What is a Mobile App?
It’s a program that works on your mobile device and allows the user to perform some function. For example, I have one on my smartphone that turns it into a flashlight so I can see in the dark. Other apps allow you to keep track of your calories, your goals or your to-do list. Mobile apps can do just about anything and are so popular that they have become an industry all to themselves.
Mobile Apps Stats - There are over 800,000 apps in the Apple app store. - Google has just reached 800,000 apps and will soon overtake Apple. - Most people have 108 apps on average and spend 84 minutes a day using them. - Google Android has 56% of the mobile market, Apple iOS has 23%, Blackberry has 7%, Windows has 2% and the rest have 12%. - This year Apple is projected to have 30 billion downloads and Google is projected to have 15 billion downloads.
Why Should My Ministry Have a Mobile App? At first, your ministry will have a website. When users access your website through their mobile device, it will be a somewhat imperfect viewing experience. Later, when you upgrade to a mobile website, the user will have a great experience. But to take it to the next level, you will want to have a mobile app. For example, I have an ESPN app on my phone. When I want to check sports scores, I simply press the red colorful ESPN app button and up pops everything sports. If I didn’t have that app on my phone, I would have to find my web browser (Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer) and physically type in the letters E-S-P-N. When the ESPN website displayed as a choice in my browser, I would select it and see all my sports information. If I turned off my browser or phone, I would lose the site and have to do it all over again. With the mobile app, all that is eliminated.
When I am asked which should my ministry have: a mobile website or a mobile app, the answer is both. However, if you can only afford one, a mobile website comes first because it can be accessed from any device. A mobile app however is built specific to each device and can be added later as your ministry and budget grows. But make no mistake about it, data shows that a mobile app connects your followers to your ministry in a way that is much closer than anything else. With one touch on their mobile device, they are instantly connected and engaged to your ministry. The mobile ministry apps that I have on my iPhone are the Saddleback Church app, Elevation app, Cottonwood app, Mars Hill app, iHop-KC app and Harvest Church app. Check them out.
A good mobile app should include but not be limited to: - Locations and Service Times. - Online Media. - - Live services. - - Archived Sermons or past TV shows. - - Podcasts. - Online Resources - - Daily Devotionals - - Online Bible - About Us. - - About the Pastor. - - About the church/ministry. - - Volunteering/working at the ministry. - - Mission/Vision statement. - Online Giving - Ways to Connect with the Ministry - - Social Media Pages - - Email - - Phone - - Text