APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

             Mobile Application (Mobile App)

A mobile application, most commonly referred to as an app, is a type of application software designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. Mobile applications frequently serve to provide users with similar services to those accessed on PCs.

A mobile application also may be known as an app, web app, online app, iPhone app or smartphone app. 

Techopedia Explains Mobile Application (Mobile App)

Mobile applications are a move away from the integrated software systems generally found on PCs. Instead, each app provides limited and isolated functionality such as a game, calculator or mobile web browsing. Although applications may have avoided multitasking because of the limited hardware resources of the early mobile devices, their specificity is now part of their desirability because they allow consumers to hand-pick what their devices are able to do.

The simplest mobile apps take PC-based applications and port them to a mobile device. As mobile apps become more robust, this technique is somewhat lacking. A more sophisticated approach involves developing specifically for the mobile environment, taking advantage of both its limitations and advantages. For example, apps that use location-based features are inherently built from the ground up with an eye to mobile given that the user is not tied to a location, as on PC.

Apps are divided into two broad categories: native apps and web apps. Native apps are built for a specific mobile operating system, usually iOS or Android. Native apps enjoy better performance and a more finely-tuned user interface (UI), and usually need to pass a much stricter development and quality assurance process before they are released.

Web apps are used in HTML5 or CSS and require minimum device memory since they’re run through a browser. The user is redirected on a specific web page, and all information is saved on a server-based database. Web apps require a stable connection to be used.

There are several types of apps currently available.

Gaming apps: The equivalent of computer video games, they are among the most popular types of apps. They account for one-third of all app downloads and three-fourths of all consumer spending.

Productivity apps: These focus on improving business efficiency by easing various tasks such as sending emails, tracking work progress, booking hotels, and much more.

Lifestyle and entertainment apps: Increasingly popular, these encompass many aspects of personal lifestyle and socialization such as dating, communicating on social media, as well as sharing (and watching) videos. Some of the most widely known apps such as Netflix, Facebook or TikTok fall into this category.

Other app types include mobile commerce (M-commerce) apps used to purchase goods online such as Amazon or eBay, travel apps that help a traveler in many ways (booking tours and tickets, finding their way through maps and geolocation, travel diaries, etc.), and utility apps such as health apps and barcode scanners.

Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar, contacts, the stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as those handled by desktop application software packages. As with other software, the explosion in number and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in turn led to the creation of a wide range of review, recommendation, and curation sources, including blogs, magazines, and dedicated online app-discovery services. In 2014 government regulatory agencies began trying to regulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps.[4] Some companies offer apps as an alternative method to deliver content with certain advantages over an official website.

With a growing number of mobile applications available at app stores and the improved capabilities of smartphones, people are downloading more applications to their devices.[5] Usage of mobile apps has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users.[6] A May 2012 comScore study reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively.[7] Researchers found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with user context and depends on user's location and time of the day.[8] Mobile apps are playing an ever-increasing role within healthcare and when designed and integrated correctly can yield many benefits.[9][10]

Market research firm Gartner predicted that 102 billion apps would be downloaded in 2013 (91% of them free), which would generate $26 billion in the US, up 44.4% on 2012's US$18 billion.[11] By Q2 2015, the Google Play and Apple stores alone generated $5 billion. An analyst report estimates that the app economy creates revenues of more than €10 billion per year within the European Union, while over 529,000 jobs have been created in 28 EU states due to the growth of the app market.[12] mobile application do our work easy .

Types

Mobile applications may be classified by numerous methods. A common scheme is to distinguish native, web-based, and hybrid apps.

Native app

All apps targeted toward a particular mobile platform are known as native apps. Therefore, an app intended for Apple device does not run in Android devices. As a result, most businesses develop apps for multiple platforms.

While developing native apps, professionals incorporate best-in-class user interface modules. This accounts for better performance, consistency and good user experience. Users also benefit from wider access to application programming interfaces and make limitless use of all apps from the particular device. Further, they also switch over from one app to another effortlessly.

The main purpose for creating such apps is to ensure best performance for a specific mobile operating system.

Web-based app

A web-based app is implemented with the standard web technologies of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Internet access is typically required for proper behavior or being able to use all features compared to offline usage. Most, if not all, user data is stored in the cloud.

The performance of these apps is similar to a web application running in a browser, which can be noticeably slower than the equivalent native app. It also may not have the same level of features as the native app.

Hybrid app

The concept of the hybrid app is a mix of native and web-based apps. Apps developed using Apache Cordova, Flutter, Xamarin, React Native, Sencha Touch, and other frameworks fall into this category.

These are made to support web and native technologies across multiple platforms. Moreover, these apps are easier and faster to develop. It involves use of single codebase which works in multiple mobile operating systems.[citation needed]

Despite such advantages, hybrid apps exhibit lower performance. Often, apps fail to bear the same look-and-feel in different mobile operating systems.