Tech
What’s great about Native Apps? What about PWS? What about pricing? Is it worth it?
Jose Bort, CEO at Eventscase
points out that a Native
App will offer an experience
that has been calibrated
for both Android and iOS
users. Native Apps also work
offline – ideal for venues
with restricted or poor Wi-Fi
access. Sebastien Jouhans,
technology director of
Genuine X at Jack Morton
Worldwide explains that
previously the argument
of producing a Native App
was that it worked offline,
had push notifications and
device hardware access and
tended to work faster. Brecht
Forneau, senior director
EMEA & APAC Marketing
at Aventri agrees and offers
more insight. Native Apps
also allow the organiser to
capture valuable usage data
that will inform them on
the quality of their events.
Did users make a lot of
connections at your event?
How did they navigate
through your floorplan?
What sessions did they
attend and how long did
they stay? These insights
are valuable for organisers.
But, it isn’t always an easy
option according to Felix
Allen Stroud co-founder
at CrowdComms, as Apple
is continually creating
hurdles when it comes to app
submission, thereby building
the case for using PWS. It’s not surprising that
organisers are making
more use of Web Apps. The
most recent web browsers
support all these features
of a Native App and more,
according to Jouhans.
Stroud-Allen explains that
PWS frameworks are very
advanced now and can
match match core Native
App functionality. Functions
such as an off-line mode,
push messages, geo location,
Bluetooth connectivity
via Web Bluetooth API’s
are all possible now. In the
future PWS functionality
will include NFC
connectivity, proximity
sensor and fingerprint
sensor functionality.
Development of APIs
that can be added to PWS
platforms are continuing
to be developed to allow
greater functionality. The
beauty is that nothing needs
to be downloaded. Some
technology companies have
always taken this view that
web as opposed to native
offers less friction in the
app usage transaction.
Juraj Holub, head of
communications at Slido
says that since day one
their vision has been that
technology needs to be
invisible to make events
better. To minimise barriers
of joining an event, they
have built a web-based app,
meaning participants don’t
have to download or install
anything. Over time, Slido
has developed Native Apps
for iOS and Android, but the
Web App beats them almost
4:1 in terms of usage. All the experts saw this as
the crucial decision making
issue. Bort says prices do
tend to vary, because certain
providers will overcharge
for what is now a common
investment. In general,
though, his company has
found that competition
between software providers
has definitely brought
the costs down. Between
Web and Native Apps,
we’re talking about a small
difference in price but a big
leap in quality for Native
Apps. You can now build a
fully branded, Native App
for both Android and iOS
users for around £1,500. But
there are different types
of pricing models. Most of
the provider’s price on the
number of attendees or offer
an enterprise multi-event
pricing model. Alternatively,
some are based on a pay-per-
use models, like Guidebook. Organisers don’t want to
create an app that no-one
is is going to use. Mortimer
has had experience of
having to drive app
downloads. It becomes a
marketing exercise all of
its own. However, in his
experience it’s not about
the type of app, but more
about the functionality of
the app and how critical is
it to improving attendee
experience. Bort agrees
about marketing an app,
saying that the percentage of
users will go up and down,
but this could be attributed
to external factors, like
advertising. So it’s important
to get the word out that
there is an app and what the
functions are. Marketing the
usage of an app is crucial
but Jouhans’ opinion is that
people are always reluctant
to download an app for
a single day event which
might last just a few hours.
He always recommends to
use a PWA first unless there
is a compelling argument
where they can be offered
something of value through
an app that cannot be
done via the Web App. To
conclude, the content within
the app and the functionality
it offers are going to impact
adoption and engagement.
Those factors, combined
with the price and the
download rates, are going to
determine if an organiser has
made the right choices.
“Organisers
don’t want
to create an
app that no-
one’s going
to use”
January — 61