If you are keen on having a mobile app for your business then you are on the right track since mobile commerce is currently booming.

In this article you will learn about: 

1. The difference between types of mobile applications 
2. Which build is the best for your business: Android or iOS?
3. The Must-have features for your ecommerce mobile application. 
4. How you can turn your website into a mobile application by using our service

Web view app vs. Hybrid app vs. Native app

The choice between what type of app you should build is probably the first step here, so let’s talk about it in depth so that you can make the right decision. 

Technical Differences

Randolf Morris the Founder and CEO of Bit Developer dove in on the technical pros and cons of each app type: web-view, hybrid, and native. 

Native App

Native is an actual APP. It is a stand-alone program that has a single collection of views and functionality.

Pros:

1. it’s fast, and you’ll be able to fully access the functionality of the phone. Typically built to not require network access.
2. Typically looks much more polished.

Cons: Requires:

1. Specific knowledge of the several platforms that are being developed for (IOS, Android). 
2. A “store” to distribute and update the apps. As when it comes to app distribution, the apps must pass added requirements of the platform being distributed on. 
3. Updates are not immediate,and must be rolled out.

Mobile View App:

Mobile View is when an app displays a website with multiple layouts and style features based on the device being used to display the content. Oftentimes there are 4 main views: desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. 

Pros: The ability to release functionality is immediate. Updates are immediate. Only developing for a single platform. Web dev skills tend to be less expensive than app skills. No need to go through an App Store.

Cons: Content often requires internet access to function. Not able to take advantage of phone functionality. Mobile browsers typically are very slow to render content.

Hybrid App:

Hybrid is a combination of Native and Mobile View.

One hybrid implementation uses the WebView (Android) or UIWebView (IOS) component to display the Mobile View website from inside an app. 

Another implementation is to combine elements of the Mobile View along with the functionality of Native Apps such as position tracking or different types of movement. Browsers are also collecting similar information so these lines are also being blurred. 

Other hybrid implementations such as Xarmin, for example, have you develop on a single platform but export a version of this common version to the specific platforms required in native code which can be used to create Native Apps.

Pros: Able to use a single platform to develop for multiple mobile platforms. 

Cons: You still must go through the App Store to release and update.” 

Now that you are familiar with the technical pros and cons let’s talk about the no-technical aspects which are the cost, duration, and user experience.

Which Type of App is better for your business?

Web View Mobile apps: 

The cost: it’s known that developing these types of apps comes at a low cost since we are basically previewing the website in the mobile app 

The duration: it doesn’t take long at all to build a webview app since again there is close to none development happening. 

The user experience: the user experience is by no means up to any standards, the users definitely suffer from the poor flow in these types of applications, since they are basically having the same view of the websites in an app. 

Hybrid Mobile Applications:

The cost: the cost of building a mobile application is rather affordable for small and medium sized businesses, especially if it is subscription based meaning that the company developing your application handles maintaining it and updating it on a monthly basis. 

The duration: some companies take more time than others but it still takes a lot less time than what native apps require and in Stacks you can build your application with just a click of a button.

The user experience: the user experience is definitely improved so your users can have a smooth flow and you can have a bit of freedom when it comes to the design of your app. 

The Native Mobile App: 

The cost: it is a known fact that native apps are expensive to develop with some reaching the $10,000 mark, it’s not feasible for a small or a medium sized company to put in such a budget for an app

The duration: native apps take a long time to be developed since it takes time to develop the features and implement the app design 

The user experience: the user experience is of course better here than in any other app since the design of the app is designed with user experience in mind to provide the smoothes user experience. 

Which build is the best for your business: Android or iOS?

According to Sensor Tower, the average revenue of the app store is 64% more than that of Google Play.

However, you should release to either play stores depending on your customers demographic 

It’s a known fact that China only has access to the Apple App Store alone as Google’s Play Store is banned there, and according to SensorTower article the top countries in 2019 to download from both play stores are:

You need to be aware of your consumers’ preferences when it comes to the matter; as it is one of the strong elements that will help you make your decision. 

Must-have Features for e-stores

Depending on the reason behind your app you can be selective about the features you need 

So let’s say you are launching an app to:

1. Increase conversions then the features you might require are:

• Easy navigation
• Multiple payment gateways
• Abandoned cart push notifications
• Multilingual app 

2. Increase customer retention level then the features you might require are:

• Push notifications for offers 
• Points and rewards systems
• Multiple payment gateways

These are a few examples but by now you should get a grasp on what exactly you need to do.

How to turn your website into a customized Mobile app?

We developed our new service Stacks Extend Self to allow you to build hybrid mobile application for Android and iOS from your website with just 3 simple steps:

Step 1: 

Subscribe and download our Mobile Application plugin 

Step 2: 

Upload the plugin to your WordPress website and start branding your app

Step 3:  

Choose the type of your build (Android / iOS) and with just one click you app file will be ready 

Our service caters for business owners around the world who want to build and release mobile apps without sacrificing their budgets or the quality of the application itself and that’s why they choose Stacks because we believe that extending your business or even starting it from scratch should be done without breaking your bank or back. 

Start building your app using Stacks 

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