When Should I Choose Hybrid App over Native?

There are a lot of experts evangelizing why one approach is superior to the other. And, when you start looking to invest in app development, you will have so many odd questions like

• Which one should I choose between iOS or Android?
• Should I opt for Native or Hybrid?
• More importantly, which one is the most appropriate for my business?

Are you struggling to understand the differences in the app world? Well, this blog post would be an eye opener to meet this critical decision. First, let’s have a glance at each platform before making the choice of hybrid over native.

Traditional Native Mobile App

Basically built for one particular operating system and device, say iOS or Android, Native apps offer a custom experience for the user, and can take full advantage of all the different components of the device they’re built for, such as tapping into camera or location-based tools.

The only drawback in this type of mobile application development is that being written for a specific device, they are quite expensive and requires some adequate time period to complete the project.

So what’s with the Hybrid Apps?

Hybrid apps are the ones built using the web platform with a very small amount of native coding to wrap the web content. This approach allows enterprises to get the most of both web apps and native apps at a less development time and cost whilst concentrating to develop new features rather than replicating the same features on each platform.

Here the question isn’t about web or native, rather when and how to use each. Cool, right?

When does building a Hybrid App make sense?

The hybrid app is much more of a spectrum. When an Enterprises often choose hybrid apps it not only aims to develop apps across a range of devices but also to take advantage of the features that a purely web app cannot offer.

• Web views enable enterprises to reuse code and content that run on the browser for iOS, Android, or Windows apps. Means, depending on the OS used, only the native elements of a hybrid app need to be rewritten which can create considerable cost and time to market savings. This is why hybrid emerges as an ideal choice when multiple platforms need to be supported.
• Another reason to choose a hybrid app is content or basic features that require constant iteration. Say for instance, tweaking, notifying, and split testing are for constant improvement. Enterprises may find it difficult in native code as it could entail a long arduous process of submitting app updates for even the smallest of changes. Whereas, web views inside a hybrid app allow enterprises to remain agile.
• Choosing to develop a hybrid app over native depends on one more factor: Employee skill set. Compared to the latter one, hybrid app developers require less Objective-C and Java programming knowledge.
• “At times producing an API that can completely support a native enterprise app is a much bigger expenditure than the app itself” says the global survey. On the other hand, hybrid apps can relieve this backend integration issues and avoid the need to build out APIs.

Getting Started with Hybrid Apps

If an organization doesn’t want or can’t hire separate teams of developers (e.g Objective-C developers for iPhone, Java for Android, C# for Windows Phone) there is a way out to SUCCEED–Hybrid apps Development. It doesn’t happen by accident but requires attention to performance and an understanding of unique mobile design patterns. With a bit of performance design and the right set of tools like PhoneGap and Appcelerator’s Titanium, cross-platform application development can deliver compelling experiences across a wide array of mobile devices. Not to forget, choosing a well-esteemed and professionals make it a grant success.