According to its functionality:
Basic functionality: Think of this as a hierarchy; it opens on the screen with broad topics, and you click on one and you will have a set of new lists. Email on the iPhone is a good example of this. It is certainly easy to build and design and a good option for companies that want a "simple" application that displays basic information.
Database with custom functionality: Imagine you have a complete amount of content you want to use. An example would be having hundreds of dog breeds you want to organize and display differently. This can be done beyond the basic table format; development becomes more complex.
Games: The range of complexity in this type of app is very broad; you can start with something very simple and go all the way to 3D or incorporating user experience through the physical movement of the device. Everything is possible in the Game Center.
Improvements or modifications to the device hardware: This means that when creating the app, certain phone functions, such as the alarm, camera, or flash, are used to improve it. For example, the camera + app that adds filters to the images you take with the phone.
Fully dynamic applications: Similar to database applications, these apps are based solely on external information – Twitter, Weather Channel, Flipboard.
Custom services: These applications are designed to allow user input to the content in a specific way. Examples are Pages, Adobe Ideas, and Numbers.
Everything else: There are surely thousands of applications that are completely unique, but the list above could cover 95% of what is available today.
According to development technology:
Native applications: These are developed with the software offered by each operating system, called the Software Development Kit or SDK. Native apps are designed and programmed specifically for each platform, whether Android, iOS, or Windows Phone, in the language used by the SDK. Among their characteristics is that they are frequently updated, and it is the user who downloads the latest version.
Web applications: Web applications or webapps are based on HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, all very common tools for web programmers. Unlike native apps, they do not need to be installed because they are viewed like a normal website using the browser.
Hybrid applications: It is a combination of the previous two. In this post about types of apps, we develop this topic in more depth.
The type of application you want to develop can change depending on the amount of content you have and how much control you want to have over the entire process. It is important to realize that you can get applications very quickly and cheaply if you know exactly what type of application you want to develop.
