Old News: Google has launched the “Mobile-First” indexing owing to the increasing number of mobile searches, which have surpassed desktop searches.
New News: Mobile application development industry is rapidly becoming the mainstay of application development across the world; overtaking the web development industry.
OK, we aren’t just throwing the speculations up here, rather, we are just predicting what seems to be the eventual reality of the tech world in the coming years. Just as a hint, the mobile app development industry sees over 50% year by year increase in the last year; still for any confusion?
Well, the smartphone industry has had a revolutionary impact on the way users used to interact over the internet. This was further exaggerated by the entree of affordable and high-performing Chinese smartphones, which dramatically up-the-ante for the entire smartphone industry, taking the industry by storm. Now with nearly 5 billion global smartphone users and mobile searches exceeding desktop searching, it is just a matter of time when the mobile app development industry will eventually surpass web development (by the way it won’t take too long either).
Now, when we look at the composition of the mobile app development market, there isn’t much of a competition in terms of operating systems. Android and iOS pretty much sums up the entire platforms available up until now (Huawei has just come up with its own OS, however, we still got to see how this eventually turns out for the company). Nonetheless, for almost all businesses going with Android or iOS apps remains the most pressing need to be able to capture this vast and overwhelming market. However, when it comes to the development strategy, it can be broken down into two separate categories; native app development and hybrid app development.
Native App development simply refers to the mobile app development using native scripting (coding language of one OS) or in simple terms, native apps are developed for either of the two platforms; Android or iOS. Contrarily, Hybrid apps are unique in a way that they are developed to be used on both platforms.
So, which is the better out of the two?
Well, that’s an interesting question. Below we have come up with a detailed analysis of native app vs. hybrid app development pros and cons. So, continue to read-on as we list down everything you want to know:
Native app development Vs Hybrid App development!
Native App Development
– Performance
As mentioned earlier, native apps are developed for a specific platform using native programming language. This means that such apps are naturally more suited to perform better than hybrid apps, for a specific platform. What further complement the performance of native apps is the fact that these apps are ideally designed and developed keeping in view various performance factors like the battery, memory, etc. Lastly, the easy integration of various functionalities like gestures and navigation maps also boost their performance incredibly.
– Data protection
Backed by robust mathematical connections, native apps are naturally much securer as compared to hybrid apps. The fact that native apps are developed using native scripting language means that they are significantly less vulnerable against security breaches.
– Customization
Moving on, native apps offer a much higher level of customization to users as compared to hybrid apps (where the prime focus of developers remain to code a lean app that works well with both platforms). Alternatively, for native apps, the prime focus remains to offer the highest level of customization options to customers.
Hybrid Apps
– Easy development process
Perhaps, one of the biggest reasons why developers prefer going with hybrid mobile apps is the fact that this saves them time to code multiple applications. The process of hybrid app development is much easier and streamline as compared to native apps. Moreover, hybrid apps also offer easy fixes for bugs as well as easy updates.
– Cost-efficient
Another popular reason why businesses go with hybrid app development process is the fact that it’s much more cost-effective than going with two individual native apps. Since, businesses can’t ignore anyone platform without losing significant businesses, going with a hybrid app is the natural and cost-efficient choice for businesses.
– Time-efficient
Lastly, what makes hybrid app development, even more, the streamline the process is the fact that the process doesn’t have to start from scratch. Almost all online businesses maintain an effective mobile-friendly (responsive) web design, which interestingly acts as the starting point for the hybrid app development (since both use the same programming languages). Thereby, overall hybrid mobile apps take much lesser time than native apps at the developmental phase.
Summing Up:
Well, by now you must have had made your mind for the type of app you would like for your business. However, before you proceed with any of the two options just remember that mobile app development industry is one of the fastest evolving industries. Every day we get to see newer trends hitting the market to help businesses keep up with users’ preferences and demands. Now, since it’s also one of the highest-potential markets with great rewards, it’s imperative for businesses to invest their hard-earned money in the right technology that can help them move forward.
Now, as far as the best choice between native and hybrid app is concerned, it isn’t much hard to say that native apps undoubtedly offer better features, more functionalities and higher security protection as compared to hybrid apps. Moreover, the higher-customization options available with native apps (especially in terms of UI/UX) also adds to the performance and sanctity of the applications. As for the hybrid apps are concerned, these are undoubtedly efficient and cost-effective platforms which we believe are ideally suited for specific industries like gaming (where not much customization is required).
At Starlinks, we offer full-stack mobile application development services to local and international businesses. Our experienced developers are well-versed with the strengths and limitations of native and hybrid apps, bringing you an unprecedented level of customer support and experts’ recommendation to turn your app into a success story.