Technology nowadays advances at a crazy pace and we luckily live in a world where there is (almost) a digital solution to anything you could ever dream of. Whether it’s just a quick to-do list or something as complex as filing documents for government databases, apps have become a staple in helping us navigate our lives.

In sea of overflowing apps flooding the our phones, why do some apps seem to gain more attention than others?

Why do some of them work better than others? If you’re starting something new and fresh. what might be the best way forward? In this article, we compare templated and custom apps to help you better understand them and provide guidance on which way to go.

Building your presence

In 2024, your digital footprint is huge. While it’s partially propagated by our increasing access to technology, anyone with a camera now has the ability to share something with the world and become a sensation overnight.

Though the situation may differ from individuals seeking fame from a 30-second clip online, with an ever-increasing reliance on technology, businesses have increasingly opted for more digital solutions for everything that they do. Processes have become digitized, physical printed media have slowly been converted into QR codes, and it just feels like the world is moving faster in every way.

Apps nowadays evolve at breakneck speed with new ones popping up on app store charts every other week. As people work faster and more efficiently, the choices become overwhelming. And that's just in terms of downloading an app.

If you want to develop an app, you'll need to decide whether you want something that is quick and templated or something custom-made for your business.

A templated app is like a jack of all trades

App templates exist for a large variety of industries ranging from the restaurant industry to groceries. If you've been to a self-checkout and noticed the interviews (and beeps when you've done something wrong) are the same across multiple grocery stores, you've used a templated app.

While not particularly unique as an overall experience for their customers, they serve to enable them to easily accomplish tasks and drive conversions.

Booking platforms are another example of templated apps. The past 5 years has seen the immense surge of these products with companies like AirBnb and Expedia taking over the market. While they may differ in industry, these products are designed with very similar requirements in mind.

In many cases, app developers build products based on things that are familiar for customers. This is because creating new customer behaviours has the potential to cause unneeded friction that may turn people away from an otherwise strong business concept.

Who are templated apps for?

One of the biggest benefits of templated apps would be that you won’t need to train your customers to form new behaviours. These have the greatest benefit for industries with an already established product language, including:

• booking websites,

• restaurant queues, and

• checkout software.

In these cases, businesses can focus on creating more unique experiences in the products they sell and services they provide. However, just because you decide to go with a templated app doesn’t mean that you forgo any uniqueness to your app.

At the end of the day, a template is only representative of the core experience to your customers and the beginning of their digital experience with you. In many ways, you can use colours, branding, loyalty programs, and much more to enhance your customer experiences further.

Custom apps are tailor-made for your business

In the world of custom apps, many products excel at specifically designed tasks. These apps exist to further enhance an already existing service in the real world or are built for more specific needs such as the need for customers to experience something truly unique.

While these tailor-made solutions take more time to develop, their one-of-a-kind nature makes them stand out in the many cookie cutter apps being churned out every day. In many ways, when there is no one-size-fits-all solution to your business problem, custom apps are there to fill that void.

Examples of these can be seen as more ‘designed’ for specific users, like Duolingo.

With a full release in 2012, the product has gone through many cycles of iterations and refinement to reach where it’s at today. One may argue that it pioneered the gamified language-learning model as it was the first of its kind back. While there are now comparable apps to them, their designs are derivative of Duolingo’s as they’ve had 10 years to iterate, research, and refine customer behaviours.

Who are gamified apps for?

If you find that a template doesn’t quite fit your need, you might be in the market for a custom app.

From complex internal tools that streamline processes to entire systems and games for your customer to enjoy, the possibilities are endless when it comes to them. In many ways, these apps get better with time as long as you trust the process and the team to take you there.

With so much room for growth and the potential for it to become something amazing. understanding your customers on a deeper level naturally flourishes the product into its true potential to ultimately fit your unique needs.

Custom versus templated apps depends on your needs

Whether you’re looking to build something from scratch or branch out from a template, we believe that there is no one-size solution for everyone.

You can think of customization as a spectrum.

With a base of a template, the more you add or substract to and from it. the more customized it will be. Whether it’s the branding that you want to emphasize or a very unique feature, the possibilities are endless to build something that truly speaks to you.

We here at Raccoopack are passionate about finding that right fit for you. We also strive to ensure that your app is supported for years to come, so if you ever decide on new features that would be specific to your custom app, we'd be happy to work on it with you. Reach out to us for a free consultation today!

by Raymond, Product & Content @ Raccoopack Media