Infographic: To app, or not to app

It’s clear that the mobile web is on the rise. Taking a look at the stats, it’s hard to see how desktop browsing can survive the onslaught.

People use smartphones for almost everything. 91% of US citizens own a smart phone, and with the relatively low cost compared to computers, smart phone usage is growing exponentially in the third world. America prefers the iPhone, Europe prefers Android, everyone it seems, is buying into mobile browsing.

That all leaves web designers with a difficult choice: do we build responsively, putting all our eggs in one basket; do we build a mobile site, splitting our traffic; or do we build a mobile app, forcing our users to download our content.

To help you decide, we’ve put together this infographic of the pros and cons of each approach:

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Do you have a standard approach to the mobile web? Do you expect your approach to change in the next few years? Let us know in the comments.

Ben Moss

Ben Moss has designed and coded work for award-winning startups, and global names including IBM, UBS, and the FBI. When he’s not in front of a screen he’s probably out trail-running.