What is a standalone app and how business can utilize its benefits
Wanna enhance productivity and communication within your business without leaving your computer? There?s a software that meets your needs.
With the ever-increasing demand for mobility that requires constant access to the internet standalone desktop applications seems to lose in popularity. Though internet connection increases the chance of security breach. So for certain business tasks, standalone desktop applications are a great match. They are a powerful business tool that solves specific problems and makes it almost impossible for someone to use major company data by third-parties.
Enterprises usually benefit from applying those into specific business operations such as accounting, HR processes, CRM, etc. It is dedicated to one area so it brings a focus onto a business segment so the entrepreneur receives detailed and clear reports and there is no need to search for some specific information among loads of data.
Standalone software often gives you in-depth reporting capabilities and advanced functionality as required per your business needs.
What Is a Standalone Application?
A standalone application is an application that runs locally on the device and doesn?t require anything else to be functional. All the logic is built into the app, so it doesn?t need an internet connection nor any other services installed.
Unlike web applications that run in a browser and don?t need to be installed, standalone apps require completely the opposite. They need no browser to run, but often demand a device to be installed on. However, there are also portable standalone applications created for some platforms (like Windows) that can run just by double-clicking a single file, with no installation.
Standalone applications are not bound to any specific platform. Among them are standalone desktop applications (for Windows, Mac, Linux), standalone mobile applications (for iOS, Android), etc. ?Standalone? just stands for ?independent from anything else?.
Where Can a Standalone Application Be Used?
As mentioned above, standalone applications are used when no internet connection is required for main app functionality. All the data can be stored locally on the device. Network connectivity is not necessary for the app to function.
Those are some standard software packages that have a specific solution to provide for the end-user. Some examples are Notepad, Calculator, Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk 3D Max, Google Chrome.
Standalone Application vs. Client-Server Application
A client-server application is an application where the tasks or workloads are partitioned between the client and one or multiple server modules. Client and server can reside on a single device, or on different devices.
The client-server application is not exactly opposite to a standalone application. A client part of a client-server application can be called standalone if it can run and function without a server (if the server is optional). If the client cannot function without a server then the app is not standalone.
How to Build a Standalone Desktop Application?
Technologies are improving over time. So, now we choose Electron to create standalone desktop applications. It is a technology that enables us to develop desktop apps in Javascript just like web apps, using Angular, React, Vue, etc.
And we?re not alone here, as It?s also used by Discord, Slack, Skype, Visual Studio Code and lots of other popular desktop apps.
What Is the Future of Standalone Applications?
More and more applications become web applications nowadays. The cloud solutions are preferred to standalone ones since you can access them from any device. There?s no need to install them, your data is securely stored. So no need to worry about it.
Some applications that will remain standalone for some time yet will be Computer Graphics and CAD applications like 3ds Max, AutoCAD, etc. And computer games. Since they?re greedy to resources like CPU and GPU and require high performance which is impossible yet to achieve via the Internet.
Also, the small and basic applications will remain standalone, like Notepad, Calculator, browsers, etc.
Conclusions
Standalone enterprise applications are indispensable for businesses with a heavy focus on each specific department like finance or HR, etc. They help to utilize all the core and more advanced functionalities each area needs without the fear of getting lost in extra unnecessary data from other branches.
The main consideration here is to choose or create a software solution that fits your business needs best. There are several options like searching among the already existing software on the market, probably shaping it to your needs or creating a solution specifically tailored to your objectives.
If you choose the last option, then it requires you to find a contractor that will be able to cover the tech side and become a valuable partner of yours. The proper technology partner will not only deliver the software to your requirements but make professional suggestions for its improvement. This way you will be able to focus on your main goals delegating the tech execution to such a software development company.
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