Choosing Between Native and Hybrid App Development: Finding the Right Fit for Your Business

Quick Summary:  As businesses embrace the need for mobile apps to engage with their customers, they must decide which development approach best suits their needs. Hybrid app development and native app development each have significant benefits that make them an attractive alternative to developing a single-platform app.

What are Native Apps?

Native app development is developing native apps using a specific programming language for a specific mobile OS. The app is developed in a secure ecosystem adhering to all the technical expertise and guidelines of user experience of the respective OS. It ensures faster performance and a better experience. Today, many companies prefer apps built using native languages because they work smoothly on any device of the same OS and mobile app development companies offer them at affordable prices. It has several advantages over the hybrid app. It enables better hardware performance by introducing unique features that offer better support for multitasking use and are capable of running tasks automatically in the background while doing something else. Thus, it offers an improved battery life and user experience.

Advantages of Native Apps

• The appeal of native apps is simple: they’re designed to make your life easier. Unlike web and hybrid apps, which often require a fast and stable internet connection, native apps can run smoothly even when your internet connection isn’t great or when you don’t have a data plan.
• Native apps are designed and developed for a specific platform. Therefore, they load more quickly, maintain the aspect ratio on the screen, and have improved graphics quality (if the original content was in HD).

• By utilizing offline storage and web services, a web app can act like a native mobile application without requiring the user to download and install an app. A local database that is synced with cloud-based storage (such as Dropbox) creates a mechanism for users to access data, regardless of Internet connectivity. The application doesn’t even need to be installed on the device. This ensures that users have quick access to important data wherever they are, even when they don’t have Internet access.
• The performance of native apps is generally better than hybrid apps since they are built using C or C++ and take advantage of the processing power and memory of the device itself. The heavy graphics processing done by native apps has made them more popular with highly graphical games, which include simple arcade games as well as 3D games like Backgammon.

What are Hybrid Apps?

Hybrid app development has taken the lead in the mobile app development industry and is growing faster than ever. Hybrid app development is a cross-platform web application that can be deployed on any device having an internet connection. These apps are considered a part of a mobile application suite that is powered by HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. A large number of companies such as Paypal, Starbucks, and eBay have adopted Hybrid App Development due to its cost-effectiveness. You can expect a general growth rate of nearly 60% in the hybrid app development market by reported periodicals.

Hybrid mobile apps are built using a combination of web technologies and native features. They can still be installed from an app store like Android or Apple’s App Store, but they often have more of a native feel to them than a mobile web app. Hybrid mobile apps can use native plugins to accomplish native app-like functionalities without requiring additional coding. In a single build, your app will be able to use native features of the device, like the camera, file storage, and security features like fingerprint recognition or Face ID.

Advantages of Hybrid Apps

• Hybrid apps are an effective way to bring native app functionality and design elements into the mobile web or browser to create more powerful, engaging, and responsive mobile websites. Hybrid apps provide a way for companies to reach a wider audience without having to deal with the costs of hosting the application as a native app. Users can continue to visit the website in order to use tools such as search, maps, and weather.
• Hybrid app allows your users to access and share data across different devices regardless of the operating systems they use, devices they are using, or browsers they prefer to use. Hybrid apps make it possible for users to load a single instance of the application on their mobile device. Hybrid apps support both web views and embedded web views.
• This is the allure of cross-platform development. Rather than building separate apps for all platforms, developers can take advantage of their existing code and build something once and then run it as needed across all platforms. This saves time and ultimately costs less. In addition, since there is only one code base that needs to be maintained, developers can eliminate potential problems that occur if code is altered for particular platforms.
• Hybrid apps are a type of software program that can be installed and run on a wide variety of hardware platforms regardless of their operating systems. Since hybrid apps can be made to work with various operating systems, they are simpler and easier to develop than native apps which require programmers to code on a certain platform.

Key Difference Between Hybrid and Native Apps

The key difference between hybrid and native apps lies in their development approach and performance:

Development Approach:

Native Apps: Native apps are developed specifically for a single platform (e.g., iOS or Android) using platform-specific languages (Swift or Objective-C for iOS, Java or Kotlin for Android). They provide the best possible performance and access to all device features but require separate development for each platform.

Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps are developed using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They are built once and can run on multiple platforms. Tools like Apache Cordova or React Native wrap the web code inside a native shell, allowing them to access some device features.

Performance:

Native Apps: Native apps offer the best performance and user experience because they are optimized for a specific platform. They can fully utilize the device’s hardware and software capabilities.

Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps, while easier to develop for multiple platforms, may suffer from performance issues. They run inside a web view and may not be as responsive or fast as native apps. However, modern hybrid frameworks like React Native have improved performance.

User Experience:

Native Apps: Native apps provide a seamless and platform-specific user experience. They integrate well with the device’s UI components and guidelines, resulting in a more intuitive interface.

Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps often have a consistent but less platform-specific user interface. While they can mimic native designs, they might not fully match the look and feel of each platform.

Development Time and Cost:

Native Apps: Developing native apps for multiple platforms requires more time and resources, as you need separate codebases for each platform. This can increase development costs.

Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps are quicker and more cost-effective to develop since a single codebase can target multiple platforms. However, additional customization for each platform might be needed.

Maintenance:

Native Apps: Maintaining native apps can be complex because updates and bug fixes must be separately applied to each platform’s codebase.

Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps are easier to maintain, as changes can be made in the shared codebase, and updates are applied to all platforms simultaneously.

The choice between hybrid and native app development depends on factors like your project requirements, budget, timeline, and the desired user experience. Hybrid apps are suitable for cross-platform development and cost-efficiency, while native apps excel in performance and platform-specific user experiences.

Conclusion  

There are both native and hybrid app development approaches. Both approaches have their advantages, but recalling the pros of each approach, the native application development approach offers greater efficiency for the company in terms of time and money. This is because it allows the business to focus on one type of programming language, thus, reducing the number of programmers involved in projects. And this ultimately translates into significant cost savings. The app comprises just one code that is specific to the device.

This eliminates any need for reprogramming or bug fixing as the app’s functionality is not dependent on a web-based template. Furthermore, the app’s developers can use platform-specific APIs which are better integrated with users’ operating systems (OS). Once you have built your mobile application, you will want to make the most out of it. Brain Inventory has vast experience in helping businesses expand their reach with well-planned and customer-centric applications. Our team can help you design an appealing app UI, and client engagement, and also proficiently handle all customer support-related matters.