10 Reasons Your Company Needs a Native App
Today we’re going to jump right into it. No BS. Just pure valuable content. I’m going to bulletpoint 10 different benefits (reasons) Mobile Apps can deliver on. If you’re wondering: “why on earth would I want an app“, then maybe you should really be asking, why not? I’m sure by the end of this you’ll have some additional insights to make a better decision on which path to pursue.
10 Reasons Your Company Need A Mobile App
1) Better Visuals
The graphics and effects on a mobile website more often than not are very limited because of latency and framework. Native apps however, have the capacity to have superior graphics and effects, presenting much better looking visual to your users. This is made possible by the apps requesting (and often receiving) permissions to use the full extent of hardware capabilities from within your phone. Also, given the app is made for the device helps too ;).
2) More Features
To elaborate on what was mentioned above, native mobile apps give you unlimited access to the phone’s features such as the camera, microphone, GPS capabilities, etc. Unfortunately, the same is not true for mobile websites which have very limited access to the phone’s capabilities.
3) No Connection Restrictions
Unlike native apps, mobile websites always require users to be connected to the internet in someway (Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, 3G, etc). This means that sites done with HTML5 will also take longer to load, and not give users the offline capabilities that natives can. Obviously this is because when you download a native app, it’s stored on your phone, vs an HTML5 app (site) is stored on the cloud – interwebz.
4) Speed
Across the boards, native apps out perform HTML5 apps in speed on a regular basis.
5) Optimization
Needles to say, native apps are naturally more optimized for mobile devices. This is because they are created specifically for mobile and can be designed and created as such. While there is some optimization for mobile sites through HTML5, there are certainly limitations in that they’re more so designed for computer use with a slight rework for mobile.
6) Navigation
If not done right, a mobile site you could have your users pinching and zooming and swipping from left to right tediously just to consume yoru content. Apps however, generally have more interactive UI’s.
7) Money
When was the last time you heard about someone who struck it rich, yet alone was able to create a comfortable lifestyle with an HTML5 app (mobile site)?
Takers?
No?
Probably because you haven’t.
Reason being: it’s much easier to make money off native apps than with mobile websites. Obviously, in order to charge your users for what you’re offering, you have to offer additional features that makes it worth their $. With that said, apps are really the only way to offer these additional features that give users a different experience than going on their computer and going to your website for free.
Even if you do offer a free app, there are still ways to monetize it such as in-app advertising and in-app purchases.
8. Users PREFER native apps to mobile sites
In a study from Compuware, 85% of participants said they prefer mobile apps to mobile websites. The most common reasons they gave for their preference were that they are more convenient, faster, and easier to browse. Case and point.
9) Better UX (User Experience)
Apps have a stronger capability to create a better user experience than mobile websites. In general, apps are a better experience when people are using them as frequently as we do.
10) Higher User Engagement
When users have an app they like, they use it more frequently and for much longer amounts of time than mobile websites. Your app has to have enough spunk to get users to spend that much time interacting with your content.
While having a mobile website is a great START – it’s just that, A START. You cannot derive any data as to how your users actually use mobile (your site). That being said, you should have a native app. Apps are a better platform for engaging users based on how they actually use mobile.
With all that being said..
If you’re looking to get a Native App developed, but at the same like are looking for some guidance in the process of doing such.
Let me know :).
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
