Almost every business, no matter the size or sector, can benefit from building an app. Apps have become the norm to meeting customer expectations of accessible and functional business performance, and apps can help a business surge to success by improving sales, enabling data gathering and analytics and boosting brand awareness. All this makes app building an integral part of business strategy.
Traditionally, that would have led businesses down the road of building a web app, accessed through the internet and located on the web. However, the growth of cloud technology is now beginning to encourage businesses to build cloud-based apps. These two technologies are head to head, and it can be hard for businesses to choose between them. In this article we’ll take a look at the major differences between cloud apps and web apps as well as exploring the benefits of each model.
Web App Key Features
To understand whether your business needs to pursue the development of a web app or a cloud app, first you need to understand the key features of each, as well as how they overlap. A web app is the traditional model for an app, and will combine a web browser and internet connectivity to produce an app that functions on and through the web. Because a web app functions through a browser, they’re highly cross-compatible with different devices, and will be accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.
Cloud App Key Features
Dustin Owens, app expert at Assignment Help and Revieweal explains that “cloud apps have been slowly gaining dominance in the app world as cloud technology has grown. With a cloud app, data is stored externally. By utilizing the cloud, cloud apps are super customizable, and they don’t depend on a browser to operate.” Many of the internet giants from Google and Yahoo to Dropbox have been developing cloud apps in recent years, liberating their users from the requirements of desktops and web browsers.
Cloud apps are often considered to be simply an extension of web app technology, but they are in fact structurally different. Both forms of app require an internet connection to function, but cloud apps don’t depend on a web browser. Cloud apps can also cache data locally and continue to function in the absence of a web connection.
The Main Differences
Liberated from constant connectivity and web browser technology, cloud bases apps differ in a few key ways from web apps. Web apps tend to be built more homogeneously as they can’t offer the customizability that a cloud app can – this means that cloud apps are able to support multiple needs and diverse requirements of many users. By making use of the cloud, resources are pooled in an efficient way with cloud apps. Customers can then get a streamlined experience that matches their individual needs.
“For businesses seeking increased functionality in their apps, web apps often lack the flexibility. For this reason, businesses are turning more often to cloud apps,” says Sarah L. Carone, tech writer at Essay Services and UKWritings. “Further, cloud apps can be used from any workstation, so as working habits change, they offer further flexibility that web apps struggle to provide.”
The Right App For You
The benefits of cloud apps are clear in terms of customization, flexibility and efficiency. However, there is still a place for web apps in the digital world, so which choice your business makes will depend on how your app needs to function. Web apps offer the opportunity to provide customers with functional and immersive app experiences and build a strong working relationship between clients and business. Cloud apps, however, are the next step in dynamic app infrastructure. The potential for cloud apps to transform your business is clear as pooled resources, streamlined app delivery and customized functionality become realized.
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In a fast-changing digital landscape, businesses need to be able to make dynamic decisions about service provision for their customers. Cloud based apps offer next generation functionality and the freedom to interact away from the traditional structure of the web and browsers. For businesses in 2021, having your head in the clouds may be no bad thing.
Katherine Rundell is a writer at OX Essays and Big Assignments services. She studied computer science at the University of Utah and has brought three apps to market for iOS. Her further writing can be found at Australian Help.