February 24th, 2020 | Updated on June 30th, 2022
When you are just about to begin the process of choosing your solution for creating a new mobile application, you often face dilemmas mainly because there are vast options. With a wide range of options, the question arises, whether hybrid mobile development or native app development, which one is a better choice.
Well, there might be contradictory evidence, but here we will conduct a detailed study into the pros and cons of both platforms to help you decide faster on which technique to adopt.
Before getting started, we must understand that several factors play crucial roles in determining which option is the best for you.
You must keep track of your budget, the timeline of the app development process, your in-house team’s experience with the required technology, and, last but not least, your target audience.
An experienced mobile app development company can help you keep things held together. So, let’s take those factors into account and figure out which app development platform suits you the best.
Native App And Hybrid App: Core Difference
In today’s technological ecosystem, mobile apps fall into either of the two categories:
- Hybrid, or
- Native.
Native
Native apps are specifically built for a particular mobile operating system that can be either Android, iOS, or Windows, and could be written only in the operating system’s (OS) particular programming language.
Android and iOS are the two dominant platforms. Native apps for Android need Java, while Swift or Objective-C would work fine for iOS.
Hybrid
Hybrid apps are similar to natives in terms of appearance and actions. Like native apps, hybrid ones too can be downloaded and installed on any user’s device. But here’s the catch.
Hybrid apps are, in fact, websites packaged inside a digital container on the web that makes it appear like a native app. Hybrid app development is typically based on HTML5, Javascript, and CSS.
Advantages And Disadvantages Between Two
If historical evidence is concerned, native apps provide a better user experience. They generally have more sophisticated and complex features as compared to hybrid ones, and often they might be faster and indeed reliable.
Nevertheless, if someone developed a really good hybrid app, it often appears and performs similar to a native app as user satisfaction is put under consideration. You’ll be surprised to know that Twitter, Instagram, Uber, are all but hybrid apps.
Native App Pros
- Top-notch User Experience: If you want your app to offer superior user experience, a native app should be your choice.
- Interactive: The native app development options are intuitive and help the audience interact better, which, in turn, builds a community.
- Fast: Users don’t have to wait for loading, as native apps are fast and furious.
Offline mode availability: Even when a native app is used offline, it works as it is supposed to be. - Graphical options: You can make your native app more entertaining by enhancing its digital elements like graphics, animations, and many more.
- Superlative Security: When it comes to data security, no one beats the authority of the native apps.
Native App Cons
- ● Expensive: The cost is on the higher side for native apps. This is why your budget might get expanded over time.
● Slow build: Additionally, the building process of this application is time-consuming. You cannot expect to build a native app overnight.
● Technical complexities: Native app development demands higher technical knowledge, which demands more expertise to build a suave app.
Hybrid Apps: Pros
- Cost: Hybrid app creation is a less expensive affair. Depending on your app project’s scale, you may save anywhere between $5000 to $100,000 in case you choose the hybrid development option.
- Time: Hybrid apps can be built faster unless you require too many custom features.
- Native APIs: Hybrid apps can be customized using numerous plugins available for the hybrid app developers. You can make your hybrid app behave more like native ones, thanks to loads of options available.
- Single Codebase: Unlike Native apps, hybrid apps can be built once and released on multiple operating systems.
- Maintenance: Hybrid apps are simpler to maintain than native app technology.
Hybrid App Cons
- Limited Connections: Hybrid apps cannot execute offline operations.
- Slow: Unless your app is a simple one, downloading stuff will take tons of time, which in turn, might frustrate a user.
- Limitations if customization: Plug-in’s reliability and update cannot be expected to be flawless always since these codes are third-party ones and don’t belong to you originally.
We believe, now you can take an educated guess and choose the right technique for building your app. Irrespective of whether you choose hybrid mobile development or native options, we wish you all the best with your endeavor.
