Why Your Business Needs Hybrid Or Native Mobile App?

In this write-up, you’ll learn about the differences separating hybrid applications from native applications and vice versa. You’ll also learn about the primary benefits they possess. It will also introduce you to a few things associated with the development processes of both variants to help you pick the most suitable one.

At the moment, mobile applications are the most powerful tools of business. In reality, they are now a standard for establishing connections with customers. As a result, the popularity of mobile app development services is also increasing with every passing day. Every business company’s audience wants mobility, swift access to information, ease of use, and the ability to work on the go. Naturally, opting for mobile app development is now a mandate for you.

Mobile industry statistics are backing everything mentioned above. For instance, the shipment volume of smartphones will go as high as 1.65 billion by 2022. Also, the number of mobile device users will cross the 3-billion-threshold in the same year. Rest assured, this exponential growth isn’t going to slow down.

It’s now clearer than ever that every business company should opt for mobile app development if they wish to accelerate their growth rate. There was a time when having a strong mobile presence was just an option, but today, it’s a must-have. The number of apps in Google Play Store and Apple App Store amount to almost 4.4 million, with new ones appearing every day.

However, app development isn’t as easy as it seems. While you don’t have to do it yourself, you must decide whether you need a web app, native or hybrid mobile application development services.

Native vs. hybrid

So, what’s the difference between the two? Native app development is about building mobile apps specifically for individual platforms, such as Android or iOS. It means that an app designed for Android won’t work on iOS and vice versa. App developers create them using programming languages and tools specific to a platform.

Native applications

iOS – Developers build iOS applications for devices launched by Apple Inc. They use Swift or Objective-C as the programming language to create native iOS applications. Swift is quite popular because of its general-purpose nature and its modernized approach to performance, security, software patterns for designing mobile applications. To build something that will work on iPad, iPhone, or Mac, developers resort to Xcode, which is an IDE or Integrated Development Environment.

Android – Android applications demarcate Google and developers use Kotlin or Java for native development. Java, as you probably know, is a programming language used by almost 9 million Android developers across the world. The best thing about Java is that it’s robust, object-oriented, and user-friendly. However, Kotlin is emerging as the more preferred one, at least for native development.

Advantages of native app development

• • Developers create them using a native framework. Platform-specificity lets these apps offer smoothness and swiftness in terms of operability.

• • Native apps boast of being interactive and natural. They also run smoothly on the devices of the users.

• • Native app development procedures incorporate being specific about the UI/UX standards. Understandably, users can understand and navigate the app properly.

• • The toolkit of native app development allows developers access to the core features of the device, such as the camera, location services, and more. They don’t have to rely on a third party for these requirements.

• • Native apps tend to be quite secure for several reasons, such as a more straightforward implementation of certificate pinning, two-factor authentication, and access to inbuilt systems like TouchID.

Disadvantages of native apps

• • Building a native app can be quite a costly venture, especially when compared to a hybrid application.

• • Native app development involves using programming languages that are difficult to manipulate, even for veteran developers.

• • A native app created for Android devices won’t work on iOS gadgets and vice versa.

• • If you choose native app development, you’ll need an agency with developers having in-depth knowledge, expertise, and experience in using the necessary platforms.

• • Being OS-specific makes building a native app an extremely time-consuming task.

Hybrid applications

Now, you may be wondering whether iOS and Android apps can work in coalition or not. Well, they can’t, at least as long as the developer doesn’t build something using cross-platform app development techniques and procedures. Cross-platform app development is about creating an application that will work on every platform. Developers won’t have to change the core architecture of such an app to make it work on an Android or iOS device. In essence, these apps become hybrid. By adhering to a cross-platform or hybrid approach, developers can compile code and execute it on several platforms. Hybrid frameworks to build hybrid applications include Xamarin, React Native, Flutter, and more.

The pros and cons

It goes without saying that both native and hybrid mobile app development approaches have unique strengths and weaknesses. You have to keep them in mind when you choose to go mobile-first. The best app development agencies can handle both native and hybrid app development. You simply have to seek out such an organization and delegate the task. Just remember to consider your target audience use case. It will help you decide the best approach to app development.

Advantages of hybrid app development

• • The most significant advantage of hybrid or cross-platform app development is the cost of building it.

• • You won’t need multiple teams to look into it. Just one team of cross-platform app development specialists can create what you seek.

• • Building a hybrid app is a one-time procedure and you can get it published on both iOS and Android app stores.

• • The single codebase of hybrid apps makes it easier for an app development team to finish the task of development faster.

• • Cross-platform app development doesn’t require the developers to learn several programming languages, technologies, or frameworks before undertaking a project.

Disadvantages of hybrid apps

• • Unlike native apps, cross-platform solutions built using a shared codebase often fails to deliver incredible performances and high-quality user experiences.

• • Hybrid apps can’t utilize the perks of native-only features offered by the operating system of the device due to communication inconsistencies.

• • Cross-platform solutions tend to slower than native versions because they require extra abstraction layers, as well as a bridge to fill the gap between the native code and your code.

• • Cross-platform app development is still in its infancy. Naturally, code auto-generation may not work across devices, particularly when you try to include various Android models.

• • Whenever a new OS version appears in the market, hybrid developers have to resort to third parties and frameworks to get updates before designing an app to work on the said OS.

Wrapping it up

Well, now you a lot of information about hybrid and native applications. You should use what you learn here to decide which one you should root for. You must also consider the unique requirements of your business, the way you operate, and your target audience to make the right choice.