Native VS Hybrid Apps

Recently there has been a technological outburst in the type of apps (short for application program) Each app offers different functionality and can unlock new features for the user that was previously not possible. Currently there have been two dominating streams of Apps being created. These are Native Applications and Hybrid Applications. In this article we are going to have a look at the features, differences, advantages and disadvantages of Native apps and Hybrid apps.

When developing a new app for your business, there often arises a question about which application type do you want to choose. Which application will suit your business and solve all your problem objectives. Depending upon the business objectives, this decision can either make or break your mobile strategy for your business. You can decide to build your new business app either the Native way or the Hybrid way. Choosing from these two streams offers its own features or set of benefits. Depending on how you want to market your application, and what all features you want your application to have, you can choose between these two development streams.

Native App Development

Native Apps are written in a specific programming language and is targeted towards a specific target platform. For example Swift and Objective-C are common languages targeted towards the iOS app development and Java or Kotlin are languages that target the Android platform. Native apps are responsive as well as fast, distributed in their corresponding app stores, offers intuitive user input as well as output and does not require an internet connection to run. Comparatively Native Apps offer a better user experience than the competition and are more expensive to develop than the other options available.

Hybrid Apps Development

Hybrid Apps are a combination of Native as well as Web App development and offers features from these two streams, Native and Web. They don’t require a browser to run, and can make use of Device APIs. Hybrid Apps consists of two parts, first part is the back end code and the second part is a Native Shell that downloads the code and runs it in a Web View. However they are much slower than Native apps and are not customization to individual platforms like Native apps.

Native Mobile App Development

Native mobile apps are the most common type of application you see nowadays. They are written for specific platforms are in the languages that the platform accepts. For example Swift and objective-C for iOS platform and Java or Kotlin for Android platform. Native apps are built using the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the given operating system.

Both Apple and Google provide app developers with their own application development tools, interface elements as well as SDKs

Most companies will invest in native app development because they offer many benefits compared to any other development stream. Here are a few of the benefits.

Advantages of Native Apps:

1. Native apps are very fast because they are built for the specific platform.
2. They offer the highest performance compared to any kind of applications developed.
3. They are distributed among app stores.
4. Native apps are intuitive, more interactive and they run much smoother in terms of user input as well as output.
5. Native apps enable developers to access the full features of the given platform
6. Internet connection is not required, however this depends upon the functionality being offered
7. Offers an overall better user experience. The user interaction flow is just more natural because each platform has specific UI standards.

Disadvantages of Native Apps

1. The programming languages are difficult to learn, which means you require experienced developers
2. They are more expensive to develop
3. Not the best option to develop simple Apps.

 Hybrid Mobile App Development:

Hybrid apps work across many kinds of platforms and behave just like Native apps.

A Hybrid app is nothing but both Native and a Web app. Even though Hybrid app can be installed on a device just like a Native app, it is technically a web app. These type of applications are built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript that is run in a Web View

Hybrid app can do everything essentially that HTML5 can do, while implementing native app features. This is possible when the developer uses a wrapper to act as a bridge to access the Native app features.

A Hybrid app consists of two parts, a back end code that is developed using HTML, CSS and JavaScript and a native shell that is downloadable and loads the existing code using a WebView.

Here are a few of the Advantages of Hybrid apps:

Advantages of Hybrid App Development

1. Built using the current Web technologies, so it is much easier to build
2. Less expensive than a Native app
3. You design One app for all the platforms like Cordova
4. No browser is needed as opposed to a Web App
5. Developers can access device’s internal APIs, storage and other device hardware
6. Faster to develop that any Native app because you have access to a single code base.

Disadvantages of Hybrid Apps:

1. They are slower than Native Apps.
2. Less interactive than Native Apps
3. If you try to customize your app, you are losing the features of Hybrid apps, So you might as well do a Native app development.

Let’s Compare Native Apps and Hybrid Apps together:

Native Apps

1. Native Apps are platform Dependent
2. Native apps use platform specific languages to develop such as Swift, Objective C for iOS and Java and Kotlin for Android
3. Native Apps do not require a Browser
4. Native apps are slower to develop compared to Hybrid Apps
5. Native apps are much more expensive than Hybrid Apps
6. Native Apps are faster to run and provide a high interactivity
7. Customization is highly possible
8. User experience is excellent

Hybrid Apps

1. Hybrid Apps are platform independent
2. Hybrid Apps are developed using HTML, CSS, JavaScript that runs inside a Web-View
3. Hybrid apps also do not require a  Browser
4. Hybrid apps are faster to develop compared to Native Apps
5. Hybrid Apps are comparatively cheaper to develop compared to Native Apps
6. Hybrid Apps are slower to run and provides less interactivity to users
7. Not much customization is possible
8. User experience is good.

Conclusion

We have seen the various benefits offered by both the streams of development Hybrid and Native Apps. We also have compared the various features offered by these development streams. And also discussed the scenario in which Native or Hybrid app seems fit for development.

If you’re looking to develop an app for your business or looking to hire android developers or to hire iOS developers, do give us a call, and we will get you in touch with our highly experienced back end team who will guide you to develop your app. You can also look to hire app development company to develop your apps