Nowadays people are increasingly using their mobile phones compared to desktops and laptops. Mobile device manufacturers regularly come up with more advanced versions of mobile devices to enable many transactions through mobile phones.

With the advent of smartphone technology also came the concept of ‘mobile apps’. Today we have apps for almost everything: banking transactions, news, payments, grocery orders etc. Most companies know that today it is important to have a mobile app to reach out to their target audience effectively. But when it comes to actually developing an app, business owners wonder what type of app to choose: native app or hybrid app. This article attempts to help in making the decision easier.

Most important aspect of mobile app development

Before we even decide which type of app to develop, it is important to remember that customer experience must not be forgotten while developing the apps. The customers would be least bothered about the technology used to make the app. They would be concerned more about the benefits provided by the app. This makes UI and UX the most important aspect of mobile app development.

Remember, 79% of consumers do not try an app anymore if it fails to work properly the first time, or at the most they would try one more time. Only 16% of consumers attempt to use a faulty app more than twice. Thus, your choice of native or hybrid would not matter at all if the app ends up not working. A bad user experience or user interface would put off most consumers after the first try.

What are Native Apps?

Native apps are mobile apps which are created for usage on a particular platform like Android, Windows, iOS or Blackberry. These apps are coded for the specific platforms in the respective programming languages:

• iOS – Swift, Objective C
• Android – Java, Kotlin
• Windows – C#

What are hybrid apps?

Hybrid apps are those apps which are created as single apps that can be used on multiple platforms. They are created using HTML5, CSS and Javascript and are actually web-based programs put in native app shells and connected to the mobile device hardware.

Advantages of native apps

1. As native apps are coded for different platforms using different languages that are platform-specific, these apps work smoothly over the platforms they are built on.
2. Integration of new functions is easy for native apps.
3. The platform-specific optimisation of native apps results in high speed and performance.
4. User experience is better: good animation, better scrolling, attractive elements etc.
5. Quick access to inbuilt device features like camera, microphone, GPS etc.
6. Better data security.
7. App layout can be easily adjusted to suit different screen sizes of devices.

Disadvantages of native apps

1. Native apps, if they are to be built for all platforms, need to be coded from scratch for each platform, which is time consuming.
2. Developers are usually specialised in coding for a specific platform. Coding for different platforms would need the services of multiple developers, which increases the cost.

Advantages of hybrid apps

1. Hybrid apps are well suited to budget conscious business owners, as they need to be programmed only once for use on all platforms, thus eliminating the need to hire different development teams.
2. Hybrid apps are easy to update and maintain.
3. Nowadays, due to high competition in most industries, it is imperative to reduce the time to market as much as possible. This is possible with hybrid apps, again due to one-time programming for all platforms.

Disadvantages of hybrid apps

1. Some hybrid apps might face performance issues.
2. Debugging hybrid apps is tougher than for native apps.
3. Difficulty in maintaining same standard of UX across all platforms.

Conclusion

While choosing the type of mobile apps, it is important to keep the above advantages and disadvantages in mind. Decide which ones among the above are important for your business before making the final decision.

If you are still undecided and need some more advice before choosing the type of apps, then ensure you consult with a trusted Custom Software development company. We at Acropolis can be your trusted advisors on the type of app that will be most suitable for your business, and take care of the complete development, testing, integration, implementation and maintenance of your apps. Contact us right now to have our technology experts at your service! All you need to do is have a detailed discussion with us about your needs, and upon your approval of our recommended solutions, we will deliver quality apps that will help you achieve your business goals! And at affordable rates too! Even better, our services are available to businesses anywhere in the world! We cater to clients from US, UK, Australia, Germany, France and many more countries!