What Is The Difference Between A Web App And Mobile App?

Do you know the difference between a web app and a mobile app or consider them the same? If so, then today we will clear your misconception about them, because they are different. Not only are different for users but different methods are used for the development and deployment of both.

First, let’s see the difference between the web app and the website. A web app is a one-way information feed that doesn’t allow viewers to interact back to the website. A web app is a form of a website that is particularly designed to respond to being viewed on a smartphone. However, web apps function like downloadable apps, but all this from your smartphone’s browser.

Now let’s discuss the main difference between a web app and a mobile app. Mobile apps vs. web apps. Native mobile apps are developed to run on a specific platform, like iOS and Android. These are downloadable apps and can install via the app store. These apps have access to our GPS, and camera functions, and they run on our devices itself like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, etc. While on the other side, the web app is accessed via the internet browser and adapted to the device you are viewing it on.

The main difference is these are not native to a specific system and are not downloaded. However, due to their responsiveness, they look like mobile applications, but they are actually not.

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Let’s take the example of Yelp. Install the Yelp app on your smartphone and then try to access Yelp.com via your local browser, you will notice that the website application looks like a mobile application: it will turn the browser bar red, and when the user scrolls down, it locks the search bar in place.

Another main difference is that mobile applications don’t require an active internet connection; some can run without it, while web applications need an active connection to run.

How mobile apps built

These apps are expensive because they are made for a specific platform. Usually, these are built by using specific languages, and IDE depends on the intended platform. For Apple applications, Objective-C or swift with Xcode IDE is used for development. But commonly for developing Android apps, Java and Andriod Studio are used.

How web apps built

These applications are built using CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5. There’s no particular standard software development kit for them to build. However, these are super easy to build and much simpler.

Also read: Difference Between An Optimized Mobile Site And A Desktop Site

Mobile Apps Vs. Web Apps:

Mobile Apps

Pros:

• These are faster than web applications.
• Much better functionality as mobile applications have access to system resources.
• These can operate offline. Super safe and secure, these are approved by Playstore.
• Easy to build due to the bundle of resources available.

Cons:

• Expensive than web applications.
• Compatibility with various platforms (i.e., iOS and Android) means designing and building the application from scratch.
• Expensive to maintain and update.

Web Apps

Pros:

• These work in-browser, with no need for installation and download.
• Quite easy to maintain, an easy codebase.
• These keep updating and are easy to build.
• Generally, they do not require AppStore approval.

Cons:

• These don’t work offline, need an active internet connection.
• Quite slower than mobile apps.
• Less advanced features and may be less discoverable as these apps are not listed in a particular database.
• Quality and guarantee can be compromised.