Building a Mobile App Strategy: 8 benefits of a hybrid model

Hybrid or Native app: which one to choose?

Even when you’re sure to develop a smartphone application, you find yourself struggling? Not sure which platform is perfect for your mobile app development needs?

The biggest challenge leading organizations face is the option they have in their hands. They keep on struggling in deciding either to go for native app development or opt for hybrid app development.

When a business looking for a suitable platform to develop their dream smartphone application, they consider the following facts:

• The sole aim and objective of developing the mobile application?
• What would be the development speed of the application?
• Should I go for an in-house mobile app development team or choose an outsourcing option?
• What estimated budget is to be predicted?
• Are the features necessary for the app to make it distinguished?

When you are considering native and hybrid app development platforms, you need to be familiar with both. Native as well as hybrid app development platforms offer fascinating features. Both are innovative and ensure premium development services.

But which is better for your current project? So today, let’s solve this mystery for you and help you out.

Hybrid application development

Hybrid apps are being developed using CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5. Applications made via Hybrid tech use a single Hybrid app code. They run their applications on a different operating system and ensure a native-like experience.

Hybrid mobile app development is wrapped in a Native container. While navigating the application, the native container loads the required information on the page with efficacy.

Today, mobile application developers rely on hybrid applications to quickly write codes for multiple platforms.

Native application development

The native applications are codes for specific devices having a particular operating system. For instance, Java is intended for Android, and iOS uses Objective C. Therefore, native applications benefit from the software tools and the active system features installed on the device.

Such built applications can access multiple functions of the devices such as the gallery, contact list, camera, and many more. To ensure premium performance on the mobile device, the majority of the native applications are compiled into the machine code.

Key features of Native applications

• Highly reliable
• Faster performance ensuring enhances user experience
• Good for both online and offline transactions
• The native features can best be utilized

Due to certain features and organizational requirements, native app development is a good option. It’s a smart decision as it focuses on “achieving more with less investment”.

With native applications, you need to code again for different platforms. For example, when developing a mobile application, you need to code differently for Android, iOS, and Windows. However, with hybrid applications, you can create a single application conveniently across multiple platforms and devices. Therefore, hybrids are much faster than native and require less effort.

Benefits of hybrid mobile app development

This is a digital era without any doubt! Therefore, developing a hybrid application is going to ensure an edge over your competitors. In addition, it will allow you to increase your market reach at a lower cost. For this reason, always go for a platform that promises developmental success with convenience. Here are some reasons why you should choose hybrid application development over other options.

1. Cost-effective app development

Hybrid applications are all about unified and integrated development. Due to it, your business doesn’t have to spend discreetly on building multiple versions of the application for diversified platforms. Instead, your developers can create a single version easily written and maintained for various platforms with the hybrid framework. Hence, it makes development easier, saves a lot of money, and attracts more revenue.

2. Native experience with simplified backend

Native applications deliver a phenomenal user experience. On the other hand, a hybrid application provides primarily what the native UX can offer while keeping the backend structure simplified. With hybrid development, you can quickly go for an inclusive development framework ensuring a hybrid app UX. Through a hybrid platform, the UX remains seamless, updating across multiple platforms with minimal fixes. Get a fluid native feel with hybrid apps and no differentiation while shifting from one device platform to another.

3. A creative way to meet the target audience

Typical and usual web applications aren’t brilliant as compared to today’s evolved applications. They don’t stay in touch with the device’s operating system and built-in environment. Thus, resulting in utter failure. On the other hand, hybrid applications are sophisticated, developed carefully, inheriting the core functionality avoiding the overheads. Due to this reason, application developers come up with many creative ideas and apps to attract a more significant chunk of the target audience.

4. Exceptional speed performance

Whether it’s native applications or hybrid apps, they have an impressive standard of speed and performance. Practically speaking, hybrid applications are pretty faster as compared to responsive websites and mobile web applications. Hybrid apps don’t rely on network communication; they can swiftly run on multiple device screens with numerous users. For instance, Twitter, a hybrid application, handles an overwhelming amount of traffic every second.

5. Intuitive UI/UX designs

Attractive designs offering consistent experience drive more traffic to your application. The hybrid app development ensures a superior UI experience with excellent performance for users. Hybrid apps are more welcomed on the app store due to their uncompromised looks and operations. With little load time and performance errors, hybrid applications are preferable for leading businesses and iOS and Android users.

6. Incredible offline support

The unique feature of offline support for any hybrid application can be rewarding for people with:

• Limited data consumption plans
• Living in underdeveloped or rural areas
• Frequently interrupted internet connections
• The necessity of continuous moving

Pure web applications are great for those who either live in an urban area or have access to high-speed internet all day long.

Therefore, hybrid applications can ensure:

• Offline support that keeps the users connected with some essential features of the app even with no internet connectivity
• Stress-free life of consumers, living in an environment that massively depend on mobile applications limiting the number of attempts to reconnect to the server
• Storing data locally as offline storage due to device API, helping people in transit or with limited internet coverage

7. Uninterrupted integration with other applications

Since the native applications run on the same operating system, it becomes challenging for the users to integrate it with other apps. There’s always a lack of inter-app interaction. But the hybrid mobile app has the ability to seamlessly integrate with as many apps, without interruption. It requires little effort to integrate and can ensure unified connectivity with the device’s system. With hybrid applications, users never feel the slightest friction when using the app.

8. Multi-platform support

Hybrid applications almost support every platform and have no limit to expansion. It can perform flawlessly across multiple platforms. Experts and professionals can create a dynamic hybrid app that can work splendidly across all the leading mobile platforms. If the platform is popular and successful, developers will never face any problem integrating and ensuring updates effectively.

Top hybrid mobile app development frameworks

Without any disbelief, the hybrid has proven to be advantageous for many enterprises. However, adjusting as per the evolving technology is difficult. So, here are the top hybrid application development frameworks for you to make your developmental journey easy.

Flutter

Flutter was introduced by Google and is one of the leading hybrid mobile app development frameworks. It’s an open-source user interface developmental toolkit. Flutter simplifies the job of a developer by creating easy and engaging navigating products.

This hybrid mobile app development framework helps in developing cross-platform mobile applications conveniently. Many leading enterprises and businesses are using the Flutter platform for their mobile application needs. There are two major components of the platform:

• It has SDK (Software Development Kit) that comprises ready-made testing APIs and widgets that are essential for mobile application development.
• Comprises a comprehensive UI library that is equipped with buttons, sidebars, UI elements that can be reused again.

Key features of Flutter

• Premium choice of cross-platform development
• Swift development with dynamic code writing
• Hot reload feature, allowing the app developers to alter easily
• Unorthodox design elements with smoother UI design
• Has own widgets and compatible with Fuchsia
• A genuine choice for MVP

React Native

A popular open-source mobile application development framework developed by Facebook. It’s one of the most renowned and loved hybrid app development frameworks among developers. React Native supports building native applications and cross-platform mobile apps.

What makes React Native famous among all is its versatility. It supports not just Android and iOS but also performs exceptionally on Microsoft Universal Window Platform, Apple, tvOS, and many more.

Key features of React Native

• Allows maximum code reuse that saves time and cost
• Due to NPM (Node Packet Manager) installation, it becomes easy to use
• Has native code rendering and supports Node.Js
• There are numerous plugins that expand compatibility with multiple hardware components
• Requires less developmental time and allows swift bug identification
• Provides live reload with two screens; one for the preview of the changes made, while the other for code modification

Xamarin

Xamarin is a giant software platform that is acquired by Microsoft. It’s a unique framework ideal for both small and bigger organizations. Xamarin is believed to be a perfect partner for startups and new businesses, allowing the developers to strike a balance between creativity and budget.

The Xamarin framework includes libraries for C++, Objective C, and Java. With C Sharp’s shared codebase, the developers of Xamarin can utilize its tools to write iOS, native Android, and Windows apps.

Key features of Xamarin

• Allow companies to create applications with a unique native-like UI.
• Supports plugins that allow it to conveniently connect with numerous hardware without impacting the performance of the device
• Ensures end-to-end ecosystem to app developers with Xamarin Test Cloud, Xamarin Studio, Xamarin Insights, and Xamarin SDKs.
• Promises wider learning opportunities and has easy API integration
• Promotes easy code sharing, requires less maintenance, and has super-fast GUI prototyping
• A perfect cross-platform development framework with continuous performance without being unsteady

Onsen UI

Onsen UI is considered the fastest framework to help develop hybrid mobile applications. It uses CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5. Onsen UI is easy to learn and an influential tool focusing on creating complex mobile apps with advanced functionality.

With Onsen UI, developers can freely customize their applications and add incredible features. Onsen UI can pair perfectly with Monaca, offering a powerful command-line tool that can simplify complicated tasks.

Key features of Onsen UI

• Allows development of HTML5 hybrid mobile apps easily and swiftly
• Furnishes the application with a native look and feel while offering ready-to-use components
• Perfect for performance optimization
• Easy for the developers to learn and excel in it

The bottom line

Apart from Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, and Onsen UI, there are many other hybrid app development frameworks available in the market. Such as Appcelerator Titanium, Ionic, Sencha Touch, etc., but these are the most popular ones.

Hybrid mobile application development is not just beneficial for business saving cost, but also saves a lot of time for the developers managing it on multiple platforms. From enterprises to small & medium size organizations, to startups, hybrid mobile app tech has solutions for all.

Tkxel can help you build an intuitive app by offering its mobile app development services delivering an exceptional user experience. Let’s connect today!