App development or app dev is a broad term. We further categorize them by types, namely
Progressive web apps, Native apps, Responsive Web apps and Hybrid apps
- Why progressive web app?
Gartner predicts that by 2020 Progressive Web Apps (PWA) will replace 50% of
consumer-facing apps.
The PWA takes less than 2.94 seconds to load and enables checkout within 30 seconds.
The size of the PWA is 54x smaller than the Android app and 180x smaller than the iOS
app
- A native mobile app is a smartphone application that is coded in the same programming
language as the platform for which the app is designed. Example Java for Android operating
systems. Native apps provide fast performance, high reliability, may be used without
Internet. This type of app is more expensive to develop because different apps need to be
build for different operating systems
- Responsive web apps are websites that renders itself to the device it’s being viewed from,
example mobile phones, tablets, computers etc. We generally use responsive CSS frameworks
such as Bootstrap to do this. Also, these sites run within the mobile’s web browser and do
not have to communicate with a server. This type of app is cheaper to develop because same
app can be used for multiple platforms. It is great for building minimum viable products or
MVPs
- Hybrid apps are similar to native apps. Unlike, web applications, these apps can use
accelerometer, camera and local storage from the device. App design can be problematic
because UI and UX conventions are different for different platforms. This is a good
solution if cost is a factor but app needs to avail certain phone functionalities
Apps can also be classified based on complexities. We built the
following apps often: Simple Apps, Database Apps, Gaming Apps and Multi Feature apps
- A simple app has few screens, 3 or 4 screens at most. These apps have minimum features.
These apps do not store any user data or previous user interactions
- Database apps stores information on the user's device or on a remote server. These types of
apps allows users to save lists, manage logins, sync data between devices. In this type of
app development, we also provide guidance on whether the data is built into the app as is
the case with native apps or store it into online web services as we do in hybrid apps
- Gaming apps can be very complex. Load speed, graphics, superior user experience are key to
gaming apps. These are more expensive to build than traditional apps
- Similar to simple apps, except that multi feature apps have several screens. These apps
also have many features