the past decade, smartphones and their applications have attracted the attention of most users and have become a primary target for companies, institutions and websites. Smartphone users have become an important segment that cannot be ignored at all.
Now you can convert a WordPress website into a mobile application without having to learn complex programming skills or rely on programmers. We advise you to take this step because having a responsive website that is compatible with smartphone systems greatly enhances the presence and interaction of these users towards the site’s content. It will be easy for them to browse the entire site and its pages in an easy and comfortable way.
In this article, we will review the steps to convert a website created with WordPress into a mobile application that can be uploaded to the App Store, whether Android or IOS. In our method, we will use one of the ready-made WordPress plugins that will help you convert the website into a mobile application without the need to write any complex programming codes and does not require technical skills specific to application programming.
The difference between a responsive website and a mobile application
If you have a website that is responsive to smart phones and customized to suit the systems, browsers, screen sizes, and touch-based browsing mechanism provided by those phones, as we talked about in the guide: Making your site responsive and friendly to smart phones , then you might ask: Doesn’t this website replace the mobile application and I can benefit from it for users? Desktop as well as computer?
It is true that the website is distinguished from the mobile phone application in that it is available to anyone in the world who browses the Internet and is not limited only to those who have an application for the website on their phone.
However, the importance of smart phone applications lies in their having features and capabilities that are not available on traditional websites. Here are some of the most prominent privileges and preferences that you will get when you adopt a smart application for your website:
- The ability to operate a push notification system to send notifications of the latest developments and content on the site, such as a notification appearing to the user about the publication of a new article or product on your site. This would increase the audience’s interaction with the application’s content. Unlike the traditional notification system that runs on the website, which is not as efficient as mobile notifications that are attractive and more user-interactive.
- The mobile app provides a faster and more efficient browsing experience than the website in most cases for smartphone users
- Applications allow website owners to exploit the features and capabilities of smartphones, such as using the camera to send a personal photo directly while filling out a data form that requires taking a photo, for example.
How to convert a WordPress website into a mobile application
Depending on your financial budget and the time available to you to follow the process of creating your mobile application, and also based on your experience in the technical or programming part specifically, you can choose from 3 options or methods available to you to create a mobile application for your WordPress site:
1 – The first option , which is the most famous, is to use one of the programming companies specialized in creating smart applications. This option is the most expensive among the other options, in addition to taking a lot of time, but in the end you will get a professional application, of course, if you choose the company well, and the reputation of the company and the quality of its business models will help you in choosing.
2 – The second option is the economic option, but it requires a basic condition, which is that you have sufficient experience and good knowledge in the field of programming, specifically the programming languages used in smart phone applications. You can rely on the Phonegap tool from the famous Adobe company to create smart applications in a much easier way than writing complex code.
3 – The third option , which is less expensive, time consuming, and requires less experience if we compare it to the previous two methods, is for owners of websites that were built via the WordPress platform. In this method, you can install one of the WordPress Plugins specialized in converting the website into a mobile application ready for use without the need for any intervention or modification of the code at all.
In the next part of the article, we will highlight the most important and famous WordPress plugins that specialize in creating a mobile application from a WordPress website. We chose these plugins based on users’ trust in them and the number of active installations recorded on the official WordPress store for these plugins.
In the end, we will also review a simple practical application using one of the add-ons to create a phone application with simple practical steps that will explain the entire idea to you.
Note : There are no completely free add-ons to create an integrated phone application, but some add-ons provide a free trial period after which you must subscribe to the paid plan to continue to benefit from the service and obtain updates constantly. We’ll also detail the pricing for paid subscriptions to the various add-ons on our list.
The most popular plugins to turn your WordPress site into a mobile app
Below we will provide a detailed list of some of the most popular plugins specialized in converting a WordPress website into a mobile application, which provide a free or trial version for a certain period.
1. Add Mobiloud
The Mobiloud plugin is one of the most popular plugins available on the official WordPress plugin store, and it specializes in converting a WordPress website into a mobile application. This add-on features integration with sites that use the Woocommerce online store system, as it can organize all steps and procedures for purchases and sales pages through the application in a smooth and integrated manner.
Distinctive technical support is available with the add-ons in its paid version, where a special modification can be requested from technical support on the application for your site. You can also send a request to technical support to complete the application and adjust its settings to be compatible with your site, in addition to publishing the application through famous application stores, such as Google Play and the App Store. Here are some of the great features the add-on provides:
- Compatibility with WordPress plugins installed on the site, so that all plugins on the site work within the application exactly like the website.
- The ability to update the content of the application directly and simultaneously with updating it on the website.
- The ability to customize the look and feel of the application to suit the target audience of the site or with the brand, for example, and you can create a design different from the appearance and design of the original site.
- There is no need to use any programming codes on your part, as all work is done automatically without the need to add or modify the source codes.
- The ability to create applications that work on various popular smartphone operating systems such as Android and IOS.
As for the paid subscription plans for the addition, they start from $160 per month and provide you with integrated technical support. You can upgrade to higher plans based on the capabilities and resources you need within your application.
2. Add Androapp
The Androapp add-on is also one of the best add-ons in terms of cost compared to other add-ons that have double the prices. This add-on provides you with the ability to convert your website into a mobile application in very simple steps and without the need to write code.
One of the great features of this add-on is the ability to create a trial application for free, but in order to continue the process of publishing the application on app stores and making it available to users, you must subscribe to the paid plan for the add-on.
Here are some of the features that the add-on provides you:
- The ability to customize a system for sending notifications to an unlimited number of application users.
- The ability to link the application with the advertising display system from Google Admob or any other advertising system.
- Provides a “save for browsing when the Internet is interrupted” feature; It is a great feature that enables application users to browse content that has previously been browsed through the application without the need to connect to the Internet.
- You can choose from some ready-made templates that suit your site.
- The ability to customize the look and feel of the site, such as colors, fonts, backgrounds, etc.
Note: Although this add-on enables you to create a professional application, it does not support online stores of all kinds, so if you run an online store through your website, we do not recommend this add-on.
As for the paid subscription price for the add-on, the good thing is that you will have a free trial month, and after that you can subscribe to their paid plan, which is paid every 12 months, and costs only $66 per year.
3. Add App presser
Another great addition is the App presser add-on , which provides you with the ability to convert the website into a mobile application. This plugin provides a lot of options that help you create a professional mobile app. It provides the ability to fully “ customize ” the application, which is similar to the “ customization ” option in WordPress, which allows you to customize the template in terms of internal components, colors, fonts, and other properties that you can modify and produce as desired.
The paid plan in this add-on starts at $250 per year, and provides great technical support, as you will be able to complete the process of converting from the website to the application completely without your intervention, and the support team will take care of that entirely.
4. Add Mobile App
The Mobile App plugin is considered one of the best plugins ever regarding the process of converting a WordPress website into a mobile application with easy and uncomplicated steps and without the need to learn a lot of difficult programming skills.
The add-on provides very wonderful features, as you can download the official application for the add-on , and through the company’s application you can place a link to your sites in the application, and the application will show a simulation of what your site would look like if it were converted into a mobile application. This means that you will be able to see the look and feel of the application before starting the creation process.
The add-on also provides the ability to translate the application into more than one language in conjunction with the weglot add-on for translating WordPress sites . The plugin is characterized by regular, regular updates on the WordPress store.
The subscription price for this add-on is 79 euros, paid once, as we mentioned. The subscription allows you to create an application that works on Android or IOS. If you want to create an application that works on both platforms (Android and iOS) together, you must test the higher subscription plan worth 150 euros. Through the addition, you can communicate with the technical support team at any time to help you with technical matters related to the operation of the application.
Converting a WordPress website into a mobile application with a practical explanation
We will now go through a simplified practical review to clarify the steps for converting a demo WordPress website into a mobile application. We will install add-on No. 4 on our previous list, which is the Mobile App add-on, in order to explain the steps and stages of creating applications through specialized add-ons, and how they save you a lot of work and effort. With just a few mouse clicks the entire application is created.
After installing the plugin on WordPress , you will notice that a new tab appears in the toolbar of the site’s control panel with the name of the plugin, as in the following image:
After entering the tab of the add-on’s settings page, a new tab window will appear asking you to enter the following data:
- Application name: where you can put a name similar to the name of your website or brand.
- Upload a logo image : Where you can upload a logo image for your website or brand.
After filling out the data and choosing the main color you prefer for the application, you can click on the create my app button. It will take a few minutes for the add-on to analyze all of your site’s files and convert it into software code in the form of an application that can be used on smart phone systems, such as IOS and Android.
After completing the application creation process, the application management page will appear to you, which includes four basic tabs for managing the application and adjusting its settings and controlling it as you wish, which are as in the picture:
- “Control Panel” tab: In it you will find some options for controlling the look and feel of the application, and it also includes some tools for modifying the application and the way it works.
- . “Preview” tab: which enables you to see what the application looks like exactly as users see it. You can preview the appearance of the application on various types of smart devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, large and medium screens, and others.
- “Statistics” tab: In which you will find many statistics about the number of new logins to the application and the number of active users, in addition to the activities they conduct within the application and other important statistics that help you understand the behavior of application users.
- “Instant notifications” tab: In this tab, you can create instant notifications and send them to users of the application directly, or schedule them to be sent at a later time.
After previewing the look and feel of the application and making sure that it is indeed the look and feel that you desire, you can enter the “Control Panel” tab shown in the image below, then click on the “ manage my app ” option, which will take you directly to the official website of the add-on where you must purchase the license. After purchasing it, you can publish the application on the App Store, Google Play and the App Store.
What is special about this add-on and most of the add-ons we mentioned is the ability to customize the application and add exceptional features and options that are specific to you only, by contacting the add-on’s technical support.
Below we have attached a practical example using the “Wp mobile App” extension to convert a real website into a mobile application in the manner we explained in the previous paragraphs. The following video shows what the site looked like in desktop view before converting it to a mobile application. You will find the site to look like this on your desktop as shown in the following demo
Then, after converting it to a mobile application with the aforementioned addition, it becomes in this form on the mobile phone, as the following illustration appears in the recording
In conclusion, there are many options for WordPress plugins specialized in turning a website into an application for smartphones. In this article, we have reviewed a list of some specialized plugins with the most prominent features and features they include and the subscription cost for each of them.
Converting your website into a mobile application is actually not a complicated matter, and all you need to do is subscribe to one of the add-ons we mentioned, and with a few simple steps you will be able to create your own application for your website. Do not miss the opportunity to attract smartphone users to the audience of your visitors and customers if you want to publicize your site, but make sure that the application is tested and works efficiently before launching it to users
