
With technological advances growing tremendously over the years in the apps market, choosing a suitable type of app for your business can be a difficult task. Users have infinite choices and their expectations are getting bigger every day demanding focus towards robust customer experiences. Today, nobody has time for bad experiences that is why it is important to figure out which app will be the best for your business. Many of us are often stuck with the two questions i.e. how much to make an app will cost and which type of app shall we choose. Let’s explore the insights of native and hybrid app development to help you make a clear choice considering your specific business needs & preferences.
A Quick Overview- Native and Hybrid Apps
Native apps can be defined as the smart phone apps that have been specifically developed for a single mobile operating system. E.g. native app built for iOS platform cannot function on Android and vice verse. As the app is built following strict user experience guidelines of the OS, it will have faster performance and better in-app interaction. Users are more likely to learn how to use and navigate the app faster with easy access and proper utilization of inbuilt capabilities of the device.
Hybrid Apps are the ones that perform consistently on all the operating systems without the restriction of running only on one dedicated OS i.e. apps developed for Android will work successfully on iOS, Android or Windows system. It can be termed as a web app developed using HTML5 and JavaScript and wrapped in a native container that loads all the information on the page as the user navigates through the app (without the need of app installation like native apps).
Key Factors to Consider Before Choosing Native or Hybrid Apps
Though choosing an option between native and hybrid app mainly depends on your business goals, here are some of the main factors that you should consider before making the final choice for your business app:
- Performance
Survey says more than half of the users expect apps to start up in 2 seconds or less. If you are looking for a smooth and speedy performance, the native app is the right option. Hybrid apps rely on different cross-platform frameworks to be deployed on both Android and iOS that requires constant updates as per the latest versions of the mobile OS on different devices. This makes it hard to match the speed of native apps.
- User Experience
Talking about the user experience, the native app is the winner as developers can customize the design, navigation, look and feel of the app according to the OS that will be used by end user. However, hybrid apps are simple in design and navigation to offer consistent user experience across the number of devices running on different OS. To deliver a great experience, hybrid app developers need to put extra effort in separating the code for Android and iOS that may neglect its other benefits.
- Development Cost
The cost of developing hybrid apps may be lesser than native apps as only one code is required to run on all the OS, reducing the efforts of the developers and their charges too. This option is often advisable for those entrepreneurs planning to target a wider audience in low pricing. In case of native apps, developers need to write different codes according to the OS on which app needs to be launched, which raises the cost. Such apps are best for the ones who are looking for a high-end business mobile app.
- App Complexity
As the native app is solely built for a single OS, developers can easily utilize all the native features of a framework enabling them to create advanced apps as per client’s needs. They also have the freedom to use device functionalities such as camera, map, contacts, location, etc. However, it is not possible to use these features while building hybrid apps and it needs pulling of native components externally.
- Time to Market
Another factor that can be considered is the time to market for app development. Hybrid apps are preferred in those situations when businesses need to quickly launch the app into the market as the native app takes a longer time to develop. Business owners who are not in rush and can spend extra development cost must go for native apps as it can deliver better performance and reliability.
Though many of us may think a hybrid app is the best as it will target a larger audience in shorter duration, this shortcut may come up with many disadvantages as well. Native apps outperform hybrid apps in terms of performance and user experience while hybrid apps can be developed in lesser time with low development cost. In the longer run, more investment and time will be needed in the maintenance of hybrid apps as time-to-time updates are needed to improve performance issues. Consider the points stated above to get a clear picture of each app category and make a right decision in choosing a hybrid or native app for your business. For better guidance and suggestions, we advise you to take help from the expert developers of the Enterprise App Development Company that holds in-depth expertise in building both types of the mobile apps.