Will Apps Replace Websites One Day?

With smart phones becoming the norm and more and more apps being released every day, people have begun to wonder if apps will replace websites altogether one day. Right now, most individuals use a combination of both – heading to the web browser on their computer or phone to get an answer from google, but using apps like Instagram and Snapchat to share photos of their pets, food and daily activities.

Already, there are plenty of apps that are used more than their webpage counterparts, and their ease of access along with the domination of native app usage over mobile web usage has us thinking about what the future holds for websites.

According to Flurry Analytics, individuals with smart phones spent 86 percent of their time on native apps and only 14 percent on mobile web pages in 2014. While this statistic may seem startling to some, think about how it relates to your personal mobile usage.

For example: When is the last time you logged into your Twitter account via website? And would you rather navigate eBay through its app or your laptop browser?

Now that we have the wheels in your mind turning, let’s delve a little deeper into the app vs. website debate:

Why haven’t apps taken over yet?

Although we all have a handful of apps we enjoy using on a day-to-day basis, there are plenty of times that opening up your browser and searching through websites is just easier. Not only are browsers universal, there are also more than 800 billion websites they can help you navigate – many of which don’t yet have app counterparts.

While search engines like Google and Bing are working on indexing app content to appear in their search results, this process will take some time – and it would be frustrating to have to download an entire app instead of quickly visiting a new site and heading back to your search engine.

Another major problem with apps: Space. There is only so much room on your smart phone or tablet’s hard drive, which means you have to pick and choose between the apps you download and the companies that you head to your web browser to visit. Also, imagine how difficult it would be to keep your screens organized if websites ceased to exist and we only used apps. With endless boxes of apps, it would be extraordinarily difficult to find the one you needed, right when you needed it – especially if it was an app you didn’t use every day.

Will Google’s acquisition of Agawi play a role in the defeat of websites?

Last June Google confirmed their acquisition of Agawi, a startup company that streamed mobile apps over the web to create in-app advertisements and allow shoppers to preview apps before actually downloading them.

In theory, this technology could help apps to overtake websites, allowing users to start using an app before it is completely downloaded and giving them the ability to glean the information they need from an app without wasting their mobile devices precious storage space on the full app download.

What can your business do to be prepared?

While it is impossible to know what the future holds, the idea of using only apps is an interesting one to consider. This change from websites to apps isn’t happening any time soon, and if websites do completely die out it will most likely happen very slowly. For businesses that do not yet have mobile apps, now is a great time to consider creating one. Developing a mobile app of your own can help you to stay ahead of the competition and keep you up to date with the latest technology trends.

And once your app is in development, Beta Breakers is here to handle all of your quality assurance testing. A fresh set of eyes is always helpful during the quality assurance testing process and from test plan writing to functionality testing, we can handle any testing your company needs performed to ensure your app is ready to launch.

To learn more about our QA services, visit us online or give us a call at 415-878-2990.