App or Web App? Here are the differences

“What is the difference between Web Apps and normal Apps? How many types are there? And which one is the right one for me? ” .

Many of you ask us. For this reason we have decided to answer you clearly and definitively with an article from our Blog .

No special demands specific knowledge, now we all use at least a dozen App daily between smartphone and tablet .

But did you know the difference between App and Web App?

If the answer is yes, a refresh on the topic and on the possibilities offered by each of these solutions can still be useful.

If the answer is no, you are only a few lines away from finding out!

So let’s not waste any more and leave immediately!

iOS apps development and Android. A first big distinction

When we talk about the App, we immediately think of the two big American giants that dominate the market: Apple and Google . The famous apple company has its own App Store where all the Apps for iOS devices are present . The company that became famous for its famous search engine instead developed a different operating system, Android .

Why are we anticipating this distinction? Because App developed for iOS and those developed for Android devices not only use different languages of programming (Java for Google and Objective-C for Apple) but also leverage the different attitudes of their users.

The users of the App Store are more willing to spend money in the Apps and are also the most demanding. Although the Apps for iOS occupy only 16% of the Italian market, they enjoy a much higher number of downloads than the Apps for Android (about 75% more).

This allows us to introduce a first great type of App .

The Web Apps

You probably won’t recognize them under this name, but we are sure that all of you have had to deal with a Web App without knowing it. An example? When you browse the mobile version of a website, you are using a web app.

Web app

This in fact works exactly like a website. The device operating system, development, programming language, etc. are of little importance. All the distinctions made in the previous paragraph between iOS and Android will not interest you. So much so that users will not even have to install it on their smartphone.

This type of App, created with the aim of making web content available also for mobile devices, has its main strengths in:

do not require any storage space for installation or download;

to be made with very low costs and in a short time.

Its weaknesses are far more numerous:

it cannot work without the Internet ;

it adapts less to each operating system (iOS or Android), as it is not tailor-made for neither;

it is not available on stores , which makes it impossible to download;

Push Notifications cannot be sent to users.

Depending on your needs, this solution may prove to be the right choice for simplicity of construction and costs, although rather limited in use.

The Apps

When you think of an App, you are almost never thinking of a Web App.

The applications we deal with every day very often do not fall into this category. The Apps of our daily life differ from the Web Apps above all as regards the high costs and the longest realization times. This is due to a series of pluses that we can hardly do without:

Speed and reliability . They are surely inevitable components in a classic app, developed ad hoc for the operating system of the device on which they will be used;
Immediate and effective access to all phone functions (camera, microphone, accelerometer). For the above reason;
Ability to send push notifications to users;
Can be present on stores ;
Does not require internet connection to function.

This is why a classic App requires a good amount of available space on its device to be installed.

App or Web App. The right solution

Whatever your needs, it is clear how important it is to carefully evaluate your needs before making a choice.

If you happened to ask yourself how much an App can cost, now you know that it is more appropriate to ask yourself first: “what type of application do I need?” .

Only specialists will be able to help you find the right solution to your needs, taking care of all requests and guaranteeing the best product for reliability and quality of the assistance service.

If you need information or want to submit your case to experts in the sector, know that the advice we provide responds to all the points just described, plus a small addition: it’s totally free!