Is a Native App Always the Justified Solution?

Online service providers are routinely offering their users the possibility to use their services through a native app built specifically to run on either or both of the two leading mobile operating systems.

Users will have the possibility to download these apps to their smartphones, authenticate, and use them whenever they see fit. Those using lots of services, especially on more affordable handsets, might, in turn, find themselves in the situation of having their phones filled with apps they use occasionally, not having enough storage space for other apps, photos, music, and their likes.

This makes one think: is releasing a native app always justified or could some services make do perfectly with a mobile website?

The advantages of a native app

Native smartphone apps do have advantages in many aspects, such as hardware use and security. It’s hard – sometimes even impossible – for a mobile website or a web app to use certain sensors and accessories a smartphone has, such as fingerprint readers and others.

Web apps can’t be integrated as deeply as native apps in the operating system, meaning that certain APIs remain unavailable for them. This doesn’t mean they can’t offer secure and high-quality services if the need arises.

Secure, cross-platform web apps

Take the Vegas Palms mobile casino app, for example. The Vegas Palms offers its users a real money online entertainment service, for which it needs to be completely secure. Unfortunately, thanks to the restrictive policies of app marketplaces, it can’t deploy a native app (not on Android, at least). Thus, the developers behind the Vegas Palms have chosen to create a web app to reach out to their mobile users.

The Vegas Palms Mobile is a perfect example for a safe, secure, and high-performance web app. Its constantly growing game library offers players many entertainment options to explore, and its security features are enough to keep the personal and financial information of its users safe. Besides, it’s cross-platform: it is capable of running on virtually any device with an HTML5-capable web browser, no matter what operating system it uses.

Monetization and stats

Many services and content providers online insist on their users’ installing a native smartphone app instead of using the mobile browser version of their services.

Their reasons for this are often related to monetization and stats. App advertising is a proven way to generate revenues for the provider and the publisher, and in-app purchases (only available in web apps through third parties).

Besides, installation, usage, and uninstallation statistics are far easier to follow in a native app, while usage statistics for web apps and mobile websites can sometimes be deceiving and hard to follow.

Although the cost of creating a native app can take considerable time – or involve considerable costs – it still remains the solution of choice for publishers, service providers, and content providers.