When this new technological invention was launched, everyone was asking the same question: What is a mobile application?

A usual question which must be answered with good precision in order to avoid any confusion with other concepts. To be simple and clear, the mobile application is defined as being downloadable software and that we easily install on our smartphone as we do with any software on our laptop.

There are two options for downloading the mobile application:

On the phone through internet connection.

On pc by connecting it with the mobile phone.

For mobile users, the mobile application is similar to a sharp website because of its connection to the Internet; moreover the site interface and the mobile application are identical except that the application remains fundamentally defined as software. In this sense, mavendigital Mobile App Development are grouped into several series according to basic criteria:- Applications operating without internet: Called independent applications, these are applications that work without the need for internet or telephone connection, including contact list, calculator and others.

– Applications requiring connection: Unlike stand-alone applications, these applications must have internet access to function.

– Connected applications: It is an application which requires an internet connection for proper functioning.

– Applications interacting with other smartphone equipment: any smartphone has a suite of more sophisticated equipment than ordinary mobile phones and these devices are in permanent interaction with certain applications. We quote the barcode or code scan to find out the price and characteristics of a product sold in hypermarkets.

– Application interacting with other mobile users: Generation Y is familiar with connecting to the internet and mobile phones, which justifies the importance of applications that strengthen connections between mobile users instead of passively connecting to social networks.

1 – Types of mobile application 

Technically speaking, there are three types of mobile apps that any user can come across:

– Native application: This is an application designed for a large part of operating systems reliable by smartphones by referring to a language specific to each of them.

This mode of application is only accessible on application platforms that follow its particularities and formulas. These platforms take 25% of the selling price for a paid native application.

The development of the native application requires recourse to the memory of the smartphone without omitting the options related to the operating system in question. In this way, the result is summed up in the achievement of mobile applications with more professional functions, developed and performing at the same level as applications in HTML5 / CSS3 and hybrid applications.

The concern with native apps is that users must have a particular mobile operating system in order for them to use them. To ensure a more exponential use of these mobile applications, it is necessary to think of launching the same mobile application compatible with any mobile operating system.

– Web application: Any application designed with HTML and CSS that is more operational on a web browser for a smartphone is called a web application.

No matter the brand of your smartphone, you can access the web application through its browser and therefore you do not need to download it. Since it does not take into account the persistent discrepancies between operating systems and smartphone brands, the web application lacks ergonomics and moreover it does not use the smartphone memory which places it in inferiority compared to the native application.

– Hybrid application: This is a mobile application that merges the characteristics of a web application (development in HTML 5) and those of the native application. In this way, the mobile application will be accessible on all application platforms.

This type of mobile application minimizes the costs and the duration of its development even if this will be to the detriment of improvement and of the quality which characterizes the native application.

Note that hybrid applications are accessible exclusively on iPhone and Android.

How to choose the ideal mobile application?

2 – Choice of mobile application

If you have to choose between the three types of mobile apps, it would be best to try for native apps that give satisfactory results. On the other hand, you will be tempted to work with native applications if you prefer web applications. On the other hand, hybrid applications do not manage to meet the expectations of mobile users as native ones do.