App requests usually arrive like this: our site is ready, let's make an app with the same content. Technically, wrapping a site in an app shell is easy. The hard part is getting that shell accepted by the stores and keeping it live for years. Here is what to know before you decide.
When it makes sense
An app earns its place where people come back again and again: a restaurant they order from, a clinic they book with, a service they track regularly. For those users a home-screen icon, notifications and quick sign-in are real conveniences. For a presentation site visited once a year, a well-built mobile site is usually enough; nobody downloads that app.
- Most of your customers come back more than once a month.
- Notifications have a real purpose: order status, appointment reminders.
- You need a phone feature: the camera, location, offline use.
- You have users who sign in and hold an account.
Why the stores reject it
Section 4.2 of Apple's App Review Guidelines asks for minimum functionality: an app should offer features, content and interface that go beyond a repackaged website. Apps that simply wrap a site are rejected for exactly this reason. Getting accepted takes a phone-specific layer: notifications, tab-bar navigation, a screen that opens without a connection, sharing and links that open inside the app. That layer is where the real work of an app lies.
Section 4.2.6 of the same guidelines says apps created from a commercial template or an app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted by the provider of the content. In practice: the app should be published from the brand's own developer account, not the provider's. Google Play has no rule this explicit, but near-identical apps can be treated as repetitive content, and proof of permission to use the brand can be requested.
The hidden work and the yearly costs
- An Apple developer account costs 99 dollars a year; if the membership lapses, the app leaves the store.
- A Google Play account is a one-off 25 dollars.
- Both stores ask for a D-U-N-S number for a company account. It is free, but getting one can take weeks.
- On Google, a personal account must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before launch; company accounts are exempt.
- The store listing is a job of its own: icon, screenshots, descriptions, privacy forms, an age rating and a privacy policy URL.
- The stores raise their version requirements every year. On Google Play, an app that falls behind becomes invisible to new users on newer Android versions.
If you want to send notifications you also need a sending side: a panel or service where you write them. Device notification tokens can count as personal data, so this part needs planning under data protection rules from the start.
An app is not a job you do once and leave. It is a product that needs care every year.
How it works with us
Mobile apps are not in our packages and we do not sell them as an add-on, because every app's scope is different. If you want one, write to us through the contact form with the topic “Mobile app”; we talk through what you need and quote separately. Store accounts are opened in your name, so the app is yours just like your domain. An app inherits the quality of the site behind it, and starting from a solid site is always cheaper.
