A little bit about us

We are a Troubleshooting Technology company, which has been engaged in the design and development of IT solutions for business, education and government agencies for more than 6 years. During this time, we have implemented dozens of projects, from mobile applications and web services to integration platforms and analytics and automation systems.

What are we going to talk about

People often come to us with requests for the development of mobile applications.

At first, there were waves of "I want to be like inDriver," then "like Glovo / Wolt/ Yandex Go," and later "my marketplace." Now fashion has shifted towards FinTech, EdTech, LifeStyle, dating, and more.

Immersing themselves in the task, in the customer's business process, they did not always move on to development, sometimes they were dissuaded when it was clear that they could do with something smaller, for example, a bot.

It seems like a mobile app is a must—have step in any digital product. But in fact, not everyone needs it. When we immerse ourselves in a business process, it doesn't always come to development. Sometimes we talk you out of it. Because honestly, sometimes it's easier, faster, and more profitable to make an alternative, a Telegram bot, a PWA, or something else.

Based on our experience, we identified several issues that helped/are helping us and our colleagues determine whether it is necessary to go into mobile development.

The essence of the question

A smartphone is the main screen of life. It's always in your hand. According to the data Data.ai:

• In 2024, users spent more than 5 hours a day in apps, a record.
• The global mobile app market is estimated at $500+ billion.
• 72% of the time on the Internet is in applications, not in the browser (Statista, 2023).
• 90% of users under the age of 35 choose apps if there is an alternative to the site.

This means that the audience has developed a stable habit. And if your product is not in a mobile device, you are somewhere away from the main focus. Or at least it seems that way.

How do I know if I need a mobile phone

we answer 4 key questions:

1. Is the product built around a mobile app?

This is not a question of "whether it will be convenient for the user," but whether the idea of a mobile application as the basis is embedded in the business model itself.

There are products where the business itself is impossible without an application: it is not just a shell, but is the main way to provide a service or content. The app is not an add—on, but the service itself.

If you remove it, there is nothing left. The application is not a support channel or a custom interface, but the core of the user experience and a key asset.

When so:

• The app brings almost all the traffic and orders.
• The app is the main point of contact with the user.
• The whole logic of the product is around the mobile format: geolocation, push notifications, personal account, map, background work, etc.

Examples:

• Glovo, Wolt, Yandex Go — without the app, you will not be able to call for delivery and will not get access to the service.
• Pure, Tinder — everything is tied to mobile behavior, focusing on fast matching, swipes, and pushes.
• Calm, Meditopia — all the value inside the app: meditations, trackers, videos, daily practices.
• Hypermarket, Ozon, Wildberries — 70%+ of orders come from apps, and all retention and push budgets go there.
• inDriver, Uber — the architecture is built around a mobile interface. Business is impossible without it.

If that's the case, then go to the app, it's not an option.

If not, if this is a convenient way to duplicate what is already working through a website, bot, or managers, and the client can fully interact with you without it, then perhaps its development is not yet a priority, or we are considering an alternative.

2. Does the app give the user a unique experience that is impossible otherwise?

Does the mobile app change the way you consume a service or interact with a product so much that this experience is impossible (or extremely inconvenient) recreate it through a website, offline, or other channels?

The application here is not an alternative to the site, but a different user experience model. We used to do it like this, but now we're going to do it like this because it's fashionable.

Examples:

• Applications like Duolingo feature gamified, piecemeal learning that is always at hand, with reminders, voice exercises, offline access, and a reward system. You can learn on the website, through newsletters, through videos, through courses at TG, but the experience is not the same at all.
• In food delivery, you can call and order, you can use the website, but the mobile application provides constant access, GPS tracking, push notifications, saved addresses, quick one—tap order, etc.
• In fitness apps, you get a workout plan, video instructions, a step counter, and a smartwatch connection, all of which work in the background and with you 24/7, a completely different service.

3. Do you need a mobile phone for business or technical requirements?

There are cases when there is no way without an application. Sometimes you need a mobile app because it doesn't work otherwise. The browser and messengers have limitations that do not allow them to implement all the functionality.

Examples:

• The user does not have a PC, if we focus on desktop.
• Offline access is needed so that the service can continue to work without the Internet: data collection, saving drafts, queuing tasks, and syncing later. The user may be out of the city, without internet or network access, or on the road.
• You need access to the hardware of the device - Bluetooth, working in the background, file system, NFC integration, working with sensors, push notifications, integration with native Health applications.

4. Is there any understanding of how to promote the product?

It is not enough to develop an application, you need to attract users for it, otherwise it will just lie. And you need to think about this in advance. Take into account the specifics of mobile app promotion on the App Store and Play Market platforms, how to attract and retain users.

If there is no such understanding, it may be too early to make an app yet. It makes sense to start with something simpler, with MVP, where it is easier to launch traffic, collect hypotheses, understand how the audience reacts, and only then transfer successful behavior to a mobile environment.

Conclusion

If there is an understanding that there is a clear “yes", then go to the mobile application.

If the answer is “no" somewhere, it makes sense to think about alternatives that can be made easier / faster / cheaper: in the form of a bot, web, or mobile PWA. Test demand, collect data, and only then invest in a full—fledged application.

The technological and financial specifics of each approach will be discussed in the next post.