An app feels like the more serious investment, which is exactly why businesses ask for one before they have established that they need it. In most cases we recommend against it, and we would rather say so before the money is spent than after.
The question that settles it
Ask one thing: will a customer open this more than once a week?
If the answer is no, an app is the wrong shape. A mobile website or a progressive web app reaches every phone, requires no download, needs no store approval, and costs a fraction as much. Nobody installs an app to check your opening hours or place one order a year.
If the answer is yes, keep reading, because the case for an app starts to make sense.
What a progressive web app does
A progressive web app is a website built to behave like an app. It loads from a browser, works on Android and iPhone from one build, can be added to the home screen, and can work offline for the parts you design for it.
It ships in weeks rather than months, costs considerably less, and updates the moment you publish, with no review queue. For most businesses in Nepal this is the right answer, and it is the one we recommend most often.
When a native app earns its place
Five situations justify the larger investment:
- Daily use. Customers or staff open it as part of a routine.
- Push notifications. You need to reach people who are not currently looking at you, reliably.
- Real offline use. Field staff, delivery riders or remote locations where the connection fails and the work must continue.
- In-app payments for digital goods or subscriptions, where store rules require their billing.
- The app is the product. You are building software people pay for, not a channel to your business.
If two or more of those apply, an app is worth costing properly.
What changes when you go native
Three things, and each one has a running cost.
Store approval. Every release goes through Apple’s and Google’s review. Privacy declarations, permissions and store policies have to be right before submission, not fixed afterwards. Plan for it in the schedule.
Developer accounts. Both stores charge for a developer account, paid by you directly to Google and Apple, and registered in your name. Apple’s renews annually.
Ongoing updates. Both platforms change their requirements every year. An app that is not updated eventually stops being accepted, and then eventually stops working well on new devices. An app is a commitment, not a delivery.
Timelines and cost
A progressive web app is measured in weeks. A native app for both platforms is usually eight to sixteen weeks depending on the features, and it is quoted per project after a consultation, because two apps that sound alike can need very different work behind them.
There is also a middle path that is often the right one: launch the progressive web app first, learn what customers actually use, and build the native app later against evidence rather than assumption. The web app keeps working afterwards.
What we do
At the consultation we ask what the app would be for, who would open it and how often. If a web app meets the need, we say so and quote that instead. If a native app is justified, the proposal sets out the scope, the platforms, the store work and a fixed price before anything is built.
Being told you need less than you asked for is uncomfortable advice to give and useful advice to receive.