A Guide to Understand The Various Types of Mobile Apps
Mobile application development is a set of procedures and processes which is involved in writing software for small, wireless computing devices. Just like Web app development, mobile app development has its foundation in more traditional software development.
However, there’s one critical difference between the two — mobile apps are often written so as to specifically take advantage of the distinct features offered by a particular mobile device. For example, a mobile health application might be written so as to take advantage of the temperature sensor of a smartwatch or a gaming application might be written so as to take advantage of the accelerometer of an iPhone.
Just like desktop software, mobile applications are designed leveraging a huge array of programming languages as well as frameworks. Though the most popular operating systems, Android and iOS, have done an incredible job of standardizing the types of mobile app development that are available to programmers, applications can still vary. Below are some of the various mobile application types.
Types of Mobile Applications
- Native Apps
These apps are developed for a specific platform such as Android or iOS leveraging the software development tools and languages which are supported by those operating systems. Android uses Java and Eclipse, whereas iOS uses Objective-C and Xcode.
Because of its ability to utilize the full potential of a device, developers often prefer native apps. With smart home devices becoming much more common, developers are building unique applications that integrate things such as Internet of Things sensors, wearables, and smart screens for personalized experiences. Needless to say, development for each platform is a time-consuming as well as costly process that doesn’t really work for all businesses.
- HTML5 Apps
As per the near-universal standards of web technologies — JavaScript, CSS and HTML5, this type of mobile application makes use of a write-once-run-anywhere approach to mobile development. Applications that are built in this framework are compatible with several platforms and require only minimal changes so as to ensure complete functionality on every operating system.
HTML5 applications can still trigger interactions through email and other avenues and send desktop notifications. Don’t discount the usability of web apps, but keep into consideration that consumers are more likely to use a native app.
According to a study from Oracle, millennials spend 90% of their mobile time in applications whereas 10% in web browsers.
- Hybrid Apps
These applications assume the creation of a container developed in the native system which makes it possible to insert an HTML5 app within it. This enables applications to make use of the distinct and diverse elements of every native system.
Before building your own branded application, consider making use of existing applications for greater impact. For instance, by leveraging mobile-focused marketing on services like Facebook, Google Maps and Yelp, you can drive traffic to both your brick-and-mortar location as well as website.
Wrapping Up
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