◉ Expert Analysis
Should I launch a mobile app?
Analyzed by 4 domain experts
Build a web app first. Mobile adds 3x the cost with half the distribution.
Apple and Google take 30% of your revenue and control your ability to reach your own customers. A web app gives you full ownership.
◉ Expert Perspectives
“The average app gets 50 downloads and is never opened again.”
App store discovery is essentially broken for indie developers. The top 1% of apps capture 90% of downloads. Unless you have a significant marketing budget or an existing audience, your app will be invisible. Web apps with good SEO have far better organic discovery for new products.
“Build with React Native or Flutter, never native for both platforms simultaneously.”
If you absolutely need a mobile app, use a cross-platform framework to cut development time by 40-60%. Native development for iOS and Android separately doubles your engineering cost and creates two separate codebases to maintain. Only build native if you need cutting-edge hardware access.
“PWAs do 90% of what native apps do at 10% of the cost.”
Push notifications, offline access, home screen installation, and camera access all work in PWAs now. Unless you need Bluetooth, NFC, or complex background processing, a progressive web app gives you mobile presence without app store fees, review delays, or platform lock-in.
“Users expect mobile apps to be free. Charging is an uphill battle.”
Consumer expectations on mobile heavily skew toward free. Paid app downloads have dropped 90% since 2015. In-app subscriptions work but require constant engagement to prevent churn. If your business model relies on charging users directly, a web app with Stripe has dramatically better unit economics.
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What does a mobile app store optimization specialist think about “should i launch a mobile app?”?+
The average app gets 50 downloads and is never opened again. App store discovery is essentially broken for indie developers. The top 1% of apps capture 90% of downloads. Unless you have a significant marketing budget or an existing audience, your app will be invisible. Web apps with good SEO have far better organic discovery for new products.
What does a cross-platform development lead think about “should i launch a mobile app?”?+
Build with React Native or Flutter, never native for both platforms simultaneously. If you absolutely need a mobile app, use a cross-platform framework to cut development time by 40-60%. Native development for iOS and Android separately doubles your engineering cost and creates two separate codebases to maintain. Only build native if you need cutting-edge hardware access.
What does a progressive web app evangelist think about “should i launch a mobile app?”?+
PWAs do 90% of what native apps do at 10% of the cost. Push notifications, offline access, home screen installation, and camera access all work in PWAs now. Unless you need Bluetooth, NFC, or complex background processing, a progressive web app gives you mobile presence without app store fees, review delays, or platform lock-in.
What does a mobile monetization consultant think about “should i launch a mobile app?”?+
Users expect mobile apps to be free. Charging is an uphill battle. Consumer expectations on mobile heavily skew toward free. Paid app downloads have dropped 90% since 2015. In-app subscriptions work but require constant engagement to prevent churn. If your business model relies on charging users directly, a web app with Stripe has dramatically better unit economics.
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