Mobile apps have revolutionised and touched almost every aspect of our daily lives. Mobile apps has revolutionised the way we communicate, access information, entertain ourselves and manage our daily tasks. Apps provide a variety of advantages and opportunities for businesses across various industries. Businesses can improve customer engagement, increase accessibility, gather valuable data, boost sales, streamline operations and gain a competitive edge in the market by harnessing the power of apps. That is the reason why many businesses are opting for developing an effective mobile app for their business.
That’s where a crucial decision comes into play, to decide between Native and Hybrid mobile app development. Both of these platforms offer unique advantages and trade-offs. Here in this article, you will get to know about key factors that need to be considered while choosing between Native and Hybrid mobile app development to help businesses make informed decisions based on their needs and goals for increasing productivity.
Let’s First Understand about Native and Hybrid app Development
1. Native App Development- Native mobile app development is the process of developing a mobile application specifically for a particular platform i.e. Android or iOS. In this approach, developers use platform-specific programming languages and tools such as Java and Kotlin for developing Android apps and Swift and Objective C for iOS apps. Apps made with Native app development have better performance, fast and easy to use.
2. Hybrid app development – Hybrid app development includes developing a single codebase that works across various multiple platforms such as iOS and Android. Hybrid app development uses languages like CSS, HTML and JavaScript to develop these apps. Hybrid apps are then packaged within a native container such as Cordova, that acts as a bridge between the web code and the device’s native capability.
Advantages of Native App Development
1. Performance – Native apps provide better performance than hybrid apps, as they directly leverage the hardware and software optimizations of the platform, which results in faster loading time and, better user experience. Native apps take full advantage of the capabilities of the device’s software and hardware leading to superior performance as compared to Hybrid app development.
2. User experience – Native apps provide a more intuitive and seamless user experience. These apps also have proper access to the device’s hardware such as the camera, GPS sensors etc. Native apps are designed and developed according to the guidelines and standards of the specific platform which results in seamless and intuitive user experience that provides better user engagement and satisfaction.
3. Offline functionality – Native apps offer various offline capabilities which help users use some features without an internet connection. Native apps can store certain data locally on the device that helps users perform various tasks and access a variety of content without any active internet connection.
4. App Store optimization – As native apps can take full advantage of the app store optimization, it can improve discoverability and user acquisition. Apple App Store and Google Play Store have algorithms that prioritize Native apps, which makes them more discoverable and trustworthy among users while downloading the apps from the stores.
Disadvantages of Native App Development
1. Cost and Time- Native app development is more expensive and time-consuming as compared to hybrid app development. Developers need to create separate codebases for each platform( iOS and Android) which consume more time and resources.
2. Specific skill requirements – For Native app development specific skills are required for developers to develop effective apps for both platforms. A proficient team of iOS developers with expertise in languages like Swift and Objective-C –C and Android developers with knowledge of Java and Kotlin are required to meet both platform-specific requirements.
3. Maintenance Challenges – Maintenance in Native app development can be challenging as implementing any changes, bug fixes and new features have to be done separately for each platform.
4. Limited community Support – There are limited native app development communities for IOS and Android as compared to cross-platform frameworks.
Hybrid App Development Advantages
1. Cost and Time Efficiency – In hybrid app development developers can use a single codebase to deploy the app on multiple platforms, which reduce development cost.
a). Development cost – Hybrid app development can reduce the overall development cost. Developers can use a single codebase for both platforms and write and maintain one set of code. Hire an experienced Hybrid mobile app development company to develop an app that suits your project’s requirements.
b). Maintenance Cost – Maintenance cost is also lower as compared to Native apps, as any updates or any bug fixes can be done with a single codebase. It can save costs over time, especially when fixing routine updates and bug fixes.
c). Development Tools – In Hybrid development, there is no need to purchase separate tools and licensing that can increase the overall cost of the development. In hybrid development, the development tools are also often open source and have less licensing cost.
2. Code Reusability – Code Reusability allows developers to use a single codebase to write code and deploy it on various operating systems across multiple platforms.
a). Component-based architecture –React Native and Flutter frameworks are often used for hybrid development to achieve the reusability of the code.
React Native follows component-based architecture that helps developers create reusable elements such as buttons, input fields as well and custom UI elements. Developers can use these components across a variety of screens and multiple projects.
Flutter on the other hand uses a widget-based approach. In Hybrid development, widgets can be composed and reused in a new way.
b). Existing libraries and modules – Many libraries and modules are available in the hybrid development ecosystem that can be leveraged and integrated into the codebase for adding specific functionalities without the need to make the code for every common task.
3. Easy Maintenance – Hybrid app development offers certain advantages that make the maintenance of an app easy and simple.
a). Single codebase – In Hybrid app development a simple codebase is required for fixing the bugs making updations and simplifying the maintenance process. Developers can make changes on one side and the changes are reflected on all the platforms.
b) Centralized approach and effective bug fixing – With the help of a centralized approach any updates or modifications done on one platform can be applied to a shared codebase and across all platforms. It also reduces the chances of any repeat in the code and errors.
Hybrid app development also helps in effectively streamlining the bug-fixing process. The Bug fixing issues can be applied to both platforms with the help of a shared codebase.
Disadvantages of Hybrid App Development
1. Performance issues – Hybrid Apps do not have direct access to all the features of the device, so they may not be able to perform graphic intensive or complex animation tasks properly as compared to native apps. Hybrid apps may not cover all the functionalities because of limited native device features access through plugins.
2. User experience – It can be challenging for Hybrid apps to provide seamless user experience for various platforms. Not properly adhering to the design standards and guidelines of each platform may lead to a less polishing look and a less engaging user interface.
3. Reliance on third-party frameworks – Hybrid apps often have to depend on third-party frameworks like Cordova or PhoneGap, if these frameworks are discontinued or not well maintained it may lead to compatibility issues and affect the long–term performance of your app.
4. Security concerns and Maintenance – Hybrid apps sometimes may be at risk of getting attacked from vulnerabilities like Cross-site scripting (XSS) as well as other web-related tasks because they may be not properly secured.
Conclusion –
There can be many considerations that should be considered while choosing between Native and Hybrid app development. These considerations includes Project Requirement, Budget and Timeline, Performance Requirement as well the Potential Users of the app. Native App development provides great performance and platform-related integration, on the other hand, Hybrid development offers time and cost efficiency.