Native or Cross-Platform App Development: Which Should You Opt For?

Native or cross-platform? If you have dabbled in developing a mobile app for your business venture, then this is a conundrum that you must have surely faced! In the world of Smartphone apps, there are two prominent movers - iOS and Android. While iOS is the premium segment with strict guidelines, Android has its strengths in the number of users and the relatively flexible and open source mode of development.

With this being the case, developers are often caught between either developing native apps for individual platforms or ones that work on both the platforms. While both native and cross-platform applications have their own share of pros and cons, insight on the same can help developers zero-in on their choice better.

NATIVE APPS

These refer to apps that are built for individual platforms and are coded using specific programming languages.

Pros:

Since the UI is more synchronized and responsive as it is developed specifically for the platform, they offer better aesthetics.

They offer faster performance with minimal glitches as most of it can be weeded out with ease.

Loading time and animations are significantly better on native apps.

Comparatively, they rank higher in the app stores and get better visibility.

Cons:

When it comes to development, they are time-consuming as the app has to be developed from scratch.

They do not have cross-platform compatibility. Native app developers have to code individually for each platform making it an expensive endeavor.

CROSS-PLATFORM APPS

With interoperability being the focus, these apps are developed for use on more than one platform.

Pros:

They require less time for development compared to native applications.

They are easier to build and launch as one code can be used for all platforms.

High visibility due to exposure to multiple platforms.

Cons:

Flawless performance cannot be assured.

Since it is developed for multiple platforms, it cannot always be a perfect fit for any one platform.

Features cannot be extensive and will have to be limited to offer better speed and performance.

While the jury is still out on identifying the better of the two modes of development, developing a dedicated app for your business needs some good research and a strong development team. Tap into Openwave’s experience in mobile application development. We’ll help you pick the right platform and get a product built as per your requirements. We have a PROMO going on for the HOLIDAYS. You can avail a 10% special discount (Coupon Code: OWC-HolidaySP) valid until December 31st.