Breaking up your app

It can be quite seductive to try and stuff your entire website into
your mobile app.

And many companies do exactly that. Their mobile app is a functional
equivalent of the website.

And in some cases it works well. For example I can do everything with
Twitter’s iPhone app that I can do on twitter.com

But for many other apps, over time, the app feels crowded, confusing
and awkward.

That’s how I feel about Facebook’s iPhone app.

But Facebook did something extremely smart. They broke apart their app
and released Messenger. It’s an app that offers one slice of Facebook.

I’ve been talking to a number of founders who are in the midst of a
major overhaul to their iPhone/Android app. After years of adding
features they want a better experience for their users

In some cases they are starting over with a clean piece of paper with
a brand new way of thinking about how the pieces go together. And
others are breaking apart their app and will release multiple apps.

Both can be scary and risky.

And wonderful.