How to convert your website into an iOS app that matches your website content

Before we start on how you should convert a website into an iOS app, why don’t we run through few basics first?

Will you be gaining by converting your website to an iOS app, and will your customers be gaining anything if you do so?

Well, it confirms that both you and your customers stand to gain something or the other, and that’s due to these aforesaid reasons:

????Mobile apps offer better personalization to your potential customers.

?? ?With the usage of mobile apps, you can send both “push notifications” and “in-app notifications”. These improve the total customer engagement.

????Launching a mobile app will allow you to take advantage of the different mobile device features like camera, GPS, etc.

????While your customers wouldn’t be able to work offline with your website, they can work offline using your mobile app.

????You can take advantage of different gestures like “tap”, “swipe”, etc. when you decide to design a UI for your concerned mobile app. These basically aren’t available for websites.

????Mobile apps offer a standard and better branding experience and opportunities.

????Statistics reveal that Internet users spend much more time on mobile apps than any mobile website.

???Mobile apps offer you completely new streams of conversion.

???Your users will then find your mobile app faster than any of your mobile websites if you develop the app properly and well.

Let me ask you. What do you think about the popularity of iOS apps?

One simple statistic will however help you understand their popularity clearly! For the year 2021, the Apple App Store had a total of 3.48 million iOS apps.

WHAT KIND OF IOS APP SHOULD YOU REALLY BUILD?

You have multiple choices when it comes to converting your website into an iOS app, basically, developing a native app compared to developing a hybrid app. Which option should you opt for?

Native apps are basically apps created particularly for a mobile platform like Android or iOS. On the contrary, hybrid apps can be used on many different platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows.

I personally would recommend that you convert your website to what we call the native iOS app. You get a lot of benefits by doing so, like:

???Native apps use skilled technologies that cater to a very specific platform, therefore, they run smoother than any of the hybrid apps.

???Native apps are actually optimized for platforms such as iOS, which makes them much faster.

??User experience is a lot better with native apps as compared to hybrid apps.

??Native apps are far more secure and safe.

??Since native apps can access different device features such as camera, GPS, etc. Easily and then they offer much better flexibility.

Although native app development is going to take more time and money, the advantages mentioned above decisively override that.

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IS USING A WEBSITE INTO AN APP CONVERTER ADVISABLE?

You can find such website converters pretty easily, like the Appy Pie that is the website to app converter. They can relatively help you to create great mobile apps with standard features such as “push notifications”.

However, you need to keep in mind that such converters have their own inherent limitations. If you are planning to offer highly differentiated features in your chosen iOS app, then you will not be able to use such converters. You have to plan to develop an iOS app if you want to plan to offer features that stand out.

HOW TO ACTUALLY CONVERT YOUR WEBSITE INTO AN IOS APP

By now, you have likely seen the value of converting your website into an iOS app, moreover, you are kind of convinced that you should develop an iOS app. But how do you actually go about it, though? Let's find out:

Project planning

You need to plan meticulously so that you can make this project a success! Focus on the following information I am about to provide:

1A. YOU HAVE TO FINALIZE THE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR IOS APP

As you decide to convert your website into an iOS app, you could add some special features to it. Hire a great competent project manager (PM), maybe an IT architect, and a strong and trained team of great business analysts to finalize all the features of your totally planned iOS app.

Which project methodology do you think you should use? You are developing an important mobile app, and these are called the “Systems of Engagement”.

Iterative development will no doubt help you when you launch a “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) first and later on enhance it iteratively.

1B. FOLLOW THE ZERO IN ON THE RIGHT DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

How do you think you can execute the development project effectively? Follow the Zero in on an effective development approach first, and then I would recommend the following:

???Keep your eyes only on the application security.

???Utilize different managed cloud services platforms such as the "Mobile-Backend-as-a-Service” so that later on you don’t get bogged down with the IT infrastructure management.

???Develop APIs for your great core features and then utilize market-leading 3rd party APIs for the non-core features.

?Organize your development environment

Now that you have a plan, therefore, you can set the ball rolling by easily organizing your development environment! Then perform the following:

2A. FIND AN MBAAS (Mobile backend as a service) PLATFORM

Now you would certainly like to focus more on the iOS app front-end and the business logic, isn't it? You have to reduce the time spent in the total building of and managing the mobile backend and instead use an MBaaS platform.

MBaaS platforms offer many advantages, e.g.:

????These platforms manage both the cloud infrastructure and the persistent storage, which reduces your total effort to build and manage the mobile backend.

???MBaaS platforms help you to relatively scale your mobile app.

???You can also integrate APIs easily when you use such a cool platform, moreover, implementing new features like user management and “push notifications” becomes much easier.

2B. YOU NEED TO SIGN-UP FOR A MOBILE DEVICE LAB ON THE CLOUD

You would want your iOS app to work with all applicable and available Apple devices, wouldn’t you? Well, the thing is you first need to test it against a wide range of available devices, however, you need to know that popular open-source test automation frameworks are not helpful enough.

?Form and organize your team

It’s the age-old saying that your best plans will only succeed if you have the best and the right people, isn’t that true? Hire the right people to occupy the following roles:

????UI designers;

????iOS developers with experience in Swift;

????Testers;

????DevOps engineers.

SO, ARE YOU CONVERTING YOUR WEBSITE TO AN IOS APP?

Mobile apps can undoubtedly increase your reach; however, you have to offer an app that completely stands out.

The designing and developing of such an iOS app could be really complex, therefore, you should consider engaging a reputed software development company for such high ended projects.

That's all?

What's your take on this?

Source: Cleveroad