How to Create an App from a Website

Contents

1-FAQ on Converting Websites into Mobile Apps

2-PWAs vs. Mobile Apps

3-Web design that is responsive

4-How Can React Native Be Useful in Creating an iOS (or Android) App from a Website?

5-Takeout food

Today, mobile users are much more prevalent online than desktop users are – 89 percent of mobile media time is spent in mobile apps, compared to only 11 percent on websites.

Additionally, the number of mobile users is expanding quickly. Considering that there are already 5.27 billion mobile users worldwide and that 900,000 more join this group every day.

Additionally, as customers use apps more frequently and receive push notifications, businesses benefit greatly from an improved brand visibility. Therefore, it makes total sense that a lot of website owners eventually opt to create a mobile app.

There are various ways to turn a website into a mobile app (*image by [Stormotion](https://stormotion.io/)

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There are various ways to turn a website into a mobile application (image by Stormotion)

However, businesses don’t always choose native mobile apps; they may also use progressive web applications or websites with responsive designs.

In this article, we’ll discuss each of the three possibilities, give you some guidance on when to utilize each one, and go over every aspect of turning your website into an app that you might need to be aware of.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about how to turn your website into an app or other mobile solution, stay reading!

FAQ on Converting Websites into Mobile Apps

We’d like to address some of your concerns before providing you with more specific information on how this process might play out. As a result, you’ll have a clearer idea of what turning a website into an app entails.

We examine several very typical instances in this section. Undoubtedly, a different strategy might be more advantageous for your use case. Therefore, feel free to get in touch with us if you’d need detailed input on your particular instance. We’d be delighted to assist you!

What Converting Options Are There? What Could the Price Be?

To start, there are numerous offers to “convert website to app with a few clicks” on the Internet. These alternatives, which we’ll refer to as autoconverters, do in fact exist.

There are two groups into which these autoconverters fall:

The first simply replicates the navigation and behavior of a native app by taking your website and wrapping it in a WebView-wrapper inside the app. Imagine that your website would appear in a mobile browser and be slightly modified to resemble an app.

Website owners who use well-known engines like WordPress, Shopify, Wix, etc. fall under the second category of autoconverters. For those engines, these services have created plugins that offer an API for conversion. They also provide a template for a mobile app that communicates with the API to exchange and show data.

There are various ways to turn your website into an app, including using app builders, creating an app from scratch, or leveraging your website’s current code and adding native components.

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There are various ways to turn your website into an app, including using app builders, creating an app from scratch, or leveraging your website’s current code and adding native components (image by GoodFirms)

In all honesty, we don’t think the UI and UX designs for this app, which was created from a website, appear promising. However, the appearance and lack of user friendliness of such services are not their sole turnoffs.

The fact that the functionality is strictly constrained to what an autoconverter provides is the most significant. As a result, you won’t be able to add a chatbot, use a third-party API, or implement any other feature that isn’t on a converter’s list in your app, either now or in the future.

Additionally, the majority of the steps you’ll need to do on your conversion trip will likely and generally be confined to the offer of a converter.

We are unable to recommend against using such services at all. They might be a sensible option, for instance, in the following circumstances:

You should first conduct a test to see how your target market would interact with a mobile product. Perhaps you’ve found that a substantial portion of visitors to your website originate from mobile searches and want to provide these users with a dependable mobile app. However, you first want to make sure that it is something that your audience actually wants.

Recognize the features that will best serve your use case. Even while the big picture can be more or less clear, it’s not excessive to check to be sure you’ve considered every aspect and won’t have to go back and start over.

You could be a start-up that need a bare-bones version of a product to demonstrate it to potential backers and customers.

You can reuse the code from your website (web platform) and add native functionality to turn it into a mobile application. (*photo by Ghulam Rasool) (https://dribbble.com/ghulaam-rasool) *with rel=”nofollow” and target=” blank”

You can reuse the code from your website’s web platform and add native functionality to turn it into a mobile application (picture by Ghulam Rasool).

Custom development is another method for turning a website into an app. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic button you can press to instantly turn your website into a user-friendly app with a fantastic UI/UX.

However, due of the advantages it provides, bespoke development is a fantastic choice:

Why should your company create a unique Native Mobile App?

Individualized Experience Native applications offer your consumers a faultless user experience and performance in contrast to apps created using WebView-wrappers or templates resembling those of WordPress.

user-centered strategy Since there won’t be any restrictions, the quantity of features and integrations will fully satisfy your use case.

Scalable Approach. You can change your app as often and as much as you need to, unlike a template-based app.

Possibility to Stand Out With the same autoconverter, you will be able to create an original app that won’t resemble hundreds of other apps.

Superior Results. Mobile apps are more practical to use and advantageous in the long run for the reasons listed above, therefore you can anticipate an increase in Lifetime Value and Revenue-per-User.

Regarding the cost query, it actually relies on the kind of your application. Auto conversion services might cost anything between $0 and $500.

The cost of custom development is significantly more and often starts at $5,000. Costs vary greatly based on the amount and complexity of features, UI design, third-party connectors, hourly rate of your development team, etc.

If You Already Have a Website, Is It Easier to Build an App?

Even though it’s unfortunate, you typically can’t use the website code to create a mobile app from scratch. However, if you currently have a working website, developing an app will be much simpler.

Reusing a portion of the code from a mobile application will allow you to convert a website built using React Native into an app. Rel=”nofollow” target=” blank”.default-md; image by [Sajon] (https://dribbble.com/sajon)

Reusing a portion of the code from a mobile application will allow you to convert a website built using React Native into an app (image by Sajon)

First off, your website and brand already have a specific design. This means that you may just use the main idea, coloring, logos, etc. instead than spending time thinking up anything new.

Undoubtedly, you might wish to have a different UI design approach, but doing so could hurt how consistently your products adhere to the brand.

The second advantage is quite constrained, yet it is nevertheless important to note. You can repurpose some of the existing code for mobile development if your website is built using the React or Flutter frameworks.

It’s crucial to understand that some native features of applications cannot be added by reusing the code from a website. In-product purchases, as an illustration. Apps and websites can incorporate this feature in various ways. Although it can be done with the use of APIs from companies like Stripe or Braintree, the code will still be unique.

Therefore, you must conduct study on how each of the features functions on other platforms in order to determine which features can or cannot be provided by reusing the website’s code.

How Can the Process Be Time- and Cost-Effective?

There are a few suggestions you may use to make the process go more quickly and more affordably.

The website should be mobile-friendly so that every user can access it using a mobile device. (*photo by Ghulam Rasool) (https://dribbble.com/ghulaam-rasool) *with rel=”nofollow” and target=” blank”

The website should be mobile-friendly so that every user can access it using a mobile device. (Photo credit: Ghulam Rasool)

#1: Plan everything out thoroughly beforehand.

Going back to change the code takes a lot of time in both web and mobile development. Additionally, at some checkpoints, making a tiny change requires rewriting a sizeable portion of the code, which naturally adds time and costs to the development process. Therefore, you can reduce the development time and expenses by executing a thorough preparation step.

#2: Start by implementing only the things you are certain you will use.

Making an app loaded with cutting-edge features and integrations as your brand’s initial mobile product might not be practical. For the time being, some fundamental functionality with a few distinctive brand features should suffice.

You can alter the program and further enhance the development at a later time. A wonderful technique to reduce development time and maximize the budget is using such a strategy.

You can read this article to find out more about the costs involved in creating an MVP, which is a product with only the most necessary features.

Read More

What Does It Cost to Create an MVP?

Can I move all the features from a website to an app? 📲

The functionality is essentially increased rather than decreased when a website is turned into an app.

You can either utilize an app builder or hire a designer to create a custom app to transform websites into mobile applications (*image by [Hira Riaz]).

(https://dribbble.com/Hirariaz4)

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Use an app builder or commission a custom app design to turn webpages into mobile applications (picture by Hira Riaz).

Here are a few instances of how the same capability can be activated in various ways:

Web page

App for mobile

Users frequently receive verification numbers throughout the sign-up process via email or phone, which they must manually enter.

It is feasible to automatically capture verification codes in mobile apps. By utilizing APIs like SMS Retriever, you can enable it.

Only the device may be used to import photos and movies.

A smartphone camera can be integrated within the app so that you can utilize it there.

Since desktop notifications don’t function as well as push notifications, which are a feature exclusive to mobile products, you can’t really use notifications to their full potential.

Personalization, sales growth, audience retargeting, and other uses are all possible with push notifications, a fantastic mobile tool.

Websites typically open their menus without requiring extra clicks from visitors.

The idea of a hamburger menu is used by many apps; it doesn’t take up any screen space until the user selects it with a tap or slide.

PWAs vs. Mobile Apps

In essence, a PWA and responsive web design are the other 2 possibilities, in addition to a mobile (native) app, for offering a user-friendly experience for mobile consumers.

In this section, we’ll discuss how a Progressive Web App (PWA) differs from a native app, provide you with some examples, and go into more detail about what a PWA actually is.

React Native allows you to create cross-platform apps from your website (*image by [UAMaster]).

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Your website may become a cross-platform app using React Native (image by UAMaster)

PWA is a web-based program designed with mobile users in mind. It is often constructed using JavaScript, HTML, or CSS frameworks. A web platform-connected app, to put it simply.

In fact, it might be challenging for users to determine exactly what they are utilizing. Since the animations are fluid and the navigation is responsive, the experience is pretty comparable to what mobile apps offer.

Let’s examine the benefits and drawbacks of PWAs in more detail:

Pros

PWAs are cross-platform, which means they adapt to the screen size and device to deliver the same UI/UX.

They are quick to load, functional even without an internet connection.

Most people won’t have any issues using it because it is rather well-known.

Just a URL can be used to share the program.

Cons

Due to the limited options, you cannot add any feature or integration you like. You cannot, for instance, build a payment gateway. Additionally, only Android devices can have push notifications activated. In general, many PWA capabilities, such as battery status and inter-app communication, will be unavailable to iOS users.

PWAs use more CPUs, so the battery depletion is quicker.

The following benefits and drawbacks are offered by native mobile apps, though.

Pros

smooth operation because it is perfectly suited to mobile platforms.

You can use any available feature and APIs on the market.

works well with multi-structural, complex architecture.

Installation is required, increasing the brand’s online visibility and opening up new traffic channels.

Cons

Compared to PWAs, development time and cost are longer.

Updating and maintaining technology is more challenging.

The app store where you plan to publish your app must first approve it.

The difference between native applications and PWAs, then, is that mobile apps are a superior option for complicated solutions, according to these two tables. Therefore, if you require sophisticated features and a smoother performance, this may be the better alternative, while PWAs are excellent for less functional needs.

Based on the aforementioned, we have developed a list of less broad use scenarios that show when it might be preferable to utilize a native app versus a PWA:

a native app

PWA

Extended security features like biometric authentication are what you’re after.

For users of iOS and Android, you only need one app.

Integration with a device’s hardware is necessary.

Your time and money are both limited.

Your product includes subscriptions, in-app purchases, etc.

Advanced features or integrations are not necessary.

essential presence on the app store.

Your product doesn’t necessarily need to support push notifications.

By the way, you can read our post on this subject for a more thorough examination of PWA development options:

Read More

What Framework Should I Pick When Creating PWA?

Web design that is responsive

Making your website’s design adaptable is another technique to deliver a sustained mobile user experience (or mobile-friendly if you wish).

A mobile-friendly design is actually something that is fairly crucial if you receive a lot of traffic from mobile searches. Because responsive web systems are increasingly preferred by Google’s algorithms.

Simply put, Google prioritizes responsive websites for mobile searches. This means that unless your website is not designed for mobile use, it can be ranked well for mobile searches regardless of how great the quality of the material on it is.

You may test your website to see if it is mobile-friendly and get additional information in Google’s tutorial on the subject. That is, without mobile device optimization, even high-quality web platforms cannot achieve top rankings for mobile searches.

Therefore, we’d like to provide you a few pointers on how to make your website responsive in order to assist you enhance your Google positions for searches made by 5,27B mobile visitors.

Consistency: All Eyes on UI When it comes to mobile development, the maxim “Less is more” is fundamental. Button, text, and other graphic elements are frequently found on web pages. It is an impossible luxury to move all of these things in the program without making any adjustments.

You must choose which items will remain in the foreground and which ones will fade into the background due to the screen sizes, dimensions, and resolutions of mobile devices.

You can create an Android app from your website, an iOS app for users, or a cross-platform solution. (*photo by Ghulam Rasool) (https://dribbble.com/ghulaam-rasool) *with rel=”nofollow” and target=” blank”

You can create an Android or iOS app from your website or employ a cross-platform solution (picture by Ghulam Rasool).

Simply simply, you will need to create a different screen for each in-app feature (or even several ones). We advise that you emphasize the important aspects that provide the most value for your visitors rather than just copying the entirety of the functionality of your website in order to avoid making your app into a maze or a riddle.

Patterns of Responsive Navigation

Having accustomed, straightforward, and intuitive navigation patterns is one of the essential requirements for a website to be mobile-friendly.

Let’s start by discussing the tab bar. There are several of the most basic navigation options in it, which is typically at the top or bottom of the screen. The fact that you may contact them from anywhere on the app is crucial. Additionally, it’s always in the thumb-friendly area:

The website should include responsive navigation patterns to make it user-friendly for mobile users (*image by [Ramotion](https://dribbble.com/Ramotion)* rel=”nofollow” target=” blank”.default-md*).

The website should include responsive navigation patterns to make it user-friendly for mobile users (image by Ramotion)

If your navigation system is not very complex, a tab bar is the ideal option. However, it also has advantages and disadvantages, which we will list:

Pros

Because the tab bar is located in a thumb-friendly area, it is simple to access, which improves the user experience.

People will utilize it more frequently than choices from a hidden menu because it is always in plain sight.

It enables one-tap navigation through screens for users.

Cons

A small number of options can be stored in a tab bar (up to 5 and less).

Since it is constantly visible, you must consider how all other screens relate to it.

Without labels, it could be difficult to determine what is behind an icon on a tab bar.

Another idea to consider is gesture-based navigation; it forms the basis of user-friendly interfaces that you can also use when turning a website into a mobile application.

Users must utilize various gestures to go from one screen to another and carry out various operations rather than menus and icons.

Let’s quickly go over the benefits and drawbacks of this decision:

Saves you a ton of room that you could use to put useful stuff.

Already, some gestures are regarded as “standard.” We might spread to zoom or swipe to access a nearby screen, for instance.

Cons

Users who are unable to view all of the alternatives may become confused by such invisible navigation.

Some gestures demand more work from the user since they entail multiple fingers, shaking or spinning the device, etc.

Screen Size Modification

The adaptation of your website to the various screen sizes of mobile devices is another crucial step. Given that screen sizes vary greatly, it can appear to be quite a task. Android devices are completely distinct, whereas Apple devices lack such diversity.

However, you shouldn’t be concerned about it because it shouldn’t be a problem if you choose the correct Tech Partner.

The website should adapt to different screen sizes to make it user-friendly for mobile users (*image by [simantOo](https://dribbble.com/simantoo)* rel=”nofollow” target=” blank”.default-md*).

The website should adapt to different screen sizes to make it user-friendly for mobile users (image by simantOo)

Additionally, some programs let you automatically adapt a website to a variety of important screen resolutions, making it pixel-perfect across a range of mobile devices.

Clear CTA Buttons

CAT in mobile apps should be prominent so users can readily locate where to tap in order to focus their attention to what you want them to accomplish.

The website should include clear CTA buttons to make it user-friendly for mobile users (*image by [Rakib Kowshar](https://dribbble.com/rakibkowshar)* rel=”nofollow” target=” blank”.default-md*)

The website should have clear CTA buttons to make it convenient for mobile users (image by Rakib Kowshar)

You can: Make that obvious by:

Make it out of a distinct, contrasting hue from the background.

Put it inside a geometric shape.

Pick a distinctive typeface.

Make it bold, use cursive writing, etc.

How Can React Native Be Useful in Creating an iOS (or Android) App from a Website?

The JavaScript web programming language serves as the foundation for Facebook’s React Native, a framework for creating mobile applications. JavaScript allows you to construct a single codebase that can be employed for both iOS and Android apps at the same time, which is its key advantage over native techniques. We frequently employ it at Stormotion.

React Native enables you to reuse the website’s code to transform it into a mobile app or Progressive Web App (PWA). (*Image courtesy of Vlad Shagov at Dribbble.com/shagov *with rel=”nofollow” and target=” blank”

React Native enables you to reuse the website’s code to transform it into a mobile app or Progressive Web App (PWA). (Photo credit: Vlad Shagov)

React Native app development can significantly reduce development time and expenses as well as the cost of additional post-release support for both applications, even if your engineers will still need to create some platform specs.

Therefore, we advise you to think about hiring React Native mobile developers if you want to transform a website into an Android app and an iOS app at the same time (or guarantee speedier development for the second platform in the future).

Takeout food

In conclusion, we would like to state that turning a website into an app isn’t genuinely conversion because there isn’t a mechanism that can transform a website into an app using code automatically.

You’ll probably need to choose custom mobile development if you want a long-lasting solution. It will be simpler for you to create an application if you already have a web product.

Let’s quickly go over the article’s main points:

Instead of copying your website, specify which aspects of your service clients expect to see in your app and concentrate on them.

Choose whether you’ll create a custom app or use an autoconverter.

Pay attention to how the user experience differs between the web and mobile devices, and think about leveraging React Native to simultaneously serve apps for both.

Please get in touch with us if you require any assistance with transforming your website into an effective mobile-optimized solution that will fully satisfy the demands of your mobile audience. We’d be delighted to assist you!