The development of technology has confined our life to digital assets. We use the Internet and mobile apps to make the most important decisions in our personal and professional life. Due to the various apps that are now available on the Play Store and App Store, which have limited visibility, expertise, resources, and budget, it becomes difficult for businesses to compete in the competitive digital world.
Companies frequently face a number of challenges, such as deciding which technology to use for mobile app development services, whether to choose iOS or Android, or which app development framework will best increase client engagement.
The three main methods for developing apps—Native, Hybrid, and Cross-platform—will be covered in this blog.
What is a Native App?
Platform-specific programming languages are used to create native apps that are tailored for a certain operating system.
The development of software or applications for specific hardware and mobile app platforms like Android and iOS is known as native app development. With native app development, developers build apps that are specific to one platform, whether it be computers, smart TVs, smartphones, or any other cutting-edge technology used in the digital world.
Java or Kotlin are used for creating native Android apps, whereas Objective-C or Swift are used when creating native iOS apps. When you want to provide the best user experience for the application’s design aesthetic, native mobile app development is perfect.
Benefits of Native Apps
1. High Speed
Native mobile apps are faster than hybrid and cross-platform ones because they don’t require as much complex coding. The majority of app items load quickly since they have a long preload time. Startups like native applications because of their rapid development and low cost.
2. Offline Functionality
The fact that native apps function properly even without internet connectivity is one of the major advantages of using them. Since they can access all app features while in flight mode or while offline, it gives customers more convenience. Users that live in rural locations, have poor internet connectivity, or have restricted data availability must have native apps’ offline support feature.
3. More Intuitive & Interactive
Emerging business owners should anticipate a superior user experience from native apps. Because they were created specifically for a given OS, native apps follow the rules, resulting in an enhanced user experience that works flawlessly with a given OS. Additionally, because native apps follow the rules, users can engage with the applications using gestures and activities that they are already accustomed to.
4. Minimized Scope of Bugs
In the development of native apps, managing two different codebases becomes more difficult than managing a single codebase. Native apps have fewer issues because they just have one codebase and don’t rely on cross-platform tools.
5. Utmost Performance
High performance is ensured via native app development, which aids in creating apps that are tailored for a particular platform. Since native applications are created specifically for a platform, they are responsive and relatively quick.
Cons of Native App Development
1. No Code Reusability
You will need to create and develop the apps for both the iOS and Android mobile operating systems if native apps are to be built independently for each platform. And unlike cross-platform apps with reusable codebases or hybrid mobile apps with shared backend code, this would require a lot of time, effort, money, and assets.
2. High Maintenance
The maintenance costs associated with developing native apps are high and could end up costing you even more than the development costs themselves.
3. Needs More Skills and Talent
Finding developers who can create native apps back-to-back becomes tough because native mobile apps are language-specific. While deciding between native and cross-platform app development, you’ll need to recruit two teams for native apps whereas only one team is needed for cross-platform apps.
What is Hybrid App Development?
Native and web solutions are combined in hybrid app development. With the aid of plugins like Ionic’s Capacitor, Apache Cordova, and others, developers of these apps must embed code written in languages like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript into a native app in order to access native functionalities.
The hybrid platform is made up of two parts: a native viewer that is downloaded to display the backend and functionalities, and the backend code.
With hybrid app development, the code is only written once and may be used across various platforms. The performance and user experience of a hybrid app can be somewhat similar to that of native apps.
Benefits of Hybrid Apps
1. Rapid Time to Market
The advantages of both native and web apps are combined in hybrid apps, which provide a faultless and improved user experience on both the Android and iOS platforms. The lightweight hybrid app UI used in hybrid application development allows for lightning-fast loading of graphics and content.
2. Easy Maintenance
Compared to native and cross-platform apps, which involve extensive code, hybrid apps are easier to maintain because they are only dependent on web technologies.
3. Minimized Cost Backed & Ease of Development
Since the hybrid app development lifecycle goes hand in hand with unified development, startups with limited resources can breathe a sigh of relief. Companies don’t need to make additional investments to create various versions of applications for various platforms. With the aid of hybrid app development frameworks, developers may create only one version and use it across many platforms.
4. Improved UI/UX
The advantages of both native and web apps are combined in hybrid apps, which provide a faultless and improved user experience on both the Android and iOS platforms. The lightweight hybrid app UI used in hybrid application development allows for lightning-fast loading of graphics and content.
Cons of Hybrid App Development
1. No offline assistance
Like native apps, hybrid apps don’t provide offline support. To use the app’s features, users must wait for an Internet connection.
2. Inconsistencies with OS
Although hybrid apps only use one piece of code, some features may not function properly on devices running other operating systems, such as some Android-specific features that may not function properly on iOS devices.
What is a Cross Platform App?
The terms “cross-platform” and “hybrid” app development have quite distinct connotations and serve different purposes. Cross-platform frameworks work to create reusable and shared code for creating apps for many OS. It saves time and money to write code once and reuse it across various platforms when developing apps.
Cross-platform apps will provide simple installation, reliable functioning, and low production costs. With a cross-platform app development framework, don’t anticipate high performance and customization, nevertheless.
Benefits of Cross-platform Apps
1. Quick and hassle-free development
In the long run, developers and business owners will benefit greatly from receiving reusable code that is supported by increased productivity and efficiency. A cross-platform app development framework has an advantage over competing solutions in this situation.
2. Outstanding Product Maintainance
As cross-platform app development uses a single codebase, businesses can unwind knowing that their products will be faultless. Since there is only one codebase, it is simple to test, release fixes, and upgrades, resulting in mobile applications with higher accuracy and higher quality.
3. Reduced Cost
The framework for cross-platform app development has the potential to support a wide range of platforms. It ensures greater worldwide market reach and improved brand recognition for start-up companies looking for quick market traction. Cross-platform apps also offer lower initial costs.
4. Reusability of Code
Developers do not have to write distinct code for every operating system when creating cross-platform apps. For the purpose of moving code between platforms, a shared codebase might be used.
Cons of Cross-platform Apps
1. Difficulty of the Development Lifecycle
To create apps that can be adapted to a few different platforms, it would be excellent if you had a staff of talented developers. When creating complicated features and interfaces, you must carefully consider the minute differences between operating systems and the hardware they use.
2. Challenges with Integration
The integration of cross-platform apps into local environments is frequently difficult for developers, and the callback-style programming used in HTML5 cross-platform apps makes the code complex.