Approach to Choose for your Business
Are you looking into developing a mobile app for your business? Not sure which type of mobile app will be a better fit for your business? Is it a native app or a hybrid app?
After exploring several users’ opinions, I’ve concluded that it’s business goal and requirement to determine a mobile app. If one has a full understanding of these apps, it’d be easier for one to determine. Check out them in this blog.
Native Mobile Apps are developed for a specific platform and installed on a computing device.
Hybrid Mobile App is the one that adds together elements of both Native and Web Applications. Hybrid apps are often mentioned in the context of mobile computing.
Company goal and priority should be the selection index to decide which type of a mobile app you should go for. Case, nature and environment of an application can also influence the decision.
In view of them, one needs to understand first the pros and cons of these mobile app categories and then only settle on which category would better fit for their business goals. Let’s discuss them.
Hybrid apps
A hybrid mobile app can work in different mobile operating systems, such as Android, Windows, iOS, etc. and also in browsers like Mozilla, Chrome, IE, etc. You can install hybrid mobile apps from App Store or Google Play Store. Hybrid apps are built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Developers create one code base, and then make changes to tailor the app to each platform. Hybrid apps typically run a web app through a WebView, a browser that can be contained inside a mobile app.
Pros of Hybrid Mobile App
- Cheaper than a native app
- No browser required like a web app
- Allow users to access to the device’s internal APIs and access storage, camera, etc.
- Faster to develop hybrid app than developing native apps (because you have a single code base)
Cons of Hybrid Mobile App
- Slower than a native app
- It only works with Internet connection unlike Native app that works offline too
Debate on ‘Native versus Hybrid’ is still going on. However, the line of differences is getting blurred with new technologies coming up. Whatever differences remain there, it is about their approaches that must be the determining factor for selection.
While one runs on this platform, the other doesn’t or doesn’t allow push notification feature and the likes. Mobile app selection for a business should be made on factors like business goals and needs. The bottom line is each type of mobile app gives a completely different experience. So, it’s necessary for you to decide what kind of user experience you want to give and how you strategize your business loyalty program.
If you’ve further queries regarding mobile app development, you may check out a few app features that may make clear your confusion further, if any!
Native apps
Native mobile app development involves building apps for particular operating systems and users access them from dedicated app store, namely Google Play store or App Store. To develop native app for Android platform, developers use programming languages like Java or Kotlin while Objective-C and Swift are used to develop native app for iOS platform.
Pros of Native Mobile App
- Loads faster
- Secures data
- Interactive and intuitive
- Full feature accessibility
- Push notification feature enabled
Load fast: As regards native apps which are created and optimized for a specific platform, these apps can demonstrate an extremely high level of performance. Fast and responsive, native apps are built with the compilation of platform-specific core programming language and APIs. As a result, native mobile apps are more efficient and take little time to load visual elements and contents which are already stored on users’ phone.
Secure Data: Data security is what native apps can be defined and that a business must look for. Web apps rely on various browsers and underlying technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS. Developing a native app is a great way to ensure data protection of your users.
Interactive and Intuitive: Native mobile apps provide superior user experience. These apps are developed specifically for an operating system and stick to the guidelines that ultimately improve and align the user experience with the specific operating system. Consequently, the flow of the app becomes more natural because they have specific UI standards for each platform.
Full Feature Set of Device Accessibility: Native apps allow developers to access the full feature set of devices and give direct access to the hardware of the device, such as the GPS, camera, microphone, etc. As a result, they are faster in execution and that ultimately results in better user experience.
Push notifications: It is another reason to choosing native mobile app. For mobile commerce, this feature can be a great leverage for business promotion.
Cons of Native Mobile Apps:
- Expensive
- Longer development time
- Experienced mobile app developers required
As understood, native apps come with a platform-specific nature. For instance, iOS specific apps, Android specific apps, etc. Native app developers have access to software development kits (SDK) to start building their applications with the most recent features. Users of native apps have access to new platform features once they update the operating system.
When to choose a native or hybrid app
Hybrid apps
They are perfect for simple and content-oriented projects. You can also consider this variant in case you’re on a tight budget or you need to create an app for both platforms within a limited timeframe. Besides, hybrid apps suit best for MVP as you can test your product across multiple platforms without considerable spending.
Native apps
If custom features, performance, good design, and reliability really matter for your project, then this development method is the right option for you.
We hope this article has helped you to make your choice or at least clarified some points. In case you have any questions, please contact us.