What is the difference between RWD and AWD websites? Which is better?

What is RWD (Responsive Web Design)?

RWD (Responsive Web Design) can adjust its layout according to the screen size of different devices, including desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. It has a wide range of adaptability, allowing websites to be read by various user groups.

What is AWD (Adaptive Web Design)?

AWD does not scale "in real-time" with screen size. AWD uses its own programming to determine the device size and then achieves the same effect using different CSS.

Which is better, RWD or AWD?

Let's look at the differences:

RWD for desktops and mobile phones has almost the same content because it uses the same CSS. Desktop images, text, and effects are fully displayed on mobile phones. However, when the mobile phone's performance or network speed is not as good as a desktop, the webpage may run sluggishly.

AWD can optimize mobile content, reduce unnecessary large images, and improve the speed of the mobile version. AWD has different CSS for desktop and mobile views, and parts of the backend are maintained separately.

In summary, RWD determines how a website is displayed based on the screen width of the device. AWD determines the type of device; if it's a desktop, it displays the desktop version; if it's a mobile phone, it displays the mobile version.

How to choose?

• Does the website have a lot of content or a little?

Larger and more complex e-commerce websites (e.g., Amazon, Shopee) are mostly designed with AWD because AWD can provide more effective configuration and user experience (UX) for the mobile version. RWD can be used for relatively smaller e-commerce websites or corporate websites.

• **What is the budget?

RWD is easier to maintain after launch. AWD maintenance is more complex, and the pre-launch production cost and development time are slightly higher than RWD.

Conclusion

Most websites on the market currently use RWD Responsive Web Design. If you plan to develop a website with very rich content that relies heavily on mobile usage, and you have a larger budget for software development, you can consider using AWD. This will lead to better future modification speed, flexibility, and operational optimization.