In today's smartphones' age, lots of apps are available in the stores. These apps are an excellent source to generate revenue. These apps have made our life more comfortable. For example, educational apps are available for kids of different age groups.

For toddlers, we can search for the apps like learning numbers, learning ABC, etc. While on the other hand, apps for higher studies are also available. These include resistance calculator, PLC programming learning apps, etc.

Before developing an app, you should know about all the categories of the apps. It is beneficial for both the company and the individual developers. It helps you to provide better mobile app development services.

App classification based on the technology

There are three types of apps based on the technology:

• Native apps
• Progressive Web apps
• Hybrid apps

Let's see each of them:

Native apps

Ther apps which run on a single platform are the native apps. For example, Android apps, Windows apps, iOS apps, etc. These mobile apps are available in their respective stores; viz, Android apps on Google Play Store, iOS apps on App Store, and Windows apps on Windows Store. Talking about the programming languages, apps for different platforms use different programming languages, i.e., the languages which their operating system supports. Have a look:

• For iOS apps: Swift or Objective C programming language.
• For Andriod apps: Java programming language.
• Windows apps: Developed in C# programming language.

Every coin has two faces. The thing implies for apps too. Let's see what the advantages and disadvantages of Native apps are:

Pros of Native apps

• Native apps are fast. Since these use devices' machinery to run, they are fast as compared to other apps.
• NFC Support. NFC refers to Native Field Communication. The online payment makes use of this protocol.
• Native apps can interact with other apps. You are aware of this fact. When you download an app on your device,  these apps ask you to log in with your account. For example, if you buy an Android phone, you have to log in with your Google account.
• Push Notifications. Native apps come with the alert messaging services. These services are what we call them Push Notifications.

Cons of Native apps

• Native apps are expensive. The development cost of these apps is high.
• Native apps are OS specific. As explained, these apps run on a particular operating system. Users cannot run them on any other platform.
• Moreover, if you want to develop these apps, you need to look for a platform-specific app developer. That means you have to hire Android app developer for Android apps, iOS app developer for iOS apps, and so on.
• Time of build. The time of build of Native apps is generally larger than other applications.

Progressive Web apps

Progressive Web apps or PWAs run on the web via a web browser. HTML is the programming language for these apps. Users access them as they are accessing a web page.

Pros of PWAs

• Cost. If you have a low budget, you can develop the PWAs. They do not require enough capital as compared to the Native apps.
• PWAs are the lightweight applications. The customers having the mobile phones with limited storage can also use these apps.
• PWAs can run on multiple operating systems.

Cons of PWAs

• Unlike the Native apps, PWAs cannot communicate with the other apps on the device.
• If you are targeting to develop PWAs for various web browsers, you need to invest more.
• There is no store available for the PWAs.

Hybrid apps

Hybrid apps are like the Native apps but different in some aspects. These apps use the components of both Native apps and PWAs for development.

Pros of Hybrid apps

• Hybrid apps are cost effective. If you are tight on your budget, you can develop these apps.
• Hybrid apps have a shorter development time.
• These apps are fast.
• Maintaining these apps is easy.

Cons of Hybrid apps

• These apps have low efficiency.
• Hybrid apps lack native features.

Apps based on payment models

By payment models, apps are of the following types:

Free apps

These are the apps for which users need not pay. Such apps are freely available in the stores. The free apps come with the ads. Let's see the advantages and disadvantages of these apps:

Benefits of Free apps

• A significant amount of the population prefers to use the free apps. Hence, these apps enjoy the higher number of downloads.
• These apps come with the ads. Ads are an excellent source to generate high revenue.

Disadvantages of Free apps

• One can generate a massive revenue via the ads. But this needs a lot of customers. The same case applies here.
• No guaranteed revenue. Developers may wait for a long time to generate high revenue via free apps.
• Ads in these apps distract users.

Freemium apps

These apps are available free of cost to download. But they offer limited features in the free version. Users have to purchase the premium plan to access the full version of these apps.

Advantages of freemium apps

• These apps offer good organic traffic.
• Users can download them for free and purchase them only if the app suits them.

Disadvantages of freemium apps

• Users like to use the free version. Hence, most of the users prefer to stay with the basic version of the app.

• Users use and uninstall your app when the free licence expires.

Paid apps

As the name implies, these apps are not available for free. Users have to purchase these apps.

Pros of paid apps

• Every download generates money.
• Users get the ad-free version of the apps.

Cons of paid apps

• Paid apps get fewer downloads as compared to the other models of apps.
• Users want high-quality features.

Apps based on the functionalities

From functionality, apps are of the following types:

Gaming apps

Gaming apps are one of the most popular apps available in the stores. These apps are further classified into different categories, namely, action, arcade, strategy, puzzle, etc. Examples of the gaming apps are Pokemon Go, Clash of Clans, etc.

Business apps

Another name for these apps is Productivity apps. Business apps include the tasks like billing, buying, sending emails, managing tasks, etc. Example os business apps are Indeed Job Search, Adobe Acrobat Reader, etc.

Educational apps

Clear from the name; these apps are developed to help students. Different educational apps are available for different age groups. For example, for toddlers, kids, high educations, etc. Testbook, BYJU'S, Kindergarten Kids Learning, etc. are some examples of these apps.

Travel apps

These apps make travelling more relaxed, comfortable, and fun. These apps also give the travel suggestions to the users. Examples of travel apps are Google Earth, Airbnb, etc.

Conclusion

Apps are classified into various categories. Hence, if you want to develop a mobile app, you should know all the types of mobile apps. It may be helpful for you.