Cloud Apps vs Web Apps: Understanding the Benefits and Differences

In mobile app development, many people use a cloud app and a web app as if they were one and the same. This confusion is somewhat understandable because both types of apps are web-based - they both run on the web. But there is an important difference. Web apps depend on the browser to operate, while cloud-based apps do not.

Here is a simple example. If you purchase a product from an e-commerce store, by using that store's app, you are using your browser and the store's in-house computer system. If you are purchasing a software download from a company that has its apps in the cloud, you will be connecting directly to the cloud server where that piece of software is stored, not from your browser or the company's computer system.

Defining the Difference Between Cloud Apps Vs. web apps

What is Cloud App?

The "cloud" is a computer architecture that allows software and data to be stored and accessed over the web without using a company's hard drive system. A cloud service provider has computer systems that are used by its customers.

Anyone who is accessing information or programs online may be using the cloud without even knowing it. Cloud computing can be used from any device anywhere, as long as there is an Internet connection.

Clouds can be public or private. Public clouds tend to be large and have many customers using the providers' services. Private clouds are usually set up by large enterprises, because of the huge amount of traffic and data these companies must live there.

A service provider consists of cloud-based applications, and these providers have a very sophisticated system that allows heavy usage, provides security and handles all the integration between a typical client's data and programs. Is. The client stores all the data in the app, and can be accessed offline as well. A web browser can also access these apps.

Also Check: 10 Security Considerations in Mobile Application Development

A typical example of cloud-based apps is email. Of course, large enterprises, such as Salesforce, Evernote, Dropbox, and every social media platform, operating in the cloud. They have too much data to try using an in-house server. These apps are not entirely in users' phones - they are used to access applications and data in the cloud.

Advantages of Cloud Apps

• Cloud apps improve collaboration by allowing groups of people to quickly and easily share information through shared storage.
• The cloud allows us to quickly and easily access store information anywhere and anytime using an internet connection.
• An Internet cloud infrastructure enhances the productivity and efficiency of an organization by ensuring that data is always accessible.
• Cloud-based apps reduce both hardware and software maintenance costs for organizations.
• Cloud provides huge storage capacity to store essential data like documents, pictures, audios and videos at one place.
• Data security is one of the biggest benefits of cloud-based applications. Cloud provides many advanced features related to security and ensures that data is stored and handled securely.

Disadvantages of Cloud Apps

• The biggest disadvantage of cloud-based applications is vendor lock-in. Organizations may face problems while migrating their services from one vendor to another.
• Service providers have full ownership and management of the cloud infrastructure, so cloud users have less control over the function and performance of services within the cloud infrastructure.
• Although cloud service providers implement top-tier security standards for storing critical information, before adopting cloud technology, you must acknowledge that you are sending all of your organization's sensitive information to a third party.
• With cloud infrastructure, users access data from the cloud with an internet connection. If internet connectivity is poor, users cannot access this data. However, we have no other way to access the data from the cloud.

What is a web app?

As said, web apps run on a web browser. The architecture is simple - there is server-side scripting and client-side scripting. The user depends on the webserver to access the services, and the application must be downloaded and placed on the device. In comparison, cloud apps do not function in the user's device, but instead, they work in the cloud, and users access to content that way.

A typical example of a web app is a medium-sized e-commerce store. Another example could be a bank. The bank has a website, and the customer can access it through a browser, which then communicates with the bank's servers, which in turn receive the information. All the data is stored in the bank's server. Similarly, businesses in other sectors, such as writing services, top essay writing, and perfect essays, have their own servers and can handle the demands with ease.

As is clear, the main difference between web-based and cloud-based apps is how they are accessed. Beyond that, though, cloud-based apps provide owners with many other functions and elements that are valuable.

Benefits of Web Apps

• Web apps are relatively easy to maintain because they use a common code base across multiple mobile platforms.
• Web apps can be built for all platforms as long as they can run in the appropriate web browser.
• Compared to other types of apps, web apps are already less expensive.
• Web apps do not follow standard operating system protocols and do not require approval from the App Marketplace; They can be issued at any time and in any format.
• Updates to web apps don't need to go through the App Store, which means the user doesn't need to manage updates manually. When a user opens the web app the latest version is always loaded.

Disadvantages of web apps

• Web apps have a very small scope when it comes to leveraging device features and hardware.
• A browser is required to run the web app. Users will have to take more steps to use the web app, whether it's searching a page or typing a URL. Either way, more effort complicates the user experience.
• Users interact with different web browsers, and it is more challenging to collect usage patterns and performance metrics that are used to create product roadmaps.
• Unless a web app is well marketed, web apps have poor searchability because they don't have an App Store listing.
• Web apps tend to be slower and much less responsive than other types of apps.
• Web apps tend to be less interactive and intuitive than native apps.
• Branding opportunities are less with web apps. The App Store listing presents an invaluable opportunity to express an app's unique value proposition.

Which type is best for commercial use?

Choosing between a web app and a cloud app depends on the business and its needs. As the business scales and its servers become overloaded, it has a choice - continue to add more hardware to meet the demands of users and customers, as well as in-house needs, or move to the cloud, Pay the membership fee, and be able to scale on demand. The other obvious advantage is that when an app is in the cloud the risk of downtime is negligible. A native web app won't function if the in-house servers run into problems, or if the traffic gets too high. Adding to these benefits is the fact that disaster recovery should no longer be a concern.

Still, many organizations choose to continue with web apps with their own internal servers. Others have a combination of web-based apps and other functions in the cloud. “We have a combination of web-based and cloud-based apps, and it works well for us,” says Sue O'Donnell, IT director at Studikar. Some of our apps require complete protection, and others can crash. But that will destroy us. We back up these applications to the cloud."

Other relatively small businesses have chosen to stick with web-based apps, using additional security and backup methods. John Schilling, IT associate at Right Scout, and Ashley Adams, IT director at Subject, have formed a partnership in this regard. “We both stored our backups of important data, information, and apps with each other,” Schilling says. "It's great not to worry about disaster recovery," says Adams.

Web-based apps vs. Cloud-Based Apps: Having the Best of Both Worlds

Are there businesses that opt ​​for both web-based and cloud-based apps? Yes, definitely. While some companies use a combination of different types of apps, as mentioned above, others have similar apps, both web-based and cloud. While the trend is certainly towards the cloud, these businesses find value in doing both.