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Are you a developer wondering, “Should I build a web app or a mobile app”? Are you a business owner in need of an app but confused about what type to get? Or maybe you’re a complete novice to software development and you’re thinking, “I don’t understand, is there a difference between web apps and mobile apps?”. Contrary to popular opinion, there are differences between the two. Even if you’re not a developer and you think you don’t need your own app for anything, these differences also affect users. Very few people in this age can say they have no use for apps hence, everyone should be aware of these differences, developer or not.

Before actively deciding to become a developer, I had no idea that web apps and mobile apps were two completely different worlds. To me, apps were just that, apps. They were all the same, they were built the same way and they needed the same skillset. However, the deeper I delved into software development, the more I realized that each of these apps has its own specific requirements, advantages and disadvantages. This realization prompted me to do my own research, especially because at this stage, like a lot of beginner developers, I had not made a concrete decision about the areas I wanted to specialize in and direct my learning energy to.

In this article, we’ll be talking about the differences I learned, pros and cons of each and which outweighs the other in benefits so, read on!

Definitions:

Before we begin to make comparisons, it would be helpful to know exactly what mobile apps and web apps are. A mobile app is an app that can run locally on your device. The apps found on all our app stores that we need to download to use; these are mobile apps. Good examples would be Facebook or YouTube. On the other hand, web apps are the exact opposite, they do not need to be downloaded to be used. These apps can be accessed over the internet with your browser. Our previous examples, YouTube and Facebook, are also web applications with the exact interface and design as their corresponding mobile apps. The main difference between mobile and web apps is in their building.

How Are These Apps Built?

Firstly, we’ll discuss mobile app development. Mobile apps are developed using programming languages and Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). Because mobile apps are platform-specific (meaning they are built depending on the operating system specified), Android apps and Apple apps have different language and IDE requirements; the most commonly used are Java and Android Studio for Android and Swift and Xcode for Apple. This is a complexity with mobile apps that is not experienced with web app development.

Because of these platform requirements, mobile apps are more difficult to build and take more time to complete than web apps. Developing web apps however, requires a completely different set of languages. HTML, CSS, JavaScript and in some cases, Python are the common languages used for building web apps. In terms of complexity and difficulty, building web apps is easier and less time consuming than building mobile apps. However, they also have less features than mobile apps.

Pros and Cons:

We’ve discussed what these apps are and how they are built. The real question now is, which is more worthwhile? Which of these apps is more beneficial? Honestly, it depends on you and what you need. Neither outweighs the other, but they definitely have separate pros and cons. I’ll list them below.

Mobile Apps:

Pros:

1. They are faster than web apps
2. Some mobile apps do not require an internet connection to work (they can work offline)
3. Better security as they must be approved by the app store
4. They have access to the system’s inbuilt resources like camera, thus have more functionality

Cons:

1. They are more expensive to build, maintain and update
2. Apps have to be designed from scratch to ensure compatibility with different platforms
3. They need to be downloaded to be used

Web Apps:

Pros:

1. Easier to maintain regardless of platform
2. They are not platform-specific.
3. They update themselves unlike mobile apps
4. They are less difficult to build.

Cons:

1. They are not available without internet connection
2. They are not always secure as they do not pass inspection from an app store
3. They are slower than mobile apps and have less features

How Do I Know What App to Build?

As stated above, neither is better than the other. What app to use or build really depend on what you need. Think about what you really need your app to do, the features that you need and the ones you can do without, your user’s or company’s goal and the objective of your app or the problem it is designed to solve. This should help you make a decision.

Becoming a developer was a major gamechanger for me. Do you want to learn to build any of these apps? To learn any of the languages in this article or how to use IDEs, visit any online learning platform. Udemy, Udacity, Coursera…the list goes on and on. Of course, companies are always looking for app developers (both web and mobile), so this is something that could put good cash in your pocket.

Which of these apps do you prefer and why? Share and leave a comment below!