Apps are all the rage. Phrases like “Apps are the new website” and [of course] “There’s an app for that” are common in today’s culture. The proliferation of mobile devices like smart phones, tablets and even phablets (those gigantic cell phones that are almost as big as an iPad mini) has created an onslaught of groups wanting to tap into the app universe. But are apps the really right move for your church?
I was thinking about an app for the church I pastor, but before jumping in and having an app built, I sought out the advice of a friend who has been in church technology for well over a decade. My friend, Boyd Pelley, is co-founder and president of Churchteams, a church management software company (ChMS or CMS) that has been in business since 2000. Having always been a 100% online service provider and having consistently been on the cutting edge of software development for churches, I thought it strange that they have chosen to stay away from Apps altogether. I had to know why.
As I understand it, companies and organizations create apps for several reasons:
- Customer Service Reason – It’s convenient for clients, customers, or parishioners (in the case of churches). It’s easy to click one button and be able to access information about your church.
- Marketing Reason – Apps help improve SEO (search engine optimization). Having a downloadable software piece on giant software distribution sites like iTunes, Amazon and the Android Marketplace lends credibility to your organization’s website, making it appear higher on search engine results pages.
- Public Relations Reason – Having an app makes an organization appear more progressive and relevant than others who don’t have an app.
I’m sure there are other reasons to have an app, but these three made sense to with me on a practical level. So when I asked my friend Boyd why he and his company refused to build an app, I was surprised to become convinced by his reasoning.
Boyd gave three compelling reasons why an app might not be the right move for a church:
- Responsive Design Does What Apps Do – Responsive design is the term given to the ability of a website to appear correctly on any platform from a desktop PC to a small smart phone screen. It’s easy to tell if a website doesn’t have responsive design. Just view it from a smartphone and if the web page doesn’t fit your screen (i.e. the pictures are too big or the fonts too tiny), then it does not have responsive design. Boyd told me that rather than spending money and development energy on a whole new software platform, they added responsive design to their product. Since their product is used exclusively through web browsers, they just improved the product’s usability on screens of any size. Since mobile devices already have the software necessary to utilize their product (web browsers), Boyd and his company saw no need to create a new software applications for mobile platforms.
- Responsive Design Doesn’t Require Constant App Updates – Mobile device operating systems are constantly being upgraded. Which sometimes translates into the need for upgraded apps. Since Churchteams doesn’t have an app, they don’t have to spend money and energy keeping it up to date with various mobile operating systems.
- Saving A Link To Your Home Screen Is A Good App-Substitute – Boyd taught me a neat trick by showing me how to save a web URL to my phone’s home screen (this may not be new to you, so forgive me for being late to the party). By saving our church’s Churchteams login link to my phone’s home screen I added a button that looks just like an app. Boyd pointed out that this little trick is free to customers, but creating an app would translate into higher prices for customers. I’m a fan of ease and affordability!
Boyd’s take on apps versus responsive design won me over, so our church is not going to build an app. Instead, we will make our responsive design website better and begin communicating with our parishioners that they can save our website on their mobile device home screens.
Before I go much further, I must acknowledge what we will lose by not building an app.
- No Push Notifications – Home screen links don’t have the ability to send notifications to users that there is new content on the site. I have to admit, it would be handy to send out announcements and reminders via push notifications.
- Potential Guests Won’t Find Us In App Stores – Since we won’t be in any app marketplaces, potential guests won’t stumble upon us there. However, since the vast majority of people browsing app stores are outside our geographical area, the likelihood of them finding our church app and then coming to our church are pretty slim. Furthermore, most people who download church apps are people who are interested in the church. That generally happens after they visit the website and then the church itself.
The goal of this post isn’t to say that apps are bad. I have many apps on my mobile devices and I love them. An app may indeed be exactly what your church needs. However, when your church or your organization begins thinking about creating an app, seriously consider the points for and against the need for an app. You might end up saving a bunch of money. That means better stewardship and more money for ministry.
So give it a try with your own website. Does your site have responsive design? Would a home screen link to your site work as an adequate app-substitute?