Seriously. I don’t want to install something on my phone when the dev is just using a WebView, if that’s what it’s called. When the app is basically just a website with the browser hidden.
What’s the reason for that? To attach the customer? To sell the app for money? Is there more ad revenue that way? Do you reach more people?
(Are there any good reasons for it, too? Security, maybe?)
If they have an app they can gather far more personal data from you (and your device) that they can then turn around and sell
This exactly. Just ask for some location rights in the app and get access to wifi also.
Most users don’t mind giving an app a large amount of access and in doing so, a lot of personal information gets exposed.
If you have a choice, use a website.
Also it adds a link to their website right on your phone.
So they can make your phone go bingedybeep and show you more adverts, while slurping up any data the browser doesn’t usually let them access.
Some people are missing the forest for the trees here
Having a businesses app on your phone is better regular advertising than anything they could ever pay for.
They just want an excuse to make you look at their logo and think about their business as regularly as possible
Ad revenue. It is harder to block ads on mobile than it is on desktop.
We had a project once that ran completely fine as a website except for the ability to scan bar codes. That one thing forced us to create an app and the rest of the app was just showing the website.