Mobile apps or “native” apps are software applications that are built to run on mobile operating systems, such as iOS or Android.
Sharetribe doesn’t provide an out of the box mobile app. Out of the box, Sharetribe offers a mobile responsive website. This means that each element in your marketplace, like a button, image or menu, adjusts automatically to the size of the screen. This way every user has a great and intuitive user experience on mobile. Unlike a mobile app, though, users access this website through a browser.
You can have a mobile app with Sharetribe. You have three possible approaches to building a mobile app, each requiring a different level of effort, cost, and customization.
Mobile apps have a frontend and backend component, just like websites. When using Sharetribe to build your mobile app, you already have the backend; Sharetribe can serve as the backend for both a website and a mobile app thanks to its technical infrastructure. Building a mobile app on Sharetribe, then, is about building the frontend component.
The "backend" in Sharetribe refers to the system that runs behind the scenes of your marketplace. You can think of it as the marketplace engine or database. It handles important processes, like creating user accounts or processing payments, and storing your data like listings or reviews. The backend isn’t something your users see directly; they interact with the "frontend" (your website or mobile app), which communicates with the backend to show the right information, store data and keep everything in sync.
Hosting mobile apps works differently. Whereas websites need a server to load them to a browser, mobile apps are downloaded directly onto a device through an app store. While the app itself lives on the user’s phone, many apps still connect to an online system in the background to keep information updated.
App stores, like the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, have strict requirements for apps to become published and available to device users. Mobile apps must comply with much more specific and strict rules than websites.
Build from scratch
Building a mobile app from scratch means that a software developer (with mobile development skills) creates the entire mobile app frontend from the ground up. This includes designing and coding every screen or page the end user will see and interact with, as well as creating all the buttons, menus, and functionalities that make the app work. The developer also needs to build the connection between the app and the Sharetribe backend, so that core actions like signing in, creating listings and initiating a transaction work correctly. This connection ensures the app communicates with the Sharetribe backend, displays the right information, and stores your marketplace data properly. If your marketplace is also accessible as a website, then such a connection ensures that the same information is used on web and mobile.
Because nothing is pre-built, the app’s design, user experience, and functionality are defined entirely by you and your developer. This gives you full flexibility and control over how the app looks and works, but it also requires more time, resources, and technical expertise compared to the other approaches discussed below.
You can build a completely custom, from scratch mobile app using the Dev environment included in all pricing plans. You need to subscribe to the Extend plan to use this mobile app with the Live environment.
Mobile app template
Building from scratch creates a completely bespoke app. If you don’t need a completely custom or unique design, then using an existing template build the app can speed things up and make building more affordable.
A mobile app template is a pre-built application that comes with the core design, features, and technical connections already in place. How much is pre-built and how modifiable these templates are depends on the developer. Certain developers may have building blocks to speed up development, while others may have fully built out apps that only need to be branded to be taken into use.
For example, one of Sharetribe’s verified Experts has built a complete mobile app template that can be used as-is to launch a mobile app. Their template is even integrated with Console, which means you can continue to use your no-code tools to set up configurations in your mobile app. Learn more on this page.
Modifying an existing template can happen using the Dev environment included in all plans. You need to subscribe to the Extend plan to use this mobile app with the Live environment.
Mobile wrapper
The third option for launching a mobile app is to use a mobile wrapper. A mobile app wrapper, also known as hybrid app or web-wrapper, is a tool that “wraps” your existing marketplace website and makes it accessible as a mobile application. The wrapper uses your marketplace website, placing it inside an app container that can be published to the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. With this approach, you can build certain (though not all) mobile native features, without needing to create a separate codebase.
This approach is the quickest, simplest, and least expensive approach for building a mobile app compared to the other options. However, it has limitations. Because wrappers utilize your website, the user experience mirrors exactly how your marketplace site will look like on mobile browsers. While this is completely fine for some marketplaces, others will want a design and user experience completely unique to mobile, which is not possible with wrappers. Another limitation is that certain mobile-native capabilities will not be available or may be more limited.
The pricing plan needed to use a mobile wrapper depends on if you custom coded or your website or not. If your live website runs in no-code mode (there is no custom code), then you can use the Lite or Pro plan. If you are using custom code in your live website, then the Extend plan is necessary.
A potentially crucial limitation facing wrappers is the inability to build a feature for end-users to delete their profile. The Apple App store in particular requires that end-users can delete their own profiles, which is not possible in the out of the box website. However, in at least one case, Apple has accepted substituting a form for the end-user to request deletion of their account. In all, this means wrappers face an uncertain path towards approval to the app store, especially in the Apple App store.
Conclusion
In summary, building from scratch gives you the most control, mobile app templates balance speed and customization, and mobile wrappers are the quickest but most feature-limited option. The approach that is best for you marketplace depends on your budget, timeline, and how much you want to customize the app experience.