Re­spons­ive web design, app, or mobile website?

With cell phones and tablets becoming an in­creas­ingly central part of daily life, the question is no longer whether you should create a mobile version of your web project, but how. Our tendency to use the internet while on the move means that, now more than ever, a strong mobile presence is vital for a web project’s success. This is par­tic­u­larly pertinent to online trade; in the past few years, web stores have ex­per­i­enced a boom in mobile traffic, meaning that a half-hearted attempt at op­tim­ising your web store for mobile devices will no longer cut the mustard. American store owners have been quick to pick up on the new trends in commerce, if this study by eMarketer is to be believed. In to the 2015 study, 86% of re­spond­ents had websites that were optimised for mobile devices, and three quarters also had mobile apps. 51% of re­spond­ents also agreed that it was important to have an app available for tablets. But when it comes to which mobile solution is best suited for a web project, website operators are still faced with a very difficult decision. Native apps vs. web apps, re­spons­ive mobile sites vs. good, old-fashioned desktop sites: all the options have their own unique set of ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages.

After the first mobile phones capable of accessing the internet emerged in the 1990s, it wasn’t long before web de­velopers began producing the first websites optimised for mobile devices. Since these devices were not capable of sup­port­ing elaborate pages, the first mobile websites were pro­grammed to be as stream­lined as possible. However, advances in HTML, CSS, and JavaS­cript as well as the emergence of smart­phones and tablets have led to the increased cap­ab­il­it­ies of mobile sites.

Today, mobile websites generally act as an ad­di­tion­al, reduced version of the original desktop website. Due to their weaker hardware and limited trans­fer­able data volume, creating sites for mobile devices poses different chal­lenges. For example, web de­velopers need to pay special attention to loading times, create an ac­cess­ible user interface, and ensure simple and fast nav­ig­a­tion. When making mobile sites, pro­gram­mers are also tasked with adjusting the height and width of the website so that it auto­mat­ic­ally adapts to different screen sizes.

• Ad­vant­ages: works on all platforms; separate from the desktop version; content can be perfectly tailored for the user; cheap to produce

• Dis­ad­vant­ages: needs extra main­ten­ance since the mobile site’s content is not congruent with that of the desktop version; ad­di­tion­al URL necessary

• Suitable for: web projects with static content; small websites

Web ap­plic­a­tions–also known as web apps–are ap­plic­a­tion programs that are based on a server-client model. Clients are char­ac­ter­ised as the part of the app that is shown to users in their browser; the web ap­plic­a­tion can also be operated in this way. The HTTP protocol is used as a line of com­mu­nic­a­tion between the client and the web server where the web app is located; this enables the user to access the re­spect­ive service. The app’s website, which also has its own URL, therefore acts as a user interface. Unlike typical computer ap­plic­a­tions, no in­stall­a­tion is necessary to use a web app. However, users do require a stable internet con­nec­tion. 

Generally, while using a web app, session data is created (such as the order in­form­a­tion from a online store, for example), which is per­man­ently saved. This normally occurs on the server side on database servers or in files, but it also oc­ca­sion­ally happens on the client side with the help of HTTP cookies. Web apps can be used on any platform and on all kinds of devices. The only pre­requis­ite is that the user’s browser is com­pat­ible and supports the required web standards such as JavaS­cript and HTML.

• Ad­vant­ages: runs on all platforms; can be converted into a desktop website at any time; no in­stall­a­tion necessary

• Dis­ad­vant­ages: limited access to device functions such as camera or GPS; not available in app stores; permanent internet con­nec­tion required

• Suitable for: func­tion­al web projects with dynamic content, such as web stores; internal projects within companies

The dis­tin­guish­ing feature of native apps is that they are spe­cific­ally tailored for their target platform. Since the emergence of Apple iPhones and Android Smart­phones, these ap­plic­a­tion programs have taken on a central role in the world of web de­vel­op­ment. From office programs to games to planners and or­gan­isers, there’s a wide range of native apps from a variety of man­u­fac­tur­ers. Unlike web apps, native apps must be down­loaded and installed. For this reason, almost all platforms offer special app stores where these apps can be found and down­loaded.

Native apps are developed sep­ar­ately for every system, which means that a single web project requires several versions of the app to be developed if it is to be made available on a range of devices. The program is based on the re­spect­ive Software De­vel­op­ment Kit (SDK) for the relevant system. Native apps can access the device’s hardware functions, such as the GPS module, camera, or mi­cro­phone, and in addition, they can store any amount of data directly onto the device. Website operators can also decide whether or not they would like to make their app available for free.

• Ad­vant­ages: easy to find in app stores; access to device functions possible; can create apps at any point in the web de­vel­op­ment process; good op­por­tun­ity for marketing

• Dis­ad­vant­ages: necessary to program several apps including updates for different platforms; heavy burden on the user’s hardware

• Suitable for: complex web projects with sub­stan­tial pro­cessing power

These four solutions are your main options when it comes to making your web project mobile. The best option for your web project, however, largely depends on your financial situation and the kind of web presence you have. If you only have a limited budget, a mobile website is generally the cheapest option and the quickest to implement. Also, due to the clear-cut dis­tinc­tion from the original desktop website, a mobile site can be created at any stage. This gives it a clear advantage over re­spons­ive mobile sites, as the fun­da­ment­al re­struc­tur­ing of code required to convert an existing website into a re­spons­ive one can prove to be a daunting task, even for the most ex­per­i­enced pro­gram­mers.

However, if you are planning to create an entirely new web presence, it could be worth con­sid­er­ing re­spons­ive web design. Website operators who regularly post new content tend to be fans of this solution, as they only need to update their sites on one platform in order for changes to be seen on all devices. If your content is func­tion­al, however, it’s a good idea to create a website app. Then you’re faced with the decision of web apps vs. native apps. While web apps are faster to develop and can be used without the need to be installed, native apps have their own strengths, namely, their marketing op­por­tun­it­ies and range of functions.

If you have the finances at your disposal, a com­bin­a­tion of several ap­plic­a­tions could be useful. For example, Facebook users can use a mobile version or different native apps for iOS and Android in con­junc­tion with the original browser ap­plic­a­tion for PCs. In this way, the social media outlet can sub­stan­tially attain more users than with a single variation of the network. However, if you are con­sid­er­ing creating a similarly large network of linked apps, you must be prepared for extensive costs and the mo­nu­ment­al effort required for de­vel­op­ment and main­ten­ance.