Native App vs Hybrid App: Which One is Better for Your Business?

Mobile applications are the type of software that is usually operational with smart devices. So, once you have decided to build an app, your next step is to formulate a query to an app Development Company providing mobile application development services.

But, the question is what type of app should you choose as there are different types of application platforms are available. The choice totally depends on many factors, including your business needs, the complexity of an app, your budget and the timeline.

So, the main aim of writing this article is to provide the best information about native apps vs hybrid apps that help you to make a responsive mobile application.

Native App

These applications are written in languages that are natively supported by iOS or Android operating systems, such as Java, Swift, and Objective-C. Native app development provides access to the in-built device capabilities like location, GPS, Calendar, and other functionalities, which are not possible in hybrid apps.

The native app provides the best user experience along with high security and faster performance, making it more compatible with the particular platform that makes it more popular. One of the unique features of native apps is that users can access applications without an internet connection, but these features make them more expensive to build.

To build a native app for an iOS or Android platform, developers have to write a code for each that takes around four to six months.

Compared to the other types of apps, native applications are more intuitive and interactive in use. Also, native apps contain advanced testing and debugging tools hence, ensuring smoother work.

Some of the advanced features of Native App Development include:

• Inbuilt Feature compatibility

Native apps have the capability to configure the inbuilt listing of codes that are designed to develop certain features. Its programming is quite fast, and it usually allows clients to easily understand and navigate the development process. 

• Upgrades and Updates

Every application released requires regular upgrades and updates depending on changes that take place in the system. Thus, during a Native App development process, the programmers can easily update and upgrade the app versions for the users. 

• Secure and Supportive Apps

Usually, Native apps are more secure and supportive as users can easily download the native apps from the official app stores designated to the platforms. 

• Variations

Depending on the entire platform upgrades, the native app development processes are much easier than the other application platforms. These apps undergo easy and flexible changes on a platform, saving time and increasing the efficiency of application of the provision of the service.

After discussing the features, let's discuss the advantage and disadvantages of Native app development:

Some of the Advantages of Native Apps are:

• Provides an inbuilt platform for specific languages like Java and Swift C.
• Have separate programming code for each platform.
• Provide a better user experience.
• It can easily access the hardware like GPS, display, CPU and also faster in execution.
• Some of the examples of native apps are Google Maps, Linked In, Twitter, Telegram, and PokemonGo.

Some of the Disadvantages of Native Apps are:

• Requires high development cost.
• Need higher investment time and also need more resources.
• Have longer development cycles.
• Costly and time-consuming.
• The writing code in a language supported by the operating system requires specific developer skills and separate developers for both Android and iOS platforms thus, maintaining and updating two separate codebases is more expensive.

Benefits of Using Native Mobile App Development:

Given below are the major benefits that clients will enjoy with such kind Mobile App Development solutions:

• Due to ease of accessibility on their devices, the Native app provides the user with the ability to incorporate the offline features that they can enjoy.
• The users can easily gain access permissions for device apps.
• Native app development also increases the chances of app distribution on the app stores for different platforms.

Hence, a native mobile application platform is the one that an app development company creates for a specific platform like Android, iOS or Windows. This type of application development is done by developers offering the best mobile application development service based on a native programming language for a particular platform.

Hybrid App

A Hybrid App is defined as a combination of a Native App and a Mobile website. It is the type of app that works like a website wrapped in a native capsule. In order to create these apps, developers typically use HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The most popular platforms for building hybrid apps are Ionic and Apache Cordova.

Also, Hybrid App is one single mobile application that is built by a mobile app development company and is capable of functioning across multiple platforms. It is a type of mobile application that works on multiple platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows.

Hybrid app development is faster to build because developers have to write code only once and then apply it to different platforms.

Generally, hybrid apps run on a browser known as a web app that runs inside a native app, visible to the users. Although Hybrid apps run on any kind of platform or device from a single codebase, it still delivers a native look and feel. It also supports cross-platform app development as once you have written the code, you can use it anywhere.

Some of the advanced features of Hybrid App include:

• Cost-Effective

As you are building a single app for multiple platforms, therefore, the cost for the app development would reasonably reduce. If any change is required in the code at any level, the developer can easily implement the same without making any change to each and every device on which the code works on. 

• Easy Accessibility

As hybrid mobile apps platforms are based on HTML and JavaScript, therefore it can easily be developed with some practice. 

• Offline Usage

Comparable to Native apps, Hybrid apps also use a device's API to store data offline, which is certainly an added advantage for the users with poor connectivity. 

• Better UX

While using a Hybrid app, the customer will get to enjoy a consistent UX on every device they have access to.

In order to know more, let’s discuss the advantage and disadvantages of hybrid app development:

Some Advantages of Hybrid Apps are:

• You can develop applications using HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
• Once you have written a code, then you can use it anywhere.
• Requires Single Codebase.
• Provides faster execution and also saves time & money.
• Some of the examples of hybrid apps include Baskin Robbins, Pacifica, and Sworkit.

Some of the disadvantages of Hybrid Apps are:

• Hybrid apps provide an extra layer between the source code and the target place, which further results in poor performance.
• As a Hybrid app needs the help of 3^rd party plug-in, therefore, it can’t directly access the hardware like GPS, display, CPU
• This application is developed for multiple platforms, hence, affecting the User experience.
• Hybrid apps also require uninterrupted internet connectivity.

Benefits of Using Hybrid Mobile App Development:

Also, there are few benefits of Hybrid App Development that have made it so popular in the industry, which is discussed below.

• Hybrid Application Development integrates the frontend basics into native so that the user can enjoy the same interactive experience on the browser as well as the mobile app.
• The cross-platform development provided by hybrid technology lowers the costs of developing a separate program for each platform individually. Not only this, but it also saves a large amount of time.

Hence, Hybrid Mobile Apps can be accessed through multiple mobile platforms or Operating Systems like Windows, Android, and iOS. Similar to regular apps, you can also download and installed hybrid apps from Google Play Store or App Store. But in technical terms, hybrid apps are a bit different in the way that this type of application runs with the grouping of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. So, if you are planning to build mobile apps which are faster and inexpensive, then you should go for hybrid apps.

The Final Words

Thus, after knowing the various positives and negatives of native apps and hybrid apps, one can easily conclude that the choice between the two totally depends on the requirements of a business.

If a business has limited funds and is short on time, then you can opt for hybrid application development. On the other hand, if a business has sufficient capital to invest and is looking for developing a mobile app that comes with top-notch features, performance, and design, then it is recommended to native app programming.

The development of hybrid apps is easy for both android and iOS platforms, whereas, on the other hand, native app development is just the opposite of hybrid apps that requires more money and time to develop. Therefore, before initiating the project, it is important to understand the client's requirements and plan them accordingly.

No matter whatever platform you choose, it is important for you to think about your expectations from the user experience, app performance, and the features that you would like to add in perspective.

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