How to turn a website into a mobile app

If the business already has a website, the obvious question is: why design the product for the phone all over again? Can you take the existing catalogue, account area or service and convert the website into a mobile app online? Below we look at how to make an app out of a website without carrying every weakness of the web version into it.

You can, but the word "convert" hides several different approaches. In one, the user simply opens the mobile version of the site from an icon. In another, the site is placed inside a shell and sent to an app store. In a third, the existing logic and data are moved into an interface built specifically for the phone.

These options differ in more than price. The chosen way determines the speed, access to the camera and location, behaviour without internet, the possibility of publishing in the stores, and whether the product feels like a real app at all.

A separate app makes sense when the user comes back regularly and gets a concrete benefit from the mobile format. For example, they order faster, get a status notification, show a QR loyalty card, book a service or work with data on the go.

If a person opens the service once to read an address or leave a request, a responsive website is usually enough. An app demands installation and space on the phone, and the business has to support one more channel.

Before choosing a technology, answer three questions:

1. How often does the user come back?
2. Which phone features are really needed?
3. What in the current mobile version gets in the way of the main action?

The answers keep you from overpaying for native development where a PWA is enough, and from picking a simple wrapper for a product that needs speed and complex mobile logic.

PWA: a website you can install

A PWA, or progressive web app, remains a website but behaves closer to an app. The user can add it to the home screen, and part of the data and interface can be cached for unstable connections.

The pluses of a PWA: one web version, fast updates and no mandatory store publishing. The minuses: the capabilities depend on the browser and the operating system, and access to device features is usually limited compared to a native app. For a simple catalogue, a schedule or an account area it may be enough.

A WebView wrapper: the website inside an app

A WebView wrapper runs the site's pages inside an embedded browser window. It can be done quickly and relatively cheaply. It suits cases where the task boils down to being present in the store and the site already works well on mobile.

But a wrapper inherits the site's problems: heavy pages, delays, awkward forms and dependence on the network. Working with the camera, files, notifications and other phone capabilities requires extra bridges. App stores may also reject a product that adds almost no value over the plain website.

A native app: an interface built for the platform

A native app uses the components and capabilities of the operating system. It reacts faster, behaves more naturally on the phone and suits complex scenarios, animation, background work and deep device integration better.

Classic native development gives a high degree of control but needs separate expertise and budget. Writing two independent versions for iOS and Android stretches the timeline and the cost of support.

A mobile adaptation with AI

The fourth way is not to copy the site into a shell but to use it as the source of structure, content and business logic. The AI helps rebuild the user scenarios for the phone, create a mobile interface and connect it to the existing backend over an API.

This isn't an automatic "website to app" button. Bad navigation and a confusing checkout shouldn't be carried over one to one. First decide what to keep, what to simplify and which features to add specifically for mobile use.

Usually the data and the business logic can be kept: the catalogue, prices, accounts, order history, discount rules and server methods. If the site already works through an API, the app can talk to the same data.

The interface is better rebuilt. The phone has a smaller screen, different gestures and a different context of use. A long horizontal menu becomes bottom tabs or compact navigation. Big tables need cards and filters. A multi-step form should be shortened, and important actions placed within thumb reach.

Check authentication, payments, file uploads, maps, notifications and offline behaviour separately. These features are often tied to browser logic and don't transfer automatically.

Imagine a small online store of home goods. The website has a catalogue, filters, product cards, a cart, checkout and an account area. Everything works on a laptop, but on the phone the user spends a lot of time on the filters and has to look for the last order from scratch every time.

In the mobile app the structure can change:

1. Show recent categories, recommendations and a repeat-order button on the home screen.
2. Move the catalogue, the cart and the profile into bottom navigation.
3. Replace the long filter panel with a slide-out screen.
4. Keep the cart locally when the connection is poor.
5. Add quick access to the order status.
6. Use the camera or a QR scanner if the scenario needs it.
7. Send "your order is ready" notifications once the service is connected.

As a result the app uses the same products and orders, but the user path no longer repeats the site. The real value comes not from an icon on the home screen but from fewer actions.

Even if you don't write code, the process still starts with reviewing the current product. Prepare a link to the site, a list of the main pages, the available APIs and one key scenario. Don't hand the AI the task "copy everything". Ask it first to propose a mobile structure and explain which elements it removes or changes.

The working sequence looks like this:

1. Pin down the app's goal and the user's main action.
2. List the pages and features of the current site.
3. Separate the data and server logic from the interface.
4. Design a mobile path, not a shrunken copy of the site.
5. Assemble a prototype and test it on a phone.
6. Connect the real APIs, authentication and the device features you need.
7. Test errors, a weak network and different screen sizes.
8. Prepare publishing and update support.

Such a process can be started online and for free. But the more external integrations, payments and sensitive data the product has, the more likely you'll need a developer at the launch stage.

In le.codes an app isn't assembled in a WebView. The code runs in a native runtime based on QuickJS, and the interface is drawn with native components, with no browser on the device. That avoids the "website in a frame" feeling and lets one TypeScript project serve the mobile platforms.

In the browser platform you can describe the current site and the new mobile scenario in Concept mode, assemble the screens and transitions in Design, and then move on to Build. The AI sees the result through a headless renderer: it gets an image of the screen and the semantic structure of the interface, so it can check its own changes.

The existing backend doesn't have to be rewritten. The app can reach it over fetch and WebSocket. The camera, a QR scanner and location come as host capabilities, and a non-standard native feature can be added through your own plugin. le.codes remains the client side: the server, the database and the business rules live on the infrastructure you choose.

For iOS, the le.codes CLI can create its own Xcode project, build an IPA and send it to App Store Connect. That isn't one-button publishing from the browser: an Apple account, signing settings, an app listing and review are still needed. The Android publishing path should be planned separately, following the project's current documentation and the requirements of Google Play or another store.

The price depends not on the number of pages on the site but on the complexity of the mobile scenarios. A simple PWA or a basic wrapper is usually cheaper. Native development with authentication, payments, offline mode and integrations costs more and needs constant support.

In le.codes you can start with a prototype for free: the editor, the runtime and the builds are available without payment, and a new account gets 2,000 credits for the AI. After that you pay for the AI you use. Count the server, external APIs, payment fees, developer accounts and a specialist's work separately if you need a complex integration.

The step-by-step process of working with AI is covered in "How to build a mobile app with AI". And "What vibe coding is" explains the logic of developing through a conversation.

Choose a PWA if you need quick access from the home screen and the site's features are already enough. A wrapper suits a simple product with a good mobile version, but check the stores' requirements in advance. Classic native development is justified when maximum control, deep device integration and a big team matter.

An AI adaptation is useful when the site has already proven demand but the mobile scenario needs to be rethought and tested fast. Start with one feature users do regularly on the phone. If it becomes noticeably simpler and faster, the app makes sense.