Long live the mobile web

Everyone uses apps nowadays. My mum is in her sixties, yet spends hours a day in apps. She loves the fact that she can carry her dictionary, bible and family with her at all times. So why go with a mobile web MVP when launching Ukuul?

The mobile web is a great platform… if done right. Here is why:

• Can be accessed on any web enabled device; phone, tablet and desktop.
• Simple distribution. No app store needed. Just share your web address.
• No download and installation. Just bookmark and/or create a home screen shortcut.
• Updates reach all users instantly.

However, just like the shift to web based apps on the desktop, we believe there will be a time when the web will play a major role on mobile. A role now dominated by apps. Ask yourself, how many of the apps on your phone did you open in the last week? Let’s face it, most apps are rarely used. A lot of apps can exist exclusively on the web. So why waste your precious data to download and keep these apps? They could simply be websites you visit when necessary. After careful consideration we settled on the mobile web for our MVP.

However, developing for the mobile web requires an obsession with speed. Below are some optimizations we have made to keep our website snappy.

• Inline CSS.
• Inline image data.
• Asset compression.
• Loading JavaScript asynchronously.

Ukuul is a startup. We have a lot of assumptions. Launching on the mobile web gives us access to a broad audience, yet we can quickly learn and adapt without making any expensive commitments.

Ukuul.com is an on-demand motorcycle delivery service. Anyone can send and receive packages from locations within Accra.