A long-time debate since the rise of mobile and a simple Google search gives you tons of results. An article on Forbes even declared the win of mobile apps and the death of the mobile web. Although the app is my favourite, I don’t quite agree with that extreme. Blindly going to a mobile app could produce something non-sense, such as an app with static information never (or hardly) updated.
They referred to the time spent on mobile apps as much more than mobile browsers. However, this sounds like comparing MS Office, Acrobat Reader, World of Warcraft, Skype, and other applications to browsers on a computer. There is no chance for browsers in such a comparison. The true story is more and more native apps rolling out without a web counterpart, there is not a web version of Whatsapp and won’t be one in the future.
Here is the list of factors I could consider when deciding whether to go to a mobile app or mobile web.
There is already the same offering in the form of a website? If yes, mobile web or responsive design of the existing website may be a good choice, as it provides a consistent experience and access point to users.
Is background execution or notification required? If yes, that could be a mobile app. But sometimes, background execution or notification is not essential and not necessary, people just think it is cool to have such features.
How much depends on mobile hardware? If the hardware is essential, such as sensors or graphic display, that gives a favour to the mobile app as well.
Should it be used offline? If yes, a mobile app is the answer as well. Although the new HTML5 provide some offline features, it is still far away from real offline usage.
Are you ready? This is a mega question on the readiness of going to a mobile app. It is not as simple as hiring some developers and go, but also on the infrastructure, the content update process, the capability of ongoing app updates, and much more. If not, mobile web is a safer option.
This is not an exhaustive list and far away. Moreover, some of those factors may have contradicting answers and the final decision is the balance of all factors.
Finally, the number of mobile visitors to the existing website is NOT a valid reason for going mobile app. That could only suggest the website should be mobile optimized or revamped with responsive design, but the logic does not go into a mobile app due to the high number of mobile visitors.
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