From keypads to touch systems, cell phones
have progressed a lot over the years. They have become a significant piece of
modern business and trade. People spend about 50% of their time on digital
media apps so, if you're looking forward to expanding your outreach, you need a
mobile application.
Overhauling your brick-and-mortar business to
the digital world can be a bit challenging but is of utmost importance if you
want your business to flourish. 6/10 consumers expect a business to have an
online presence to ensure their credibility. Investing in a mobile
app development company
increases the visibility of your brand, letting the users know about everything
that you offer, and keeping your business at the forefront.
Around 3.5 billion people have smartphones around the world and majority of them spend an average amount of 3.7 hours per day glued to their cellular devices so, you have to make sure that your mobile application runs across all platforms seamlessly.
Today's demanding market forces businesses to
always be on their toes. You'd have to keep up with all the current market
trends and adapt to the latest technologies to be able to increase your
business' visibility, reach and clientele. Yet when businesses are set out to
have their mobile application developed, they most often get jumbled up in the
mumbo jumbo of IT jargons that feels too complicated to get caught up in but
are extremely important for your app to be successful.
One of the most common issue people face when getting an app developed is deciding whether to get a native or hybrid app development. This article will be a brief guide regarding hybrid and native mobile app development platforms, their benefits and limitations.
A hybrid application combines the elements of
native and web applications (application that doesn't need to be installed and
can adapt to different browsers) with the help of web technologies such as CSS,
JavaScript, HTML, HTML5. Hybrid apps are web applications that are encapsulated
in a native app wrap. They will provide separate web views for android and iOS
platforms to offer a responsive and customized display to the user.
BENEFITS OF HYBRID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
·
Cross-Platform
Responsiveness
Hybrid apps help in maintaining consistency
across all devices. So, no matter the platform, hybrid apps will use a single
codebase to provide cross-platform functionality.
·
Faster Development
Time
With a single codebase to work on, the
developers can build apps faster. The quality assurance and testing process
will also take lesser time.
·
Seamless Maintenance
Maintenance costs of the apps often go unplanned
but are essential to ensure that the app runs effectively and efficiently. App
maintenance cost depends upon the size, complexity and functionality of an app.
Well-maintained apps have many advantages – they'll load quicker, rank higher,
allow more transactions, and run more smoothly. Developers will work on a
single codebase which means they won’t have to work on separate platforms for
maintenance and updates.
·
Low Development Cost
Developing multiple apps for different
operating systems costs you hefty maintenance and configuration costs, lesser
productivity and not to mention a lot of time and money. Hybrid apps use a
single codebase for both android and iOS that lowers the development costs a
lot.
LIMITATIONS OF HYBRID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
·
Hybrid apps require a
stable internet connection to provide a full range of features.
·
Its architecture
relies on plugins to access the built-in features of the device. In the case of
outdated or unreliable plugins, the overall functionality of the app can suffer.
· Hybrid apps can face platform inconsistencies since there may be features that are not supported in multiple platforms.
Native
applications are platform-specific mobile applications that comply with the requirements
of a particular operating system. Developers use SDKs (software development
kits), a predetermined set of tools and IDEs (integrated development
background) that allows the creation of an app for a specific OS easily. The
two main types of operating systems are Android and iOS.
Android applications have open-source ecosystems that allow an extensive range of functionalities and customizations. iOS lets you come across innovative business development prospects and helps in amplifying revenue through enterprise applications. It is widely chosen by SMEs and large enterprises because of its outstanding user experience, top-tier security, and unparalleled compatibility.
BENEFITS OF NATIVE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
·
Optimal Performance
Native apps are developed and optimized
keeping a specific platform in mind that ensures smoother performance and
maximum responsiveness. The native toolset provides access to user’s location,
camera and offline activity that helps the developers to optimize the app accordingly.
·
Security
Native applications provide better security
and because they follow platform-specific data compliance guidelines.
·
Interactive Displays
Native apps follow separate UI/UX standards
for building Android and iOS apps that ensure a natural and interactive
application. They adhere to specific UI guidelines and standards that ensure
robust performance, optimal functionality and rich features; enhancing the
overall user-experience.
·
Seamless Development
Process
Developers have direct access to user’s
hardware features such as camera, microphone, GPS, phonebook etc. that allows
them to modify the app for optimal user engagement.
LIMITATIONS OF HYBRID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
·
While developing a
native application, we cut off half of the other market and focus on one. This
results in high initial costs and the requirement of a highly qualified team.
·
To keep the apps
up-to-date with various OS versions, native apps need constant maintenance and
updates.
·
Developers would need
longer development time to build an app for every platform.
HYBRID APP DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS
REACT NATIVE
React Native is a Facebook-backed open-source
framework that allows you to build native iOS and Android mobile apps with a
single JavaScript codebase. Instead of using WebView components, React Native
utilizes native components which compile directly into the machine language of
the device itself. React Native puts an end to the inefficient and sluggish
user interface that performs poorly on both Android and iOS platforms but
provides fully functional, robust, and exceptional cross-platform mobile
application that guarantees 100% customer engagement.
Without a doubt, React Native has become the
most widely preferred web development platform best known for its optimal performance.
The five main reasons why Reactive Native stands out from other frameworks are:
·
Pre-Developed
Components and code reusability: Developers can use the same code for both iOS and Android,
making the development process cost and time-efficient.
·
Third-Party
Plugin Support: React Native
offers full access to multiple features of the operating system such as
geo-location, camera, logs hereby streamlining the application building
process.
·
Modular
Architecture: The modular
architecture of react-native allows the segregation of programming blocks into
various modules which improves flexibility within a development team and makes
the process of creating updated very easy.
·
Quick
Development: Backing for
outsider modules and the broad collection of react parts speeds up the
application advancement process.
·
Live
Reload: React Native
accompanies a Live Reload include that permits you to see the most recent
changes following they have been made.
NATIVE SCRIPT
Native Script is an Apache 2 licensed open
source and easily adaptable framework that enables robust development of native
apps with TypeScript, JavaScript or Angular. It provides 100% access to Android
and iOS APIs and requires one-time creation which can then be tailored easily
as per your choice.
Native Script is widely favored for the class
and effortlessness it provides to build cross-platform, robust applications. In
contrast to other hybrid applications, Native Script apps utilize a unified
native code set that is built with simplified UI designed in XML markup, that
can be compiled on Android and iOS.
NATIVE SCRIPT OFFERS:
·
Native UIs without
WebView.
·
Cross-Platform
compatibility.
·
Easily accessible
Android and iOS APIs.
NATIVE APP DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS
IONIC
Ionic is an open-source software development
kit (SDK) for native mobile applications. As of now, more than 5 million apps
are built on Ionic. The reason why majority of developers are choosing Ionic is
that it is an open-source framework with platform-specific user interface
elements.
NATIVE SCRIPT OFFERS:
·
It eases the burden
off developers by providing them with a default set of UI elements so that
things like forms, navigation bar, menus, filters, action sheets are easily
available to develop.
·
Ionic uses AngularJS
for developing mobile and web apps ensuring that the apps built offers
optimized performance and functionality.
·
Through Cordova
plugins, Ionic can access multiple features of the operating system such as
geo-location, camera, and logs hereby, streamlining the application building
process.
Conclusion
Development in technology has gone through
significant changes over the past decades and there are no limits to its
transformation any time in the future. The staggering rate at which customers
are moving towards online businesses has just surfaced the tip of something
with a lot more potential. Through enhanced accessibility and digital
infrastructure, improvements are happening much more rapidly today.
A business' mobile application gives a
humanized outlook to your eCommerce app development company, ensuring maximum
customer engagement and loyalty. Before jumping to conclusions, one should
consider how fast do you want the app, complexity of features, and the quality
of user experience of the app. Hybrid and Native app development platforms both
have their strong and weak points. While hybrid apps may have lower upfront
costs, they are more prone to bugs which is why developers will be more likely
to spend a lot of their time tweaking the app.
Whereas, native apps offer security, interactive design, feature-rich functions, phenomenal user experience and a highly responsive user interface. The initial cost of native apps may seem high but in the long run, they will save a lot of time and money.