Lots of businesses and organisations think they should have a mobile app. Creating an app is an expensive and time-consuming process. Apps are not easy to update without technical expertise and there are often issues with keeping up with changes made by Apple and Google. You are not simply duplicating your website’s content or functionality.

So, it makes good sense to create one only if it really benefits your users and helps you achieve your organisation’s goals.

One of the main questions to ask is if you’re considering an app –

Do my customers need to do something (or access information) on the go?

Some of the key reasons for a mobile app

1. Location-based content – Do your customers need information based on where they are located right now? For example, to book an Uber?
2. Access/information in real time is important – this is in important when people are recording information (eg: tracking their spending) and they don’t want to have to do it later on their desktop and miss recording some things.
3. Limited internet connection – if your users will have limited access to the internet (eg; while travelling in a remote area), providing information through an app can make good sense. But, this means all of the content/information needs to contained within the app and downloaded before it’s going to be used.

Here’s an article we wrote about the differences between an app and a website. It focuses on tourist trails but there is a lot of useful information no matter what business you’re in.