What is a native, web, and hybrid application?
Before we get into the details, let's start with the basics.
Most mobile devices work on iOS or Android. Apple developed iOS and runs exclusively on their own devices. Android is developed and supported by Google, which is often considered to be a more open platform compared to Apple. Many mobile phone manufacturers use Android on their devices such as Samsung, Huawei, LG and, of course, Google which also produces its phones.
Mobile App
When we talk about mobile apps in this article, we're talking about apps that you download from the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.
What distinguishes a mobile application from a web application is the presence of the company's application in a Store. The visibility for a company is greater on an app store than for a web application. In addition, since a mobile application installed on the phone has an icon, it is ideal for remembering it and remembering the company. Mobile apps also give you the ability to send push notifications to re-engage users, sharing features are more optimized, and users spend more time on apps than on the web. Finally, advertising revenue from applications is an advantage.
Finally, a mobile application can be a native or hybrid application.
Native apps
The majority of the applications on your smartphone are native applications. They are built in a programming language specific to their respective platform: iOS and Android.
How are they done?
The language for developing native applications will depend on the platform for which they were created. Swift or Objective-C are used to code native iOS applications, and Kotlin or Java for native Android applications. Native applications are also developed using an integrated development environment (IDE) specific to the given operating systems.
Advantages:
- Native apps provide users with the fastest, most reliable, and most responsive experience.
- Native apps make it easy for the phone user to access the camera, microphone, compass, accelerometer, and scan.
- They can receive push notifications.
- They offer a better user experience as the flow is more natural, as there are specific user interface standards for each platform.
Disadvantages:
- You need a code base for iOS and another for Android.
- Native applications generally cost more to develop than hybrid applications and take longer to build.
Creating cross-platform native applications
In recent years, several alternatives have become available to take advantage of the benefits of cross-platform development without sacrificing user experience or access to native APIs. Cross-platform development simply means that a code base for one application can be the same and shared for an iOS and Android application, with only a small amount of adjustment for each system.
Xamarin and React Native allow cross-platform development.
Xamarin :
Developed by Microsoft, Xamarin is a tool used for the development of cross-platform mobile applications. Cross-platform development allows engineers to share approximately 90% of code across major platforms, including Windows applications. Xamarin development uses a different language to code applications: C#. It also provides free tools for creating, testing, distributing, and learning from your applications. Xamarin allows you to create a platform-specific UI code layer to look like a native application.
React Native :
Launched in 2015 by Facebook, React Native allows developers to create true native iOS and Android applications with a single code base, just as if you were using Objective-C or Java. But the code base is written in JavaScript and React.
Hybrid app
You install it like a native app, but it's actually a web app inside.
Hybrid applications, like web applications, are built with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. They run in what is called a WebView, a simplified browser within your application.
Hybrid applications can be a good solution when creating a minimum viable product (MVP), to test your idea on the market. With a hybrid application, you can quickly get a simple version of your product into the hands of your potential users. A hybrid application will give you more data to analyze about downloads and usage on your users' devices than a web application.
Benefits :
- Hybrid applications only have one codebase to manage: you save time and money in development.
- It's easier to switch to a different platform.
- It allows you to access device features just like for native applications.
Disadvantages :
- The performance is significantly lower than that of native applications because hybrid applications load in a Webview.
- The user experience is often less optimal with a hybrid app because you can't customize the app to suit the device.
PhoneGap is probably the best known hybrid application platform. And probably the easiest to use for a web developer. PhoneGap offers native plugins that allow you to use all the features of the device, including the accelerometer, camera, compass, file system, microphone, media, networks, networks, networks, notifications, geolocation, and storage.
Web application
So how is a web application different from a website? The difference may not be obvious: a website will generally be informational only and a web application will provide additional functionality and interactivity. For example, Wikipedia is a website, it provides information. Facebook is a more interactive web application.
Web applications do not require any download from the App Store or Play Store. Web applications load in browsers like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. They are not stored on the user's device. The vast majority of web applications are built in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. While developing a web application can be quick and easy, it is more restrictive.
But there is also something in between: a progressive web application.
It offers more features such as offline use, push notifications, and some touch gestures (like phone vibrations). It is not downloaded from a Store, but is recorded on the user's screen with an icon, directly from a web browser. Progressive web applications are a mobile website with modern JavaScript frameworks. However, they are much slower than native applications and are less interactive and intuitive.
What to choose?
Now we hope that you will have a better vision and a better understanding of the different types of applications that exist. Then, choosing the right one will depend on your business goals. The main factors to consider and that will help you make a decision are:
- The deadline to get your application
- The quality of the user experience you want
- The complexity of the features you need to make your application work
- Your budget
And don't forget to check out the article 22 questions to ask yourself before creating a mobile application. These questions will help you to clearly define your idea and to create a powerful and effective mobile application!
Finally, when you are ready to develop an application, we will be there for you. The world of application development is exciting... We will be happy to support you during design and development. So, do not hesitate to contact us if you have an application project!
