One question routinely surfaces in today’s modern development landscape—whether to build a mobile Web site versus a native app versus a hybrid app.
Hybrid App: Developer augments web code with native SDK. Can be easily deployed across multiple platform and is usually the cheaper and faster solution.
Native App: This is platform (iOS, Android etc.) specific and requires unique expertise. However the full potential of the platform can be leveraged which will drive great user experience and larger app capabilities (especially around phone hardware). Can be pricey based on requirement and may take longer to develop.
Some factors to consider:
1.User experience –Main Difference
If you want to create an insane user experience, the native app approach would do better. A hybrid app can never match the level of user experience that you get in a native app. However, this doesn’t mean that the user experience of a hybrid app is bad. A good front-end developer in hybrid app can get close to a native experience, but it’s a far stretch as the browser is what a hybrid app’s interface is. Browser has challenges with features, functionality, experience, scrollability. While scrolling in a hybrid app, you will not find the smoothness that you will get in a native app (check the scrollability in Instagram and Pinterest, it is insane. But when you check the scrollability for the Mashable and TechCrunch App, it may not be the best!)
2. Performance
If there’s one word that sums up what your user cares about, it’s performance. If they don’t like the performance of your app, they will simply find another one.
Native apps have the best overall performance, period. In the early days of the Facebook mobile app, the company took a bet on HTML5 apps. Later, Mark Zuckerberg said that was one of the biggest mistake the company ever made, as the technology was way too young at the time to provide the experience users expected. Let’s dive into the various areas of app performance.
Since hybrid apps are basically just browsers, they’re good at showing apps that mimic the experience you would get in a browser on a computer, namely pages. If you app is just a series of pages and doesn’t have impressive graphics, a hybrid app may be just fine for you. However, building a game or an app with lots of animation would not be a good fit for a hybrid app.
3. Time to Develop Application
The time to market is dependant on various factors like the number of features and number of resources you have. More resources typically mean that the budget will increase. If you want to launch the mobile app quickly to the market with limited resources, it would be wise to go with hybrid app approach, which will help to launch your app on multiple platforms in a short time.
If you already have a hybrid component that you have worked on, it is wise to continue the same platform. So a lot depends on your existing investment in resources and technology.
4. Cost of application for both platform
How much does building an app cost? There’s obviously a large range here. Prices will vary based on complexity, features, and platforms.
A quick way to get an estimate is to use this tool created by the fine people at Crew. It asks a number of questions and gives you an estimate of how much your app will cost.
But essentially, your app development cost can be determined by just 2 factors: hours required and hourly cost. The hourly cost will stay mostly the same and is easy to determine, but the number of hours the app requires depends on what you need the app to do.
To know which approach is best for your business feel free to contact LeoMetric
Short Summery:
| Native | HTML5 | Hybrid | |
| App Features | |||
| Graphics | Native APIs | HTML, Canvas, SVG | HTML, Canvas, SVG |
| Performance | Fast | Slow | Slow |
| Native look and feel | Native | Emulated | Emulated |
| Distribution | Appstore | Web | Appstore |
| Device Access | |||
| Camera | Yes | No | Yes |
| Notifications | Yes | No | Yes |
| Contacts, calendar | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offline storage | Secure file storage | Shared SQL | Secure file system, shared SQL |
| Geolocation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gestures | |||
| Swipe | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pinch, spread | Yes | No | Yes |
| Connectivity | Online and offline | Mostly online | Online and offline |
| Development skills | ObjectiveC, Java | HTML5, CSS, Javascript | HTML5, CSS, Javascript |
Conclusion
There are advantages and disadvantages for both hybrid and native approaches. One source code, Speed to market, cross-compatible web technologies, availability of resources, and lower budget costs make hybrid applications very appealing. But in the long run, the biggest detraction of hybrid apps is that a company will likely spend more time fixing and tweaking the app because of user complaints about UI elements or performance driven issues.
Additionally, native apps have the added advantage of functions that are specific to the OS on which the app is built (e.g., camera, GPS, address book, etcetera). Furthermore, a native approach offers the best in class security for a mobile application, the best performance, a highly responsive user interface, and access to all native APIs. In other words, the original investment may be higher but a company will save time and money in the long run while offering a great user experience and an industry standard app performance.
Each approach has its pros and cons but at the end of the day a native approach will have the biggest benefits for a company’s bottom line.
To know which approach is best for your business feel free to contact LeoMetric
