Hybrid App vs Native App

4 mins read
Hybrid App vs Native App
Customer experience for your mobile is more important to your business than you might think. For over a decade, mobile app development has become the kingpin of innovation. With the growing demand for smartphone devices, most of the organization are incorporating mobile apps in their business flow so as to enhance their market outreach. The organizations have to do detailed planning about various types of processes if they are looking to dive into the development of apps and specifically the hybrid app vs native mobile app development. Before heading for app development, one has to decide upon the way in which they are looking to create and deploy the app. During the preliminary research for your app's development, you would face a couple of challenges like what should be built- native vs hybrid app? Which platform would be the best for the organization? The answers to these queries depend on the following factors:
  • Speedy development of the application
  • A budget for developing the app
  • Required features in the app
  • The objective of building the app
For a better decision making, let us discuss the differences between hybrid and native app. Also, have a look at the pros and cons of the two.

A Hybrid App

A hybrid app is a program that is built using HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript and is wrapped in a native container, however, there have been some advancements like Flutter and more for applications that work with languages other than HTML5. There are a number of native web frameworks available, that can help you building hybrid apps. The main features of typical hybrid apps are:
  • Faster app development
  • Simple and easy for maintaining
  • Cross-platform UI
  • Integration with device file system
  • A single code management with multiple mobile platforms

A Native App

A native app is a program that has been coded in a specific programming language for the devices that have specific OS. The native mobile application development is easy and also, there are a number of resources available. For instance, these apps can take advantage of OS features and the other software tools that are installed on that platform. They also have access to various phone functions such as camera, contact list, gallery and more. Usually, the native apps are compiled into machine code. These provisions help native apps that perform best on a mobile device. Although native mobile app development is easy and there are a number of resources available, it might not be understandable to everyone. As the code has to be written for each platform, it has to be re-written for each one. The only thing that remains same is the logic, but the language APIs and the development process might vary. Sometimes, this process becomes long for complex applications. The main features of a native app are:
  • A higher degree of reliability
  • Native features can best be exploited
  • They support both the online as well as offline transactions
  • Simple yet fast performance and better user experience
As these apps can be built for particular Operating System, a company or an organization is required for making duplicate versions of the app. So that, it can work on multiple platforms. For example, the video games for mobile devices are mostly native mobile apps.

Native vs Hybrid App

Hybrid App vs Native App
Cost and time required for development
Hybrid mobile application development takes a minimum amount of time for their development and is developed at comparatively lesser prices as compared to the native mobile app development. When you are building a hybrid app, you have to maintain a single code. On the other hand, with a native code, you need an app developer for each platform. It really doesn't mean that native apps are bad, native and hybrid apps have their own set of advantages.
User Experience
Native mobile apps offer the best user experience as they are specifically designed for a single app store. The screen size is taken optimum care of and so the hardware capabilities. Whereas, with hybrid apps, it is quite impossible to offer good user experience with a single application code for all platforms.
Paid or free apps
As native apps have the best UI, hence paid apps are generally advised. But free apps can be built as hybrid apps.
Related:

Flutter vs React Native

Closure

The native and hybrid apps have their own advantages and disadvantages as listed in the post “Hybrid App vs Native App”. The final decision of platform selection totally depends on the requirement of the organization. After taking note of the requirements, it is advised to get in touch with app developers who will get your ideas to board. It is always better to outsource app development rather than hiring a permanent in-house setup. Also, this approach will make your app look and feel like a natural transit. At tecHindustan, our team helps you choose the right app for your idea. If you are looking to share your views on mobile application development, leave a response- we would love to get in touch with you.

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