Have you ever wondered what mobile application development is and its benefits to organizations? In this article, you will learn about mobile app development basics and why should your businesses or organizations build a mobile app.

What is mobile app development?

Mobile app development is a process of designing and developing an application to run on a mobile device. Depending on the scale of your business, these apps may have limited function, or a lot of advanced functions. In general, they aim to provide users with quality services and experiences. Unlike any apps designed for desktop computers, the mobile apps don’t rely on integrated software systems. 

Main mobile app development technologies

If you want to understand the mobile app development basics, you need to look closer to all different technologies that are used to create an app for your business.

Native apps

If you are building a single mobile operating system, you will be creating a native app. The reason why it’s called a native app is because it is native to a particular platform or device. As you know, the most popular systems for mobile apps today are Android or iOS. And a native app to Android can not be installed on an iOs device. And you can install an iOs app on an Android device.

The advantages of building a native app is that you can provide your customers and users with a high performance app along with an excellent user experience. When creating these apps, developers use native device UI which allows them to access a wide range of APIs. They can also accelerate the development work and broaden the app usage’s boundaries. 

In addition, you can only download these apps from app stores and install them directly into devices. However, there is a strict process awaiting your app before you can publish it. 

The only drawback when building a native app is that it is expensive to create it. Not only do you need to build an app, but also to maintain it and support your users. Usually you need two teams for the development of an Android native app. 

Web apps

The similarity between a native app and a web app is that they work on mobile devices. However, web apps are basically software apps that use browsers to run, and developers use CSS, JavaScript and HTML5 to write these apps. The users will be redirected to the URL and will be offered the option to install the app. 

However, web apps can only be used when users have an internet connection. The reason is because these apps save the personal databases on the server. With that said, these web apps require their users to have a strong internet connection. 

Hybrid apps

When building a hybrid app, developers use web technologies like HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS. It’s actually easy and fast to develop a hybrid app. It only requires a single codebase for all different platforms. 

Therefore, these apps have low maintenance cost as well. It also allows developers to use a lot of APIs for features including gyroscope or geolocation.

However, these apps don’t have good speed and performance. And you may have some issues relating to design because some apps might not look the same on a few platforms.

How many types of mobile applications?

It’s also important to know different types of mobile apps when you learn about mobile app development basics. There are a wide variety of shapes and sizes when it comes to mobile apps. Depending on your business’s field, you know which one is yours.  

Gaming apps: Almost everyone loves playing games. That’s why gaming apps have been one of the most popular categories of mobile apps. How many people around you have a game installed on their phones? 

If your business has resources, this is a profitable market to invest your time in. Some games are attractive and interesting, but they don’t have a mobile version. That’s a big disadvantage in this era. Among all app downloads, mobile games account for 33%. They also account for 74% of consumer spendings. The success of gaming apps includes Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds that are well-known all over the world.

Business apps: As smartphones are getting more and more popular, it’s more necessary for businesses to create an app. If people can use their phones to perform many complex tasks on the go, of course they will prefer it. For example, if your company is in the travel industry, you should create an app that allows customers to book tickets, or travel packages. These business apps will help the business boost productivity and minimize expenses.

Educational apps: It has never been easier to improve your skills and knowledge by taking advantage of the internet. By searching on Youtube or Google, you can easily find something to learn for free. It can be another language, another recipe to cook or anything. If your business is in the education field, you should give your customers the flexibility to learn at any time and anywhere. 

So now you have learned about mobile app development basics, which type of mobile app do you think is suitable for your business? If you still can’t decide, let Omatech help you!