It is amazing to me that every time new technology surfaces, immediately thereafter someone figures out how to scam it.
With mobile apps the emerging technology, it’s no surprise that not-so-honest schemes are being offered to businesses eager to get on board, but who are not up on the lingo and looking for cost savings.

The lingo
To protect yourself, you first need to understand the terms used in the Mobile App industry.
• Mobile App – Although the term Mobile App is being used to relate to any software that is made to run on a smartphone, we are referring to the mobile apps that users usually download and access by an icon. When you are making a decision to acquire one for your business, and you want a fully functional app, it becomes much more technical. Make sure you are discussing Native apps, or hybrid apps, not mobile web apps. Native and hybrid apps are written specifically for each client and compiled for the specific platforms they want to be seen on (i.e. Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry, etc.).
• Mobile Web App – Mobile web apps are a cheaper and easier way to acquire a Mobile application for your business, but at this stage of evolving technology, they have their limitations. Generally, mobile web apps on link to pages on your website and attempt, most of the time successfully, to render that page to a mobile phone sized display. A mobile web app lacks the ability at this stage to provide interaction –  push technology and independent upgrades separate from the website.
• RSS feed – RSS feeds allow businesses to stream content and data to their mobile application. A typical use for this technology would be to allow clients to keep up with news releases, or to stream data such as menu items, products and videos. For instance a bar or restaurant may have their menu databased on their website and streamed to their mobile app. That way, and changes to the menu would instantly show up on the mobile app.
• Push Technology – Push Technology, or server push, as used in mobile app technology, is the ability for a website operator to “push” new information instantly to a mobile app. An example of this would be (again using a bar, lounge or nightclub) sending an instant message to their app users alerting them to tonight’s entertainment or a onetime food special. This message could appear on the app as a popup.
• App Store – Here is a biggie – native and hybrid applications can be compiled and submitted to the various app stores, thus making them available to everyone. Mobile web apps cannot. Apps downloaded from an app store automatically install an icon so that access is easy. Again, Mobile web applications cannot. They can be installed on the smart phone by users who are savvy about these things, although it is a process.
That brings us to the scam part of this article. There are a lot of unscrupulous entrepreneurs who are “leasing” or “renting” mobile apps that are actually mobile web apps.
The scam works like this. You pay a setup fee, usually several hundred dollars, and then a monthly rental fee. You are told you will have an instant mobile app when actually they are simply linking to pages on your website using a wrapper, a mobile website app. On many Smartphones, the web pages are not rendered properly and appear on the mobile app much larger than the screen. You will not be given any ability to use RSS feed, Push Technology or have your app available on the app stores. Basically, your clients could accomplish almost the same thing by just accessing your website on their mobile phone. You just wasted your money!
Protect yourself and your business. When you are in the market for a Mobile App, make sure you ask all the questions, and make a decision that best fits your needs. Sometimes, relying strictly on budget will land you without anything usable.