These days, any company aiming to establish a strong market presence should consider the option of developing a mobile app. The endless branding opportunities, ability to send notifications to the users and foundations for real-time CRM simply make this option too good to pass on. Keeping that in mind, it should be mentioned that not all apps belong to the same group and every one of these options offers distinct advantages and drawbacks.
Here we are going to quickly break down the two most popular options and see what their pros and cons mean for the future of your company.
Native apps
First, we are going to cover the better-represented option out of two. Essentially, the native products are the thing that first crosses your mind when thinking about the mobile app – they are developed for the native ecosystem and its associated programming language (Kotlin and Swift).
Since they are tailored-maid for the operating system in question, these apps are also able to use most of its resources and they, in most cases, are considered a faster and more efficient solution. So, as the things stand:
Pros
- Simple code and support from the native eco-system
- Longer development cycles offer more time for testing
- Using OS resources ramps up security
- Easy troubleshooting and big-fixing
- Access to hardware features
- Immediate implementation
Cons
- Development cycles are more expensive and take more time
- Requires a bigger team of developers
- New codebases are required for adding new features
Final verdict
Out of the two options, native apps are the one that utilizes the OS resources and being such are able to tackle more demanding tasks and produce more graphically intense output. On the other hand, they are also a far more expensive pick and take more time to be developed, so they are better saved for the projects that can utilize all of their raw power.
Native apps
Unlike their native peers, hybrid apps are far more affordable and easier to develop. As a matter of fact, a professional hybrid app development company will be able to release a fully developed product in a very short period of time. And although they are installed just like the native apps, the core of hybrid apps consists of web-based front-end technologies, which means they can be distributed across multiple operating systems with only slight OS-specific adjustments necessary for getting access to OS features. In short:
Pros
- Apps are built using the same codebase cutting the price
- The apps are capable of using native OS resources like camera
- Shorter time-to-market release cycles
- Adding new features is very easy
- High integration with different web-based services
- Simple and cost-effective maintenance
- Effortless scaling across platforms
Cons
- Demanding tasks may cause the app to run slower
- Apps can’t use advanced system features
- Limited functionality when offline
- Unsuitable for graphically intensive operations
Final verdict
Due to their flexibility and singular code base that drastically cuts the project prices and development times hybrid apps make a very solid choice for the business owners who need to roll out their apps fast, hit the largest possible amount of people, and offer their users basic features necessary for interaction with some business entity. More complex tasks usually cause slowdowns.
In conclusion
As we can see both these options offer some very distinct sets of advantages that could greatly benefit your company so we can’t give a clear advantage to one over the other. It really boils down to what kind of the main purpose you want your app to accomplish. If you want to keep your clients informed, present the portfolio, and tackle similar simpler tasks, the hybrid apps will prove to be more than sufficient. They also have an advantage in terms of price and development cycles. Have in mind that all apps might face problems, so always be prepared to ask yourself: how to unfreeze Venmo account.
On the other hand, if you want to include more robust sets of features, complex UX/UI features, or some sort of graphically intense animation, the native apps will offer all the things you need and more – the time and money you are going to invest in the development will more than pay off in the long run.