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When it comes to choosing the mobile app development path, many people are often confused about which option to choose after all the development of a mobile application is all about making rational choices. 

As a stakeholder, you should consider several aspects when developing an efficient and cost-effective solution, as this choice will make or break the success of your mobile strategy. Whether it is native or hybrid both have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the selection is mainly based on the application’s objective and your business goals.

In this article, we will discuss what’s the differences between native and hybrid and learn which type of development is more suitable for your business.

Native App Development Vs Hybrid App Development

A native application is a software application built for a specific platform and written in a language compatible only with the corresponding platform. For instance, Swift and Objective-C are used to write for native iOS apps and Java or Kotlin for native Android apps.

Apple and Google give app developers their development tools, interface elements, and standardized SDK (software development kit); Xcode and Android Studio. These tools allow us to create a mobile application pretty easily by any skilled developer.

Whereas, Hybrid application is essentially a combination of a native app and a web app. These types of apps are developed using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. These are platform-independent websites that are viewed using a native web view. It works pretty much like a native application.

Hybrid applications, though, leverage cross-platform functionality and use one code base to support multiple platforms compared to native apps. Like the Native applications, users can download them from the app store (Apple App Store for iOS and Google Play Store for Android).

You’ll hardly differentiate between the quality of the hybrid app from a native one. The best instances of the hybrid app are Instagram and Twitter. Ever Thought they were hybrids?

As we said at the start of this article, hybrid and native approaches to the development of the mobile app have their benefits and drawbacks that companies have to consider when deciding to make an entrance in this market. 

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of Native and Hybrid in detail in terms of the following aspects:

Performance

Native applications are designed in platform-specific language, allowing developers to customize them for high performance. It enables developers to use advanced features by integrating with the device to provide a seamless interface using its UI controls and layout.

In contrast, Hybrid Apps have limited access to device and OS features. Hybrid applications effectively apply an additional layer to the target platform’s source code, contributing to at least a performance loss.

Native apps are comparably fast and deliver the best performance as compared to the hybrid.

Cost

When considering developing an application budget, the most important question that arises is; how much does it cost to build & maintain an app? In terms of cost, the hybrid application has a stronger position as compared to the native. 

Because of the single codebase, the hybrid application running both iOS and Android can be deployed for about the same time that is needed to develop a single native application for one platform.

Hybrid apps are cost-effective solutions as compared to native apps.

Time

It’s another important factor that companies consider while developing an application, as each of the approaches requires a different amount of time to build and deploy the application. 

Building a hybrid app takes much less time than a native one. Developers don’t have to create a new codebase for each platform as a single code can run on multiple platforms, saving market time.

Native apps take a long time to develop as compared to Hybrid apps.

User Experience

Nowadays making a functioning app is not enough as most users don’t care about the technology that drives the app because they’re more involved in the user experience itself. If the app lacks a good user experience, users will most likely use the app once.

The user experience of native apps is far better than hybrid apps. App developers and UX designers can focus on implementing the application’s features to a platform with its design language, specific elements, and gestures. All of this helps users to fully comprehend the application’s functionality. 

Besides, Offline mode features can also be used extensively in native applications. Although hybrid applications look and feel like native apps, they do not have as refined user experience as provided by native applications.

Native applications are more user-friendly as compared to hybrid applications.

Maintenance

Once the development is finished, it doesn’t mean that launching is over; you have to maintain the app and ensure its optimization. Native and hybrid applications also vary in areas such as change-making and updating. 

When comparing hybrid versus native apps it is comparatively easy to update hybrid apps because everything is on a single platform, and developers don’t have to work individually on each platform to make adjustments and updates to various elements.

Users don’t have to manually update the new version of their app from marketplaces to get rid of an annoying bug that unexpectedly emerged in the application. If some kind of problem occurs on a server-loaded page, developers can repair it and users will receive the refreshed version next time they launch their app.

Hybrid Applications are more flexible than Native applications.

Which one to choose?

It is necessary to consider the differences between each option and step on the right path, to make the correct decision. If you have a balanced budget, no time limits, and need more functionality in your app, then go for a native app. 

Applications with advanced functionality such as banks and e-commerce sites will perform more effectively when built with the Native approach. However, Hybrid application creation is the perfect option for your business applications if you’ve got a short development schedule that needs to market immediately. 

Thus it is up to you to decide the right approach for your specific project but keep in mind certain factors like the efficiency of your application, your business objectives, conversions, and sales when making a decision.

Conclusion

Indeed it’s the most popular website platform and is considered a prime builder among others because it comes with so many extraordinary features and convenience. If you plan to manage it on your own once it is ready, you should be the one making certain decisions like what content management system (CMS) to use. To create a winning app, you must choose an approach that fits your business criteria, requirements, and target market. The choice between native and hybrid development depends on various factors, including business needs, application requirements, developer skills, and timelines. Every form of the app offers a completely different experience, and before you start to develop it’s important to know one another’s advantages and disadvantages.