Does Your Business Need a Mobile App? Questions to Ask First

Most people now do more on their phones than on computers, so it is natural to assume every business needs an app. Sometimes that is true. Often a business would be better served by something simpler and cheaper.

The question is not "should we have an app?" It is "what do our customers or staff need to do on their phones, and what is the best way to let them do it?"

First, who is the app for?

There are two very different kinds of business app.

Customer apps are used by the people who buy from you: ordering, booking, paying, tracking a delivery or checking a balance.

Staff apps are used by your team: field sales, deliveries, stock counts, inspections, attendance or collecting data on site.

Staff apps are often the easier case to justify. You control who installs them, people use them every working day, and the return is easy to measure in hours saved or errors avoided.

Customer apps have a harder job. People already have dozens of apps and delete the ones they rarely open. To earn a place on someone's phone, your app has to be something they use regularly.

Five questions to answer honestly

1. How often will people use it?

If customers interact with you once or twice a year, they will not install an app for it. A fast mobile website will serve them better. If they order weekly, book regularly or check something often, an app starts to make sense.

2. Does it need anything a browser cannot do?

Apps can do some things websites cannot do as well:

• work fully offline and sync later,
• use the camera heavily, such as scanning barcodes or documents,
• track location in the background,
• send reliable push notifications,
• connect to Bluetooth devices like printers or scales.

If you need these, an app is likely the right call. If not, a web application can do the job.

3. What phones do your users have?

In many markets, including Kenya, most people use Android phones, many of them affordable models with limited storage and memory. An app that is heavy or slow will be uninstalled quickly. Design and test for the phones your users actually have, not the latest flagship.

4. How good is their connection?

If your users work in areas with patchy coverage, such as delivery riders, field agents or rural customers, the app must keep working without a signal and save its data until it can sync. This needs to be planned from the start.

5. Who will keep it updated?

An app is not a one-off purchase. Android and iOS release updates every year, and apps need maintenance to keep working and stay in the app stores. Budget for ongoing care, not just the first version.

Native, cross-platform or web app?

There are three main ways to build for mobile.

Approach	What it means	Good for
Native	Separate apps written specifically for Android and for iOS	Demanding apps that need maximum performance
Cross-platform	One codebase that produces both Android and iOS apps	Most business apps; lower cost and faster updates
Progressive web app	A website that can be installed on the home screen and work partly offline	Simple tools and customer portals where app store presence is not essential

For most businesses, a cross-platform app gives the best balance of cost, speed and quality. If your users are almost all on Android, you can start there and add iOS later.

What makes people keep using an app

We have found that the apps people stick with share a few traits:

• They open fast. If a user waits on a loading screen, they start to lose interest.
• The main task is obvious. The most common action should be reachable in one or two taps from the home screen.
• They are small. A light app downloads quickly on mobile data and does not fill the phone.
• They respect the user. Few notifications, each one useful. Asking only for the permissions they need.
• They work when the network does not.

A sensible way to start

If you are unsure, start with a mobile-friendly web application. It costs less, reaches everyone instantly and shows you how people actually use the service. If usage is regular and you hit the limits of the browser, you have a clear case for an app, and you already know what it needs to do.

If an app is clearly right from the start, keep the first version focused on one or two jobs and do them very well. You can always add more.

We build Android and cross-platform apps designed for real-world phones and connections. See our mobile solutions or tell us what you have in mind.