to look and perform like native apps. As a result, many developers believe that hybrid apps are faster and easier to create. While hybrid apps can utilize many aspects of your tablet or smartphone, they are driven by an internet browser, whereas native apps do not.
Creating Web Apps
A mobile web app is often created by combining two types of coding languages.
- Client-side scripting languages: JavaScript or CSS, rely on your web browser to run programs.
- Server-side scripting: Typically written in languages such as Python, Objective-C, or Java. This section of code is in charge of receiving, storing, and transferring data from the browser back to the server. There’s also HTML, which is a markup language.
A single developer or a team of developers led by a software engineer can create a web app. Web applications work by receiving user input, which is often supplied via a web form. That data is transferred back to the app server, which performs the requested operation and returns the results to the browser, which can be on a desktop or mobile device.
What Should We Choose Between Mobile App and Web App
Your overall goals should determine whether you design a mobile app or a web app.
| Mobile Apps | Web Apps |
| Can be accessed only by touchscreen devices such as smartphones and tablets. Therefore, audience reach is relatively low. | Can help you reach a larger audience because they are accessible to everyone with a web browser |
| Have to be concerned about the device’s compatibility since for example, some apps need more than 2GB of storage. | Eliminates the need to worry about device compatibility. |
| Can use to communicate with most mobile apps even if the internet connection is down. | An Internet connection is a must need to work with a web app. |
| Can utilize mobile features like the camera, GPS, sensors, and so on. | Cannot access mobile features via a web app. |
| Should wait for users to download the latest version before they can benefit from your upgrades. | Can do more dynamic updates. When you publish changes to the web server, they are immediately visible to all web app users. |
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