RESOURCE
Church Tech Check
Church Apps are a crucial tool for church success. Churches have a lot of options when it comes to creating custom smartphone apps. Some rely on developers in their congregation, but without your own church app builder, it can take months—or even years—to get your church mobile app just how you want.
Others hire from outside, which can be faster and can give you a quality app, but it creates a bottleneck—when you want to change or create a feature, you often have to go back to the church app developer you engaged. (Not to mention, it costs a lot up front.)
Having a developer create and build a custom-code church app always takes time because you’re creating an app from scratch—and relying on someone else to bring your vision to life.
But there’s another route to a great custom mobile app: A church app builder.
What is a church app builder?
A church app builder (like Pushpay) provides a “do-it-yourself” approach to creating a high-quality mobile church app. You decide what you want your app to do and what you want it to look like. After that, making it a reality is like flipping a switch. Your app is done and ready for the app stores. At Pushpay, we don’t even charge you a setup fee.
If you’ve decided it’s time to get an app, here’s why you should go with a church app builder.
Creating A Church App By Yourself
People turn to developers because building a custom mobile app is complicated. You know what you want, and they know how to make it work.
But, a church app builder bridges the gap by using modular-style templates.
This means two things:
1. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A DEVELOPER TO GET THE FEATURES YOU WANT
You don’t need a developer to be the middleman between you and your church app. Church app builders give you the keys to your app. Templates make it easy to select the features you want and personalize them with your church’s information. Pushpay’s app builder even lets you drag-and-drop features right into your app.
When you want to change something, anyone on your team with administrative privileges can get in and make it happen. You can easily edit your church’s information at any time.
We’ve already built all the key features churches use, and behind the scenes, a whole team of developers keeps your app running smoothly. So you’ll have the support of a developer’s expertise, without the complicated back-and-forth to actually get your app running and working with your other tools.
2. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A DESIGNER TO MAKE YOUR APP LOOK GREAT
When you hear “templates,” you probably picture a generic app that looks like everyone else’s. But that’s not how Pushpay’s app builder works. Before getting started, check out the 10 best church app features to incorporate into your own.
Most church apps have the same handful of features, regardless of whether they had a developer make a custom-coded app or they used a church app builder.
Suppose someone draws an outline of a face and asks a group of people to create a self-portrait, using that template. Every face is going to start with the same basic structure, but each one will be unique.
Your church is what makes your app unique.
The best church app builders give you ample opportunity to let your church’s unique qualities show in your app. You control your app’s features and branding. That means it’ll feature your logo. It’ll use your colors. The sections can be titled however you want. And it will look and feel like your church.
App builders let you produce a high-quality church app at an affordable price.
Here’s how it works with Pushpay.
How to Build a Church App with Pushpay
Step into your own Mobile App Studio, where you’ll start building your app with a blank slate. You can drag and drop new features and get an interactive preview of how each change will look when you push it live.
With each new section, you:
- Provide the name
- Pick the icon
- Choose the functionality
- Decide how it looks
- Add your content
- Put it where you want
Here’s what you can do with your Pushpay app.
Make Your Content Visible
One of the staples of any church app is easy access to your church’s content. What that means is a little different for every church. Maybe that means livestreaming your service every weekend, hosting a podcast, managing a blog, or doing a little of everything. Whatever digital content looks like at your church, our church app builder helps you prominently display it.
Simplify Giving
Online giving can be more than a form on your website or a kiosk in your foyer. Our church app features makes giving more convenient for your congregation and easier for you to manage on the backend. Like everything else, you can put giving right in the main menu so church members will see it every time they open your app to watch sermons, explore your content, or connect with your church.
Additionally, for churches using the Pushpay giving platform within their custom app, a
