Hybrid app development is currently a trending topic in the tech world. It is not that common compared to a native application but still offers significant advantages that make it worth investing in. As the name suggests, the hybrid app could be used across different platforms, like native and web solutions.
The hybrid mobile application is designed through HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript. Nevertheless, instead of the app being shown inside the user's
browser, it is run in the native application and its set browser, which is
invisible to the user. Let us take an example; an iOS app will use WKWebView to
display your application, whereas, on Android, it would use the WebView element
to execute precisely the same function.
It has mainly evolved as a popular choice because it helps in
the quick build-up, is much more cost-effective, and can help work on several
platforms and operating systems without involving in the development of the
whole app from scratch.
- According to Clearbridge Mobile, 92.5 per cent of time spent on a mobile phone is spent using mobile apps, while 7.5 per cent of mobile time is spent using web browsers.
- According to BuildFire, the Apple App store has 1.96 million apps available for download.
Native Apps V/S Hybrid App
Hybrid development allows you to create an application once and
then use it across different platforms, including iOS, Android, or Windows. It
saves time for developers working on various projects specially designed for
each platform.
On the other hand, the Native app is designed individually for
one platform, which is way too time-consuming for the developers. However, they
are better from hybrid development as they have been designed for specific
platforms, which makes the product more optimized.
From the developer's perspective, hybrid development is more
effortless, considering updates of the framework regularly with new features.
They take advantage of specific features of platforms while maintaining a known
development environment. This also has a shortcoming as making the
comprehensive codebase that needs access to all the media and OS platforms the
app targets.
Whereas, since native apps are designed considering the
business's specific needs from their app, if the company wants to develop its
app solely for one platform, it can go for native apps. Still, hybrid development can turn out to be
helpful if businesses look for an economical approach, not considering the few features or
performance.
Some of the best hybrid app frameworks are listed below:
- React Native
- Flutter
- Apache Cordova
- Ionic
- Xamarin
- Unity
Advantages of Hybrid App Development
Performance:
Performance access is medium to high. They are mostly lighter
than native applications as they run with a single process and give out memory
space. A hybrid app can be more responsive than a native app depending on its
development process.
Development:
They are easy to develop than native apps since the developer
doesn't need to have the knowledge of the language required by each platform.
HTML, CSS, and Javascript have primarily used web development languages.
Cross-Platform Support:
Its main feature is that it allows cross-platform (in a position
to get used to different types of computer systems) support. They are mainly
designed to run on various platforms at once, which differs from the
limitations faced by native apps.
User Experience:
User experience is expected to be medium to high as the
developers can reuse the components and design elements across platforms. This
makes the app familiar to the users, thus helping improve the brand's
reputation.
Shortcomings Of Hybrid App Development
Talking about the shortcomings of hybrid app development are
listed below:
- The hybrid app development framework is flexible and beneficial. Still, it requires an update whenever a new feature is released on a specific platform. Therefore, it becomes time-consuming for the developers to implement those new features in the framework.
- Another shortcoming can be an increase in app size when installed. However, most of these frameworks are fast and can compete with native apps regarding performance.
- Anyway, no one can change the fact that native apps will always be more efficient. Hybrid frameworks use libraries and other code snippets, which increase the app size when installed, whereas native apps can do so directly.
Wrapping Up!
In a nutshell, hybrid app development offers more benefits as
compared to native applications. If you are a business that wants to make its
app have native and web solutions, then the hybrid app can turn out to be the
right choice for you. It has a specific development approach, is economical,
has code rescue available, and is compatible with various platforms. It makes
developers work easy since they don't have to start from the beginning. There
are some of the best frameworks when we talk about the development of hybrid applications
like React Native, Flutter, Apache Cordova, Ionic, Xamarin, and Unity.
We hope that this piece gave a brief overview of hybrid app development. However, we still insist you do a complete analysis of your requirements and then opt for mobile app development.