Native or Hybrid App Development?

Let’s find out what is the best option for your long term mobile strategy: Native or Hybrid App Development?

 Developing mobile applications requires writing code. iOS apps are developed using Objective-C and SWIFT. Android apps are developed in JAVA. Both of them require specialised developers. Building an app for both iOS and Android in fact requires building two apps. An alternative to this is Hybrid app development. Hybrid app development is based mostly on web technologies like HTML, CSS and Java-Script and they run in web browsers.

What is a Hybrid Mobile App?

A Hybrid Mobile App is basically a responsive website running inside a web view. It’s wrapped into native apps using tools like Cordova. This container provides access to most of the native features. To access native functionalities like Bluetooth or the location services, Cordova provides a set of plugins which can be easily installed. Most native features of the mobile device are available to hybrid apps, but not all. They also have a good range of compatibility across devices and different OS versions.

What is a Native Mobile App?

A native mobile app is a smartphone program developed in a platform specific programming language. Native mobile apps for iOS are developed in SWIFT and Objective-C. Android native apps are developed in JAVA. They run natively on the device and are optimised specifically for each platform. Native apps have access to all devices’ features.

Native vs Hybrid Apps – PROs and CONs

Hybrid Apps

PROs

• cheap to develop;
• common code base for both iOS and Android;
• single IDE required to build both apps;
• faster speed to app launch on App Store and Google Play.

CONs

• not all device native features are available;
• access to new device specific features is delayed while developers build plugins;
• they don’t provide a true native experience;
• low overall performance compared to native apps.

Native Apps

PROs

• optimised for their platform;
• full access to native device features;
• better user experience;
• require less maintenance and are more robust than hybrid ones.

CONs

• more expensive because of the separate code base for iOS and Android;
• more time needed to launch the app;
• harder to find experienced development companies.

Our Recommendation

When choosing between native or hybrid app development we recommend you chose the native app solution. First of all, it is the robust solution. You don’t have to constantly worry about whether it is compatible with the latest OS release or not. Second of all, in the long run, the hybrid solution will cost more due to a higher need of maintenance. Last but not least, you want your users to have a great experience while using your mobile app.