What is a web app?
Read in RomanianAplicație web
Why it matters
A web app runs anywhere a browser does, so there is nothing to download and no app-store approval to wait on. You ship an update once and every user has it on their next visit. For most business tools that reach is the whole point, and it is why so much software now lives in the browser rather than as a program you install.
Web app vs website vs native app
A website is mostly read-only: it presents pages you look at. A web app is interactive: you sign in and it does something with your input. A native app is built specifically for one platform, installed from a store, and can reach deeper into the device. The lines blur, but the useful question is whether the thing mainly shows you information or actually does work for you.
What it is built from
A web app has two halves: the part that runs in your browser and the part that runs on a server, connected by an API. The languages and frameworks chosen for each make up its tech stack, and most SaaS products are simply a web app sold as a subscription. We build these from MVP through to production, including basetool-v1, our internal data tool in TypeScript, React, and Next.js.