There's an app for that... but do you need it?Whatever you may be looking for, you can fire up Google Play and you’ll find a list of apps split up into all kinds of categories. There are countless apps that can lend a virtual hand. In most cases, where there is a web-based tool that has an app, there is also a mobile website. So why do so many of us download apps? It’s something I know that I am guilty of and that I don’t usually give a great deal of thought to, but I thought it was about time to re-evaluate the situation.
The vast majority of websites are accessible free of charge but the same cannot be said of apps. Although there are an awful lot of free apps out there, there are also a tremendous number of premium apps or those that only really function correctly if you are willing to shell out on in-app purchases. While Google Play is designed with apps in mind there is not an app for everything. This is certainly true of many newer online services. Getting a startup off the ground can be very time-consuming and expensive, so it is understandable when companies focus on creating an online presence before thinking about apps. It still tends to be iOS that developers think of first. If there is a mobile website available, give it a try. It may do everything you need it to do and could tide you over until an app is released. You never know, you may even stick with the website even when there is an app available. From the point of view of a developer, updating a website is a great deal quicker and easier than updating an app. This is great for end users who get to benefit from changes and additions faster than people using an app. Websites are great for older, cheaper devices that do not have a huge amount of storage. You can bookmark all of the sites you use for easy access or even create homescreen shortcuts to make it feel more like working with apps. There are also apps that have limited device support. It can be extremely frustrating to discover a great new service that you’re using on your computer, only to find that your phone cannot run the Android app that has been produced. Mobile websites are great for services that are data based like email, shopping lists, news, calendars and the like. Mobile websites are very valuable. So valuable it seems that many dedicated apps are little more than a wrapper for the website. This is something that news websites are particularly guilty of. Under the belief that readers simply expect an app to exist, one will be created that essentially presents a website in a slightly different interface. The update process is significantly faster and easier for developers On the other hand websites do have limitations. Technologies such as Flash can be problematic in terms of support, security issues and performance, and this can mean missing out on features. Being designed from scratch, and with far fewer limitations to overcome, apps would seem to be capable of offering more functionality. Having a dedicated app will usually allow for more features to be supported and it is possible to take better advantage of features that are built into Android. But perhaps the greatest advantage of apps is the fact that they can be used offline. Websites are limited by the fact that you can only access data linked to your account when you are able to get on the internet. The mobile Gmail site, for example, is very capable, but there is a problem... a lack of offline access. If you’re relying on the website, when you find yourself in a signal blackspot, you’re not going to be able to access anything — in an app you will at least be able to access the contents of your inbox to the point at which it was last synced. Notifications are also a key thing missing from websites. An apps integration into Android is the only way in which you can be told about the arrival of new messages without the need for you to constantly check manually. So am I ready to give up apps? On my desktops and laptops I am quite happy to use online services and web apps in place of installable software, but this attitude has not quite made its way to my Android devices yet. Here the use of apps has become second nature. |