You Probably Don't Need a Mobile App

I build mobile apps, and a lot of the people who ask me for one would be better off without it. An app is an expensive way to get something a well-built website or a WhatsApp flow would do, and an app nobody installs reaches nobody.

Downloading an app is a big ask. Someone has to find it in a store, wait for it to install, create an account and remember it exists next week. For a restaurant, salon or shop that customers visit a few times a year, most won't bother. A link they tap from WhatsApp or Instagram, which opens instantly, gets used.

• A web app. Fast, works on any phone, nothing to install. It can send notifications, work offline and sit on the home screen like an app, which is what a progressive web app is. Bookings, orders, portals and dashboards all fit here.
• A WhatsApp flow. If your customers already message you, an agent that takes orders, books and sends payment links meets them where they are.
• A customer portal on your site. Order history, documents, appointments and payments behind a login.

• The phone's hardware is the product. Background location for riders, Bluetooth devices, heavy camera use, or dependable offline use for field staff.
• People use it daily. A tool your staff open every shift, or a service your customers use several times a week.
• Push notifications drive the business and have to arrive reliably on iPhones and Android phones.
• App store presence is part of the trust. Fintech and wallets, where customers expect to download from Apple and Google.

If you're in one of these, build the app, and build it on the same backend as your website so you maintain one system.

I spent two and a half years full time on the Kite Financial wallet team, on a product that belongs in the app stores. I built WeSelling as a web-first business operating system, and Hair By Joan takes bookings through its website with no download needed.

• React Native Mobile App from $650 for up to five screens on your API, tested on iOS and Android. $1,650 adds login, push notifications, payments and store publishing.
• Utility Business Website from $260, with booking or payments from $680.
• WhatsApp AI Agent from $220.
• Not sure which? A Fractional CTO Session at $60 gets you a straight answer in an hour.

Tell me what you want the app to do. On a free call I'll tell you whether it should be an app, and what I'd build if it shouldn't.