Travel & Hospitality Awards | Travel Innovation, Design & Technology 2021 | www.thawards.com

The Rise of
App Makers
When the internet was first launched early websites
were rudimentary. It took a few years before
companies started launching their own landing pages and
even then, it was only those organisations with the technical
IT departments at their disposal that were able to do so. Back
then website designers and developers needed to be fluent
in HTML, JavaScript, flash and/or CSS. However, this all
began to change in 2003 with the launch of WordPress, when
suddenly the ability to design a website became much more
of possibility for the average person. Of course, it still requires
a degree of technical ability but today almost anybody can
make their own website. This was the first of many “websites
to build websites”.
Mobile apps are on a similar path. Despite being around since
1997, the first use of apps as we know them today was when
the Apple Appstore launched in 2008. Since then apps have
become so ingrained in our day-to-day mobile experience,
that we often wonder how we managed without them. Much
like the early years of websites, the design and development
of apps was left to trained professionals and coders. But times
are changing and now the opportunity for the average person
to create an app is a very real possibility. This can either be
through mobile app builders that help design, distribute, and
manage Native apps, or through progressive web apps.
Mobile App Builders
There are several mobile app builders currently on the market. Many have common features such as pre-designed templates
to choose from, a variety of pricing packages, allow for push notifications, are e-commerce enabled, include a content
management system and offer analytic tools to understand how your app is performing.
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