Mobile apps
Web app or mobile app: which does your business need?
A web app opens in the browser with nothing to install, and it's usually cheaper and easier to update. A mobile app from the App Store and Google Play is worth it when customers use it often or when you need phone features the browser doesn't have, such as NFC on iPhone or background location. In between sits the installable web app (PWA), which on iPhone can send notifications only after the customer adds it to the home screen.
Contents
Key points
- A web app reaches anyone with the link, works on a computer too and updates without going through app store review.
- A mobile app is worth it for frequent use, notifications that reach everyone and phone features.
- On iPhone, a web app can send notifications only after the customer adds it to the home screen.
- NFC and Bluetooth in the browser work only in Chrome and browsers built on it, not in Safari on iPhone.
- With accounts and data kept in one place, you can start with a web app and add a mobile app later.
When a business wants "an app", the useful question isn't which technology to use but how often customers will open it and what the phone needs to do. The answers to those two questions usually pick the option for you.
The three options
- A web app opens in the browser, on a phone or a computer, from a web address. Examples: a booking system, an ordering page, a customer portal, an internal dashboard for your team.
- An installable web app (PWA) is a web app customers can add to their home screen with an icon. It opens without the browser bar, can partly work offline and can send notifications.
- A mobile app is installed from the App Store and Google Play. It can be written separately for iPhone and Android, or once, in React Native, using the phone's native components.
The comparison
| Web app | PWA | Mobile app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installing | Not needed | Optional, from the browser | From the App Store and Google Play |
| Updates | Instant, for everyone | Instant, for everyone | Through the stores, with Apple's review |
| Notifications | In the browser, on Android and on computers | On iPhone too, after it's added to the home screen | Yes, on every phone |
| Phone features | Camera, location while it's open | The same | All of them: NFC, Bluetooth, background location, widgets |
| Works on a computer | Yes | Yes | No |
| App store listing | No | No | Yes |
| Cost | Lowest | A little above a web app | Higher: two platforms, accounts, reviews |
When a web app is enough
A web app is the right choice when:
- customers use it now and then: a monthly appointment, an occasional order, a booking;
- it has to work on a computer too: a team dashboard, a portal for business clients;
- customers arrive from a link or from Google, without installing anything;
- it changes often: an update reaches everyone the moment it's published, without waiting for Apple's review.
Few people install an app for a monthly haircut. A link that opens the booking page in two seconds fits better. Booking options are compared in the article on online booking for salons and clinics.
When a mobile app is worth it
A mobile app earns its cost when:
- customers open it often, daily or weekly: a loyalty card, repeat orders, an app for your team in the field;
- notifications have to reach everyone, including iPhone users who don't know how to add a site to their home screen;
- you need phone features the browser doesn't have: NFC or Bluetooth on iPhone, background location, home screen widgets;
- a listing on the App Store and Google Play matters for customers' trust.
The costs are covered in how much does a web app cost, how much does a mobile app cost and how much it costs to publish an app. For a loyalty card, a card in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet is sometimes enough, with no app at all; the options are in digital loyalty cards.
The installable web app: the middle option
Web apps can do more on iPhone than they could a few years ago:
- Since iOS 16.4 (2023), a web app added to the home screen can ask permission to send notifications and can show a badge count on its icon.
- Since iOS 26 (2025), any site added to the home screen opens as a web app by default, without the browser bar.
- In the EU, Apple planned to remove home screen web apps with iOS 17.4 in 2024, then reversed course after pushback from developers and users; the feature stayed.
The limits remain. On iPhone, customers have to add the app to their home screen themselves from the share menu, and many don't know they can. Without that step, they get no notifications. And newer browser features such as NFC and Bluetooth work only in Chrome and browsers built on it (NFC only on Android), not in Safari.
Both, on the same data
Many businesses end up with both: a web app for everyone and a mobile app for customers who come back often. It works well when accounts, orders and the rest of the data live in one place, separate from the screens. Customers see the same orders on the site and in the app, and a price change shows up everywhere at once.
Built with React on the web and React Native on the phone, the two can share part of their code. Often the right order is: web app first, mobile app once usage justifies it.
How to choose: five questions
- How often will customers open it? Rarely: a web app. Often: a mobile app.
- Do notifications have to reach everyone? If yes, a mobile app.
- Do you need NFC, Bluetooth or background location on iPhone? If yes, a mobile app.
- Does it have to work on a computer? If yes, a web app, possibly a mobile app as well.
- What's your maintenance budget? A mobile app needs yearly updates for the stores, even without new features.
We build both web apps and mobile apps, so after a short conversation we can tell you which one you need, using the reasoning above.
Questions
Does a web app work on phones?
Yes. It opens in the phone's browser, and customers can add it to the home screen with an icon, like an app. On iPhone, since iOS 26, any site added to the home screen opens as a web app by default.
Can I put my website in the App Store as an app?
Not as it is. Apple's rules require an app to include features, content and interface that make it more than a repackaged website; a website wrapped in an app is usually rejected.
Which is cheaper, a web app or a mobile app?
Usually the web app. A mobile app adds publishing in two stores, Apple's yearly developer fee, reviews and the updates the stores require every year.
Can I start with a web app and add a mobile app later?
Yes, if your data and accounts live in one place, separate from the screens. The mobile app then uses the same accounts and orders, and customers see the same thing wherever they sign in.
Is a React Native app a native app?
It uses the phone's native components and is published on the App Store and Google Play like any other app, but it's written once for both iPhone and Android.