We’ll tell you whether your business needs an app
Plenty of businesses ask for an app when a portal that works well on a phone would serve them better.
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An app needs upkeep for years
A mobile app has to pass review in two app stores, then be maintained across new phones and OS releases for as long as it lives. That’s worth it when it earns a spot on someone’s home screen.
So we start with an unfashionable question: how often will your customers open this? Weekly, and an app can be the strongest thing you build. A few times a year, and the same budget goes further in a portal they reach with a tap.
Northline Home Services
A late no-heat request reaches the on-call tech with a 7:00 am slot held, and the invoice is drafted before the office opens. Northline is a company we invented, so we could build its website and back office in full.
Open the Northline buildWhen an app wins and when the mobile web does
When an app earns its place
Frequent use and phone features tip the scales.
- Customers return weekly or daily, like members of an active plan
- Push notifications people want to receive
- Camera or offline work out in the field
When the mobile web wins
Reach without the download.
- Booking or paying now and then
- New customers who find you through search
- Account access a browser handles well
How we build when an app is right
We usually build the core as a web application first, then bring it to the app stores, so one system serves the browser and the phone without double the upkeep. If the answer is no, you’ll hear it in discovery, before any build.
Questions
Can our portal become an app later?
What does owning an app involve long term?
An app earns its place when it becomes part of a customer’s weekly routine
Tell us what you need built
A person reads every request and replies within one business day.
Start a project