Native Vs Hybrid App Development – Which fulfill your needs?

Smartphone usage has been increasing rapidly over the last few years. More than 60% internet users depend on their smartphones for internet access. It also fulfills the requirements of people by providing an app for everything: traveling, food, dating, finance, music, gaming, email etc. Before your imagination it is probably available for download. Every mobile user expects their device to respond quickly and give you the answers you need as soon as possible. The cost-effective options are available, which has led to an increase in dependency on smartphones. The ease of functionality and accessibility offered via these devices can be the reason of this smartphone addiction. According to sources if mobile app failed to work the first time then 80 percent people would retry only once or twice. About 18 percent people would give it more than two attempts. Therefore bad mobile app experience is likely to discourage users from using that app again. Contrary to the technology and the platforms that run them, what matters most to the users is their experience. But the basic user experience is ensured by the operating system in place, with iOS for Apple and Android for almost everyone else. As you read this blog, understand that user experience beats everything else when it comes to mobile.

This blog will talk about the pros and cons of Native and Hybrid application development. So, that you can decide the best approach of mobile app development which fulfills your business requirements.

Native App Development

Native application is defined when software or program has been developed specifically for a particular operating system of a smartphone. This app is built using software development tools (SDK) for a certain software framework, hardware platform or operating system. Like Android app built on Java platform using Java Development Kit, iOS app built using iOS SDK, Objective-C & Swift and Windows platform require .NET. Most industries prefer having applications on iOS and Android platforms. These applications are developed based on the device’s operating system, utilizing technical & UI/UX principles, which make the entire process more captivating, personal, and engaging for the user.

Thus, an end user is more likely to learn how to navigate and use the app faster. Native applications have the significant advantage of being easily accessible and utilize the built-in capabilities of the consumer’s device like a camera, GPS, address book. When a user takes pictures using the device’s default app, sends text messages, set reminders, or uses the device’s music app (inbuilt in phone), they’re using native apps. Native code is faster than HTML and JavaScript (used in Hybrid app development). As we know native app is designed for specific OS so it does not depend on open source libraries and platforms like Cordova and Ionic. Let’s have a quick summary of the pros and cons of Native app development:

 Pros –

◊ Excellent performance
◊ Better UX standards
◊ More secure and safe
◊ Full integration of device
◊ Work without Internet connection
◊ Amazing Look and feel of native apps

Cons –

◊ Higher development and maintenance expenses
◊ No guarantee that apps will get accepted

Hybrid App Development

Hybrid application is defined as the program or software designed to serve multiple operating systems. This is native app only because it can be downloaded from platform’s app store like a native app. It can get access to all the native platform features. Hybrid web app is built using HTML5 and JavaScript, wrapped in a native container (loads most of the information on the page as the user navigates through the application) to make them work as a native mobile app. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, your mobile banking app etc are the common suspects of a hybrid app. One of the advantages is single code runs for multiple platforms.

Hybrid app is beneficial for enterprises, business groups and startups that are looking forward to reaching out to a greater number of people in a lesser amount of time. Hybrid apps can be hosted quickly and with greater ease as compared to Native apps. Here the plug-ins ensures that the OS compatibilities and hardware do not form a hurdle in the functioning of an app. In the world of hybrid app development preferred tools are PhoneGap/Cordova and Appcelerator Titanium, which assist developers to create HTML/CSS/JavaScript local files. These tools help in the curation of the hybrid app in a website framework and then serve to reconfigure the app tailored to meet the UI/UX design for the smartphone. Let’s have a quick summary of the pros and cons of Native app development:

Pros –

◊ Fastest development speed
◊ Unified development
◊ Offline support
◊ Efficient scaling
◊ Less development cost
◊ Interactive components
◊ Only one codebase to deal with

Cons –

◊ Slow performance
◊ Poor UX

The bottom line is…

So, there is no end to the debate hybrid vs. native apps. Each development has clear and distinct advantages and disadvantages. In the case of Native app the initial investment is higher, but for a long-term an organization will save time and money. It provides an enhance user experience and an industry standard app performance. On the other side, Hybrid app may be appealing in the terms of investment (initial!), one source code, cross-compatible web technologies etc but for the long-term an organization will likely to spend more time fixing and modifying the app because of UI elements or performance driven issues.

After having the knowledge in detail about both native and hybrid approach the final decision is based on goals and priority of your business. Each business has its own approach to designing an application. So it entirely depends on you on which path to choose and follow so that you can raise your business revenue. Hopefully, this blog helps you to choose the right approach of app development. If still in doubt then contact us now.