Mobile app glossary: from installable websites to the app stores

Two routes onto the home screen

A progressive web app is your website made installable from the browser, with an icon, a full screen window and an offline page, and no store involved. A native app is built for iPhone and Android and published through the stores. The comparison page sets the two side by side on cost, review, updates and device features, and the web push page explains the alerts websites and web apps can send after permission.

Building a store app

Expo is the framework most new React Native apps start from, letting one codebase target iPhone, Android and the web. EAS Build compiles the app in the cloud and EAS Submit sends it to App Store Connect and Google Play. Every app needs a bundle ID, a permanent identifier in reverse domain style, so it is worth choosing carefully before the first release.

The stores and their rules

Apple charges 99 US dollars a year for its developer programme, and Google charges 25 US dollars once, with identity checks and, for new personal accounts, a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days. Apple guideline 4.2 rejects apps that only repackage a website, and 4.2.6 asks businesses to submit builder made apps themselves. Each page links the official Apple, Google and Expo documentation, since these rules change and are worth checking before you submit.

How to use these pages

Not sure you need an app? Start with the PWA pages. Planning a store app? Read the guideline 4.2, developer account and bundle ID pages before you build, because each one can delay a launch by days or weeks.

Every page in this collection

• App Store guideline 4.2: minimum functionality

  Many businesses meet guideline 4.2 the first time they try to put their website in the App Store. Knowing what Apple looks for saves a rejected submission and a lost week.

• Google Play developer account verification

  Google tightened Play Console requirements to reduce spam and abandoned apps. For a small business the practical effect is a few weeks between creating an account and publishing a public app.

• How much does the Apple Developer Program cost?

  The membership fee is the smallest part of publishing an app. The real costs are time: building, testing, preparing the listing and getting through review.

• PWA vs native app

  The question is not which technology is better but whether your customers need something an installable website cannot give them, such as a store listing or deep device features.

• What are web push notifications?

  Web push brings app style notifications to websites. Each one needs the person's explicit permission, and each browser routes it through its own push service.

• What is a bundle ID?

  Users never see a bundle ID, but every part of publishing depends on it: signing, the store listing, push notifications and links that open the app.

• What is a PWA?

  A PWA is not a separate product from your website; it is your website with a few extra files that tell browsers it can be installed and how to behave once it is.

• What is EAS Build?

  Building an app for the stores used to mean a Mac with Xcode, Android Studio and a pile of signing certificates. EAS moves that work to the cloud and drives it from a few terminal commands.

• What is Expo for React Native?

  React Native lets developers write native apps in JavaScript. Expo wraps it in tools that remove much of the setup, which is why it has become the default way to start a React Native app.