With the number of mobile apps increasing in leaps and bounds every day, our daily lives are getting increasingly intertwined with mobile apps. When it comes to investing in mobile applications, the immediate concern shifts to a plethora of technology, each associated with a range of terminology. At the moment, the hot debate is between Hybrid, Progressive Web App (PWA), and Native. The question is, which would be the platform to go with while developing your app. Once you start delving deep into website development, it won’t take long for you to enter the realm of app development.
Thereon, you will face these basic decision-making scenarios that will decide the fate of your mobile app. The choice you make will be dependent on multiple factors such as your allocated budget, deadline, and purpose. Through this article, we aim to provide you an overview of the three platforms contending at the modern market of apps development and which one should you choose for your app.
Mobile app development and its various platforms
Any app development company creating a mobile app has to create it in such a way that all their users can get easy access to their content on their mobile. The app must get a solid mobile presence. The responsiveness of the design will help them collect through the website. Besides, it is essential to consider that you would require a portable application. But the issue is you do not know where exactly you want to start from.
Numerous variables can ascertain the versatility of your development technique. For instance, the usefulness of your required gadget, the group’s advancement aptitudes, security significance, interoperability, disconnected ability, and so on. The applications are enormous in size and functionality, but unfortunately, the mobile screens are relatively small. And on top of that, our lives are on their heads.
Moreover, the modern, progressively social world creates indispensability for versatile mobile applications. The emphasis has now changed from what is on the web to what is on our cell phones. The versatility of application is no longer an alternative but a goal that app developers aim to achieve.
What the app will do is not the issue anymore. How you will get it to do the same is. Let us browse through the three relevant platforms that will guide you through it.
1. PWA (Progressive Mobile App) for app development
PWA is not an app but a website extension. Like any other website, it has the ability to be installed on a server and then distributed through URLs. Modern-day web browsers uphold a slew of local gadget highlights such as sound account, video catch, camera, etc. This is where the limit of such applications lie.
Besides, PWA falls short in terms of supporting a few features that are device-based and hybrid or native providers. It could really work as a combination of a webpage and a versatile app. As it blends the best components of both and creates a fresh user-experience, they have never had before.
Also, it utilizes advanced web abilities and conveys a sense of application work to the clients. Through PWA, we can address issues of websites not able to adapt to mobile apps and slowly loading applications.
How is it beneficial?
- Skeptical to platforms and Devices.
- Security enhancements
- Quick installations
- Hardly any issues regarding updates
- Heightened performance
Highlights of PWS statistics
- Customer engagement increased by 50 percent
- Mobile sales revenue increased by 20 percent.
- Maintenance and development increased by 33 percent.
2. Hybrid
The best thing about Hybrid based applications is that they are much faster than the others. Moreover, it has the advantage of a cheap development process as it has 90 percent sharing code and 10 percent advantage functionalities. It goes well with the standard web technologies used for development, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular, etc.
If you have a team that is not associated with Java or Swift, then Hybrid provides you the advantage of time-saving. The only aspect of a Hybrid app similar to Native apps is that they can download content from the platform’s app store. You can access all the Native features through Hybrid platforms. In fact, its performance is very close to that of a Native app.
When developing with Hybrid, one gets the desired pace of web development combined with the user experience of a native app. Once you create the application, you can publish your Hybrid app in all app stores. For instance, Windows, Apple, Google, etc.
Moreover, Hybrid mobile apps are hybrid because they fall somewhere between web application and local application range. The client encounter properties they show are both from web and Native. It provides the developers with excellent benefits such as the following.
- Ease of integration.
- Maintenance simplicity
- Retention of ease of device features
- Development costs are reduced across multiple platforms.
3. Native
The aspects that a React Native App development company requires to build a mobile application on Native are SDK (software development tools) for hardware, operating system, or a specific framework. Hence, an iOS application is built using iOS SDK .Net apps use Windows, whereas Android apps are building using JDK (Java Development Kit).
The operational performance offered by the native platform can deal with CPU usage. The native platform has become an integral aspect for applications that relies heavily on editing, creating, gaming apps, and watching media files.
In addition, Native application programming involves app programming explicitly for a specific stage irrespective of other platforms being dependent upon you. Native apps provide a few vital benefits, which makes the app worth the user’s while.
- Adding features become easy for app developers. Native apps can run offline, as well.
- Core programming enables the code to run faster.
- UX and UI are present as per customer expectations.
- More secure and reliable platform.
How does PWA differ from Hybrid?
- Distribution: While Hybrid apps can be easily found on their respective App store, one can add PWA apps simply using the option “Add to Home screen”.
- Customization: You can customize PWA apps in comparison to hybrid apps.
- Performance: As far as optimization goes, PWA apps provide the best performance. It even offers better speed at low network areas as well.
How does Hybrid differ from Native?
- Code complexity: Hybrid apps provide the benefit of code once and deploy everywhere, whereas native coding is a bit complex in comparison.
- Performance – Performance-wise, Native takes the cake in terms of speed and reliability.
- Cost of development – While Hybrid apps take up a moderate budget, native apps can prove quite expensive.
- Frameworks required – The API is provided by the OS in Native, while Xamarin, Phonegap, and React Native are the frameworks used for native apps.
Which one should you use?
Organizations who want to break through the realm of portable business would reap the best benefits of Native apps. If the business objective demands regular client check-in and website augmentation, then PWA would be your best bet. It is the requirement of the business that would best decide which platform is the best option for developing mobile apps.
Author Bio:
Rushabh Patel is Founder and CEO of Siddhi InfoSoft, a React Native App Development Company focused on creating experiences that connect, perform & inspire. We believe in delivering perfect business solutions by adopting the latest.
