Over 3.5 billion people use smartphones worldwide. Each user spends roughly 162 minutes a day on their smartphones. About 90% of their smartphone time is spent in mobile applications. The stats suggest how important mobile development is for businesses, big or small.
There’re two approaches to mobile app development, native and hybrid. Each option has its share of pros and cons. Read on to know how they fare against each other on key parameters.
Native App vs. Hybrid App Comparison:
A native app is software developed for a particular operating system, think Java for Android and Swift for iOS. The software is developed in line with technical and user experience requirements of the given OS. This translates into faster performance and a more immersive user experience.
Built on the native language, these apps look and feel like the native apps of the device, and can achieve unity with the device’s in-built functions, such as camera, GPs, address book, and more. Native apps are usually created for Android and iOS, the two operating systems with 99.6% share of the global OS market. Both OS offers advanced tools for easy native app development.
Apple iOS Development Tools:
- iOS Software Development Kit (SDK) with Cocoa Touch UI framework integration
- Integrated Development Background (IDE) – X-Code
- Beta testing software – Test Flight
Android Development Tools:
- Android SDK with Android IDE
- A set of predetermined Android components – Jetpack
- An all-inclusive development platform – Firebase
- A complete set of command line tools
Once the app is ready, it needs to be submitted to the Google Play store for user downloads.
As the name suggests, hybrid apps are built using certain elements of both, native apps and web apps. For the uninitiated, web apps are websites that mimic apps in look and function but unlike apps, they aren’t installed on the device. Instead, you access them via internet browser.
Hybrid apps are regular web pages created for Android, iOS or any other specific operating system through HTML, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and other web technologies. The software is used in a native container wrapped in WebView to help access the device’s hardware features like camera, address book, GPS, and more. A few popular hybrid app development frameworks include React Native, Corona SDK, Flutter, Iconic, and Mobile Angular UI among others.
Native App Development Benefits:
Native apps stay significant for the host of benefits they bring forth.
- Performs Better: Native apps outperform the hybrid apps. They are built using the device’s native framework, making them faster and more efficient and user friendly.
- Safety Ensured: When data security is a priority, native apps make sense. Developers find it easy to make these apps secure for the enterprise, finance and other sectors.
- Accessible Offline: Native apps support offline modes. They are, thus, easily accessed, regardless of whether the internet connection is poor or even unavailable at all.
- Instant Access to Features: When iOS and Android unleash new features, native apps are better equipped to imbibe them more readily minus the hassles of plug-ins.
- Fewer Bugs throughout the Development Phase: Native apps don’t require a cross-platform tool and hence, encounters fewer bugs throughout the development phase.
Hybrid App Development Benefits:
From Facebook to Netflix, all top apps are hybrid apps. Here’re a few plausible reasons why.
- Economical and Easy Development: In hybrid app development, the code is written just once. That means significantly lower development costs and time than native apps.
- Speedy Performance: Hybrid apps leverage web technologies for speedier performance. An app can run both ways, as a website and as a Progressive Web App on any browser.
- Native Experience with easy Backend: Hybrid apps rival native apps when it comes to connecting with hardware functionalities, with simple backend structure at that.
- Stunning UI/UX: Count on hybrid apps for superior UI/UX across all operating systems and devices for maximum engagement and better user satisfaction. contact us
