Differences between Mobile App and Web Application

Learn the difference before installing

The world is behind technology and the current pandemic situation has helped us draw to a conclusion that our lives run behind apps and from buying our groceries to ordering our food, we are intertwined with these applications. But most of us are of the misconception that both the mobile and the web applications are the same, just because we can operate them both on our phones and desktop. But basically, they are different and are developed and deployed differently. Let us discuss them in detail here and ascertain the differences between them.

Mobile Applications – Everything you need to know:

Simply put, mobile applications are what we use on our smartphones and use them to perform a variety of functions such as chatting, booking a cab, and ordering food online. These apps are designed to be platform-specific and we will not be able to use an app designed for an iPhone on android devices.

The smartphones come inbuilt with basic applications and the rest of them can be downloaded and installed from the app store. Some good examples of these popular mobile apps are Facebook, Google Maps, Instagram, etc. Mobile apps are expensive than web apps and are tough to build as they are designed to be platform-specific. They are built using specific languages in an integrated environment based on the platform. For eg. The iOS apps for Apple devices feature a native operating system and are built using Swift or Objective C and the Xcode IDE.

Web Applications – Explained in Detail:

 

Web applications are faster and are more advanced in terms of functionality and features. They are accessed through the browser and can adapt to the device they are viewed in, such as desktop, laptop, and tablet devices. There is no need to download these apps from any store and they are not native for a particular system. They are highly responsive but require an active internet connection to run.

Web applications are built with computer languages such as HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, etc., but there is no standard software kit available for building these apps. The use of templates makes it easy to build web apps and they are quite easy to maintain, as they are designed to update themselves. The ultimate advantage of developing a web application is that it is easy to use across different web browsers, irrespective of the underlying platform. 

The pros and cons of mobile applications and web applications:

The advantages of mobile apps are that they are faster, are easily accessible and some of them can function without an internet connection as well. The mobile apps are meant to be highly safe and secure and are accessible at the app store. These apps are also easier to develop with the abundant availability of SDKs, developer tools, and interface elements. The cons of mobile apps are that they are expensive to develop and should be designed from the scratch. They are costly to maintain and are device-specific. The web application function in the browser and thus eliminates the need for installation. They are easy to maintain and are capable of self-upgradation. It is easier and faster to build a web application and it can also be launched quickly. But web applications will not function without an internet connection and are slower than mobile apps. They have quality and security issues as well apart from being difficult to discover.

Progressive applications – the best of both worlds:

Progressive apps can be considered to be a middle man between mobile apps and web applications. Unlike web applications, which are designed to work only with an internet connection, the progressive apps can work offline and can load quickly. These apps can store large volumes of data and carry the features of both mobile and web applications. They do not mandate installation and downloading and are independent, safe, discoverable, and are great in rendering excellent experiences.

Bottom line:

Be it mobile, web, or progressive applications, these were built to make our lives simpler. Billions of people all over the world interact with smartphones every day and use them for their daily activities. With these apps installed in our smart devices, the world is in our pockets and their possibilities are endless.