Web portal – mobile app studio

What is a portable website? What is a mobile application? Are they the same thing? These are some of the common questions I hear from business colleagues in this new age of the clever phone and tablet. If you aren’t technically interested in the subject, confusion between the two is inevitable as they’re similar and yet alternative.

The Main Differences
A mobile web portal is a specialized version of your current web portal that is optimized for your intelligent phone or mobile device. Since clever phones have smaller screens and are touch-based devices, having a version specifically for mobile gadgets will give your users a much better browsing savvy. mobile websites can be accessed on several mobile platforms (such as iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.) because only a web browser is required to access the portable website.

A portable app is a applications application that you download (from the application Store or Android Market) and install on your mobile device. A mobile application can be practically anything from a calendar, a video game, an online bank account manager and even a web site. mobile apps have to be written specifically for a mobile device platform. For example, an iPhone portable app will not work on an Android phone and vice versa.

Which one do you need? Do you need both?

With smart phones becoming more affordable and wireless speeds getting faster, having an alternative mobile web presence is eventually gonna be the norm. The main reason is because of usability and speed. Normal websites are designed for use with bigger screens and a mouse/keyboard. they are also created with faster Internet connections in mind. mobile web sites take advantage of the smaller screen and touch-based nature of the device making navigation and browsing much easier and faster. They also require the file sizes of the pictures and other web portal content to be smaller for faster downloads.

However some web portals might have special features that would make more sense as a mobile app or might only work as a mobile application. types of web portals such as an e-commerce website or bank web presences are good examples. Take for example Chase (m.chase.com). You can log into your account online using their mobile web presence to access your account or you can download the Chase mobile app. Are both really necessary? In this case I would have to say yes. I tried accessing my bank account using both methods and here are the results from this quick test:

mobile web portal:

Pros: Accessible through any web browser on any mobile device, don’t need to download/install anything
Cons: Slower, less responsive. Have to use web browser to navigate there first (or use bookmarks). Can’t use built-in camera to take pictures for deposits.
portable app:
Pros: If used frequently, much easier and faster to use, requires single tap to access (after installed). More responsive because of native device code. Takes advantage of built in camera to make deposits.
Cons: Must download and install first. app has to be written and approved for specific device(s).

The only real downside to using the portable app is that you have to download it and install it first. After that part is completed though, the portable application is much faster and more responsive than its mobile website counterpart. So if you are frequently managing your account online, using the mobile application makes total sense. The main advantage of using the portable website is that you could instantly check your account on any portable device without the need to install anything. For example, you need to create an online payment with your account on your friend’s phone because your phone’s battery is dead. Since your friend has a different bank and doesn’t want you to install anything on his phone, using the mobile website to make the payment is the best and only option.

Other factors to consider are time/cost and compatibility. mobile application development costs considerably more and takes longer then mobile web portal development. A mobile application is only compatible with the platform it is created for. if you really want your application to work on an iPhone, Android and Blackberry, three different apps will want to be accumulated. Where with a mobile web site, a single version will work across all mobile platforms.

Summary

Most websites will do just fine with just having an alternative mobile version of the web presence. depending on the web site, its content, and features, however, having a portable app as well could be highly beneficial. usually it all depends on the volume of usage a particular area of the website is being used. For example, there could be a included in the website where users can book and make appointments. With data analytics you find that this part of the web portal gets the most traffic is being used most frequently. Creating a separate mobile application specifically for booking and making encounters would be a viable alternative for your users as it will most probably get downloaded and used.