Apps without the app store: why we build installable web apps
Your customers install from a link or a QR code, updates reach everyone instantly, and you avoid the cost and delay of two app stores. When it is the right choice.
When a business owner says “we want an app”, they usually picture something in the App Store and Google Play. For most businesses, that is the slowest and most expensive way to get there.
Most of the apps we build are installable web apps. They look and feel like a normal app on the phone, but customers get them from a link. Here is why, and when it makes sense.
Install from a link or a QR code
A customer opens a link from your Instagram bio, your WhatsApp or a QR code on your packaging, taps “Add to home screen”, and your app sits next to their other apps with your icon. No store, no account, no waiting for a large download.
For a business, that means every place you already reach customers can become an install button.
One app for iPhone and Android
A store app usually means building and maintaining two apps, one for each platform. An installable web app is one product that works on both, and on tablets and laptops too. That is a large part of why we can deliver in weeks rather than months, and at a price that makes sense for a growing business.
Updates reach everyone instantly
When you change a price, add a feature or fix something, every customer has it the next time they open the app. There is no store review and no waiting for people to update. The gym that changes its plans on Monday has them live on every member’s phone the same day.
It still behaves like an app
Installable web apps have come a long way. The apps we build:
- open full screen from the home screen, with your icon and colours
- send push notifications for orders, payments and reminders
- take card and transfer payments
- use the camera, for example to scan a gym’s entrance code
When you do need the app store
There are good reasons to go native: heavy use of phone hardware, offline-first products used in the field, or a business that needs a listing in the stores for credibility with its market. When that is the case, we say so at the start, and plan for it.
For most restaurants, gyms, shops, schools and service businesses, an installable web app gives customers everything they need, sooner and for less.
The short version
If your goal is for customers to order, book, pay and come back, an installable web app is usually the fastest way there. Your customers get an app. You get it in weeks, on every phone, with updates whenever you need them.