What are Native Mobile Apps?
Native Mobile Apps are developed using native programming languages, such as - Swift or Objective-C are used to build iOS apps and Java or Kotlin are used for Android app development. They are platform-dependent so we can't install an app written for iPhone in some Android device and vice versa.
What are Hybrid Mobile Apps?
Hybrid Mobile Apps are developed using HTML, CSS, JavaScript. They combine the elements of both, web and native app. They are platform-independent. For a specific platform, they are wrapped up inside a thin container that provides access to that specific platform.
Why Hybrid Apps are preferred?
There are many aspects of hybrid apps development. Some of the reasons due to which hybrid applications are preferred over native applications are as follows:
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Resource Availability
Any web developer skilled in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can develop a hybrid application.
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Single Code Base and Multiple Platforms
Unlike the native applications, the code base of hybrid apps is the same for all platforms. That means that the developer needs to write the code only once and that code will be used on all platforms. It is basically a web app that is wrapped up inside the platform-specific native container and provides access to the device hardware (which is not possible in case of the mobile web app).
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Lower development cost
The development cost of hybrid apps is lesser than the native apps as the code can be reused on multiple platforms, instead of writing separately for each platform.
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Lower development time
The development time of hybrid apps is lesser than the native apps, as unlike native apps, there is nothing unique in hybrid apps for any platform.
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Improved UI/UX
Due to a single code base and web development UI elements, hybrid apps give the same look and feel on various platforms. The app user expects the app to respond instantly and without any glitch on different devices. Hybrid apps are based on the idea of "tap and get information". So, these display the data faster and adjust easily to different device screen orientations and configurations. Being light-weight, the hybrid apps have a UI that is also responsive and loads quickly.
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Simplified Maintainance and Issue Tracking
Due to a single code base, the issue tracking for all platforms is done simultaneously and that simplifies the maintenance.
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Offline support
In case of no or poor internet connectivity, offline support of hybrid apps can be rewarding.
Conclusion
Competition is burgeoning in the digital market every day and it is important to choose the process that offers a good speed on a lower cost of development. Hybrid apps not only resolve the problem of targeting every platform separately but also in a less budget. Keeping up the pace in a competitive environment is possible due to ease of embedding changes and maintenance of hybrid apps. So, those who wish to make their business unrivaled can choose hybrid mobile app development and grow exponentially.