Why you need a responsive mobile app

Devices such as smartphones and tablets have made access to information much easier and efficient. These devices come in all shapes and sizes with each device having different operational specs such as screen resolution and processing capabilities. In the face of all this diversity, it is important to have a solution that will be accessible by as many internet users as possible. Since apps are designed to reach more people, having a responsive design for yours can get you a greater audience and potential customer base. Responsive design ensures that your app has a consistent look and feel throughout regardless of the device that is being used to access it. You can also make better use of screen real estate when designing your app since large screens can accommodate more information and bigger graphics than their smaller counterparts.

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Planning for your audience

Application design and development takes time and planning. In order to get the most out of this planning, it is important to have a potential audience in mind. Based on the possible usage scenarios of your app, you can decide to target a number of devices which will be able to fit your applications. However, there is an even better solution of designing once and deploying on all the different devices available to your potential audience. This is responsive design and displays a different user interface based on the specifications of the device being used. Basically, it mean whatever device you use, the app will be well displayed, whether it’s on an iPhone, iPad, Android Phone or Tablet.

Not only does having a responsive mobile app provide you with a greater audience reach, but it also gives your app a consistent user experience across all platforms. This consistency leads to brand recognition and growth of your business which is the holy grail that all businesses strive for, whether they are ecommerce stores or businesses who offer local or national services to customers in a specific target market.  By being able to get to the users regardless of the devices they are using, you can have higher returns on your investments with just one initial design. This makes brand establishment and growth even easier on a wider scale.

 

Maintenance and Updates

A responsive app is also easier to maintain and update since you will not be working on several different versions of the same application. Making changes to the overall theme of your app will be much easier in addition to giving you greater control over new features in the app and how they should look like on the different display solutions available. Having a single unified code base also means that you are able to maintain your app easily since all the functionality is bundled up in a single code base. So, if you want something easy to maintain, and that you don’t have to spend all your time planning updates, responsive design is for you.

 

In conclusion, reaching a wider audience with your app means having a design that will be able to scale up and down to fit within the device specifications of the potential customers. Responsive design provides a direct solution to this scenario where there are different devices with different display sizes. By enabling a website to adapt to fit the device, the methodology allows for greater flexibility in your app growth. With a responsive design in mind from the onset, you can be able to develop an application that will scale out across platforms and screen resolutions at the same exponential pace as your business ROI. Mobile app developers that have experience in creating responsive mobile apps are in high demand right now, and if you have a business that needs to get an app developed, you should definitely find one that will create a responsive app for you.


About the author

Logan Merrick is the Strategic Director of Buzinga. He brings a Marketing approach to every project by overseeing UX design, Co-ordinating market research, and consulting on core components of the launch. Connect with +Logan Merrick on Google+

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