Mobile Software

When planning to establish a mobile presence for a business or organization one of the major considerations is whether you want to create a mobile application for users to download (application) or a mobile website, or perhaps both. Mobile websites and apps can look very similar at first-glance, and determining which is most suited to your needs will depend upon a number of factors, including target audiences, available budget, intended purpose and required features.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MOBILE APP OR WEBSITE?

A mobile website is similar to any other website in that it consists of browser-based HTML pages that are linked together and accessed over the Internet (for mobile typically WiFi or 3G or 4G networks). The obvious characteristic that distinguishes a mobile website from a standard website is the fact that it is designed for the smaller handheld display and touch-screen interface. Increasingly, responsive web design is becoming the new standard for websites that are not only mobile-friendly, but that can scale to any sized device - from desktop down to tablet and handheld smartphones.

Like any website, mobile websites/responsive sites can display text content, data, images and video. They can also access mobile-specific features such as click-to-call (to dial a phone number) or location-based mapping.

Applications are downloaded and installed on your mobile device, rather than being rendered within a browser. Users visit device-specific portals such as Apple’s App Store or Android Market in order to find and download apps for a given operating system. The app may pull content and data from the Internet, in similar fashion to a website, or it may download the content so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.

SO WHAT NEEDS TO BE  CONSIDERED?

When it comes to deciding whether to build a native application or a mobile website, the most appropriate choice really depends on the requirements you have and what you want to achieve.

If you wished to develop an interactive game then a mobile app is probably the best option. However, if you wanted to provide mobile-friendly content to the widest possible audience then a mobile website would be more appropriate.

As mentioned previously you may decide you need both a mobile website to provide general information say for marketing puposes and a mobile app to give your users access to specific functionality. Generally speaking, a mobile website should be considered your first step in developing a mobile web presence, whereas an app is useful for developing an application for a very specific purpose that cannot be effectively accomplished via a web browser.

ARE YOU PLANNING TO MONETORIZE YOUR APP?

If you decide to have a mobile application and you wish to generate a revenue stream from it, consideration on how this is to be achieved needs to be made.  Monetization is the process of converting your application users into revenue. 

There are different strategies available to achieve this: 

  • In-app advertising
  • Subscription
  • Data monetization
  • In-app purchases, virtual goods and currency
  • Transaction fees

Any app can use one or more of these strategies, though the ones to be used will largely be determined by the functionsilty of the app.

WHY SHOULD I USE EXCELLON SYSTEMS?

We can help you from start to finish, how you want to proceed is completely up to you:

  • From your requirements we can help you chose and implement the most appropriate mobile website and / or application to fulfil your requirements.
  • Alternatively if you have a clear idea / design in place we can implement this for you whether you require a mobile website or application.
  • We can implement applications for all the major platforms IOS, Android and Windows, and Mobile websites will be fully responsive.
  • Once an app is developed we can deploy the app to all the major stores e.g. Apple Store, Google Play Store and Microsoft Store.
  • We are also able to provide the hosting and setup the domain to get the mobile website up and running.