Mobile App or Mobile Website: Which one you Will Choose for your Business

Are you an entrepreneur or the owner of an already established business??

Then, the above question must have caused a lot of headache for you. Launching a mobile app or stick to the mobile optimized website, is definitely a reason of dilemma for enterprises today.

A revolution, long started in the telecom industry, was initiated by the introduction of Mobile handsets. Simple and portable, this device was, initially, meant for communication. However, over the years it has proven to be a lot more than a mere communicative device. Presently, it has become imperative to own a mobile phone or our whole world will come crashing down. From the day-to-day activities to conducting important tasks, we are highly dependable on this small device. So if you own a business organization, it is very important for you to either develop an app or a mobile optimized website for your enterprise. However, which one will suit your purpose depends entirely on your understanding.

The war- ‘Mobile Application vs Mobile Website’, will continue but we can at least have an understanding which one you can opt for.

Let us try to understand the benefits drawn from both the smartphone application and website.

Advantages of owning a mobile app and mobile optimized website for your business:

• Establish brand value- Developing a highly informative, innovative and attractive mobile optimized website or an app speaks a lot about your company and develop your brand value.

• Cater to consumer demands- Are you aware of the buying behavior and characteristics of your target customers?? if the answer is no, then you need to do your homework first. It is highly favorable if you identify the target user base first and then develop either an app or website based on their requirement.

• Linked to social media for promotion- Social media is, undoubtedly, one of the best business promotional tool. You can easily add a social media button on either of the two option.

• Easy updates- Periodic updates is crucial for your website an app to survive in the continuous changing world of technology. This will keep your customers happy by offering them real-time solutions. Quick and hassle free update is possible for both options.

• Customer interaction for quality customer service- Live chat window is an option that is available for both Mobile app and it’s counterpart. This is the quickest way to get a customer response or feedback and immediately addressing the same.

• Security to the users- Security is the top priority for both the business operations and users. It must be protected through a strong password especially if it contains confidential user information. Both Mobile app and website can be made highly secured and fortified.

You can enjoy the above-mentioned advantages from both the phone app and website. However, there are certain distinct beneficial attributes of mobile application that is not possible to introduce in a website. Let us discover those features.

You can also read: Mobile App or Mobile Website: What to use in 2017 for business growth?

Benefits drawn only from your business Mobile App:

• Quick access and cut out waiting time- Our generation is highly impatient and if they have to wait a little longer for your mobile website to load, then they will immediately switch over to another site. Web browsing, usually, requires a user to launch a web browser, enter a URL and wait for the site to load, depending on the server. On the other hand,  it only takes a second to launch a mobile app because the majority of the information is stored in the application itself making it possible to function offline.

• Better customer engagement- It is always easy to locate the exact application on playstore that can best match the user requirement. This is not possible with mobile websites. User need to input the matching keyword and the multiple options will show up on the web page, and each of them need to be visited individually to make the right choice. Businesses uses apps over websites to instantly connect with their end users.  The point of a mobile app is to seamlessly connect and interact with customers.

• Location based component like Uber/OLA Application- Provide your users with location-based relevant information. Specially if you plan to offer service similar to Uber or OLA, then Mobile application is the right option for you.

• Deliver real-time information- Some app like Lift, helps users grow habits by tracking their behaviors. If your business idea is anywhere closer to this particular app, then you can think of programming a unique mobile application.

• Key competitive advantages- If you are an entrepreneur and your idea does have few relatively similar competitors who have already launched their websites, then you must find out whether they are available on the play stores. If not, then  launching a mobile app immediately for business will give you a key advantage over your competitors. Or else, build your app that can be distinct enough to catch the user attention. Ex: Mailbox is an email app designed only for mobile devices.

 

Summing Up

Developing a website for an organization has always been the perfect option to reach out to the target viewers. With the advent of Mobile phones, just creating a website is not enough. You have to build a mobile optimized website and more importantly, an application for the user smartphone. Then again the conflict remains here- which one will you choose for your business. No doubt you can perform many functions both on the website and the application. But there are few advantages that push smart handset apps way ahead in the competition to mobile optimized applications.

Current stats says that revenue of the mobile app market is enhancing and is somewhere exceed to around $189 billion by 2020.

However, If you develop both for a company, then you will get double benefit. You can receive traffic for your website from your mobile application. Example, if you own an app and a mobile website for your retail business, then you can request your app users to access your site through the app itself. The percentage of web traffic from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is increasing at a rapid pace. Currently, it stands at 25% of all web traffic.

How To Ensure Data Security on Android Phones?

Are you confident enough to feed your confidential informations on a particular application or website?

The reply is definitely a big NO. Data Security is a major area of concern not only for the end users but for the developers or business operations as well.

If you start considering the huge train of important datas you store virtually, you will realise that one breach of security can permanently hamper your business.

A popular tweet by StaySafeOnline.org states that "Today's mobile devices are as powerful and connected as any PC or laptop. Take the same precautions on your mobile device as you do on your computer with regard to messaging and online safety. The first step is STOP. THINK. CONNECT."

From financial records to customers' private informations- all go into your smart device. Hence observing strict security measures must be of upmost importance for you when you design any application.

Mobile Apps built on Android Platform, has in-built security features that reduces the  impact of application security issues. The system is designed so that you can typically build your apps with the default system and file permissions and avoid difficult decisions about security.

"The popularity and adoption of smartphones has greatly stimulated the spread of mobile malware, especially on the popular platforms such as Android."- Yajin Zhou and Xuxian Jiang, Department of Computer Science, North Carolina State University

Let us understand the common security measures that need to be observed while using Android Mobile Applications:

The most common security concern for Android phones is whether data stored on your device is accessible to other devices or apps. There are three commonly used storage space:

• Internal Storage- This is a common and a safer option to store your personal files. This storage is accessible only to your app. Android implements this protection which is sufficient for most applications.
• External Storage- Files created on SD Cards are globally readable and easily modified by any application as it is removable from the device. Hence it is not sensible to store delicate informations here.
• Content Providers- Content providers offer a structured storage mechanism that can be limited to your own application or exported to allow access by other applications only if you permit.

Minimising the user permissions:

Android applications explicitly share resources and data with each other. They do this by declaring the permissions they need for additional capabilities including access to device features such as the camera. Hence it is imperative to reduce the number of permissions that your app requests. Restricting access to sensitive datas reduces the risk of misusing the permissions and makes your app less vulnerable for hackers.Try designing your application minus these permissions as it is the preferred structure.

Using proper networking:

Networking transactions are comparatively risky cause they involve transmission of data which is private to the user. Hence implementing best practices is crucial to ensure security to your user's private informations. Two types of networking can be used:

>Using IP Networking

>Using Telephony Networking

Handling User Data:

If you have access to user data and can avoid storing or transmitting it, don't store or transmit the data. If your application accesses personal information such as passwords or user names, keep in mind that some jurisdictions may require you to provide a privacy policy explaining your use and storage of that data. Reducing the access to personal information by your application reduces the potential for problems in this area.

Minimal Data Usage:

App developers need to analyze the data collected to streamline the process. Any information above and beyond the app’s primary function is then deleted immediately. It is a minimalist approach that keeps user information safe while eliminating some of the burden on developers to protect information that is simply not in use.

There are other technical measures that developers need to observe to protect the user's confidential datas such as:

Transit Encryption Method

Regular Updates

Server Protection

However data protection is also the responsibility of the user as well.

Let us get a brief insight into the security measures that an user can adopt:

• The most important precaution that the user must adapt is to install an Antivirus protection. Antivirus and anti-malware software are essential online security weapons.
• Strong Firewall
• Lock the phone with Strong Passwords
• Regular updating of the phone and the apps
• Allow android to scan and verify the apps
• Use Chrome's safe browsing feature
• Use Android Device Manager to tarck your lost device and wipe of important datas.
• Disable unknown sources settings

Conclusion:

The market is filled with smart hackers. Safeguarding your personal life and confidential datas has become a matter of concern. The smarter the phones are, the more smart the hackers are turning into. If both the app developer and the end user adopt some basic safety measures, then the risk factor can be reduced to some extent. Android and iOS devices have some embedded features that can be utilised properly to achieve this basic goal.

This is an open forum with lots of loopholes. You just need to be a little more careful