The market for mobile apps continues to expand at a dizzying rate. It is anticipated that the mobile app industry will expand by 270% from $70 billion in 2015 to $189 billion by 2020, according to Statista.

Companies of all sizes understand the need to incorporate mobile app to improve efficiency or reach new customers as part of their offering. Business leaders also recognize the need to consider iOS and Android when developing mobile apps, or the risk of missing out on vital markets and revenue. To guarantee that one’s application works well in agreement with expectations, it is fundamental to be clear about the development process followed while building the app. So which frame of App Advancement is suited to your app: Native or Cross-Platform Development?

Before we decide which mobile app development path fits you better, let’s get a clearer knowledge of what a native and cross-platform mobile app is and which one will better serve your company objectives.

Native Development

The word ‘native’ defines the environment for its operating systems that Apple or Google chooses to create applications.

Native mobile apps are designed for one platform (iOS or Android) specifically. Native Android applications are developed in Java or Kotlin language. On the other side, iOS applications use Swift and Objective-C language to develop. These applications are created for the operating system in a specific Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Native mobile development requires the developers to be well versed in Java/Kotlin (Android development) or Swift/Objective-C (iOS development)

Pros

The output of Native Apps is faster, more responsive and give the best performance as they are built to run on a specific platform and there is no need to interpret the programming language. UI of native apps are almost always in line with the design language of the platform they are developed for. Native applications are generally more scalable because the applications can make far more effective use of the underlying hardware. This makes it more future-proof for native-apps. When it comes to using mobile hardware, Native Apps have no constraints. If necessary, it can access features like USB input, memory management, complex networking, etc. However, there are some native apps which do not need an internet connection to work.

Cons

As mentioned earlier, you will be required to develop a separate app for each platform, i.e., one for Android and another one for iOS. This will also affect the cost of development. More time required for development, No code sharing possible between platforms.

Cross-Platform Native Development

It is often not feasible to develop a native app on both main smartphone platforms with billions of smartphones in the market, nor is it always essential, particularly when the app is not the product itself in mind. In such situations, cross-platform development is a boon.

No doubt, cross-platform frameworks took a fair amount of criticism because they weren’t that good. The performance of the mobile app has been compromised, and the development bugs that they often developed have taken longer to fix than if you had just passed first for a fully native app.

But now with demand for cross-platform solutions still strong, the technology has had a chance to catch up. Companies have several alternatives to consider, based on the complexity of the app they are hoping to develop and their ultimate company goals. A company can hire Android App Developers or iOS developers to create Cross-Platform Native apps using popular frameworks such as React Native, Xamarin, Flutter, etc. Though they are usually not quite as smooth, robust, etc as native apps they usually do perform better than hybrid ones.

Pros

Look and feel similar to a native application. It is not possible to distinguish visually between a native app and a Cross-Platform native app. It is possible to share code for app development on multiple platforms. Flexibility and Scalability as apps can access device hardware to some extent. Less time needed for development, especially if development must be done for multiple platforms.

Cost savings with cross-platform development may be one of the largest benefits for many companies. That’s because, without the need for separate Android / iOS specialists, you pay a smaller and cheaper team of developers to work fewer hours.

Cons

Customization of the interface is somewhat absent and depends entirely on the framework used to produce applications. Lower quality, output, may not provide the greatest user experience, possibly restricted capacity to grow and scale the app(s). React Native offers less smooth navigation, Xamarine requires lots of operational software which will increase the overall size of your app and Flutter has a much smaller community than iOS and Android, so finding developers can be difficult.

Which one is correct for your requirement?

Many factors will assist you to decide which approach to take for mobile app development. Overall app quality, efficiency, scalability and market time.

• If you’re making or starting a fairly simple app for your business within a small budget and don’t have large plans for development, the work should be done by the cross-platform native app.
• If you’re building a basic proof of concept, a mobile app that doesn’t require too much development time or is not that heavy on UI, then the cross-platform native should work for you.
• Likewise, if you just show data tables, basic slides, and screens, or build a mobile app that isn’t too graphic-intensive, go for the cross-platform native app.
• And if you have a great vision for a feature-rich app that’s as scalable as Whatsapp/Uber and offers the greatest user experience, then native app development is the way to go.
• Graphical Applications, HD games, intensive animation applications might perform well as a native app.
• The ability to integrate better with the hardware features of mobile devices allows native apps to perform so much better.

It is essential at the beginning of your project to fully investigate the drawbacks of each platform. Depending on your budget and the sort of audience for which you are developing the app, your mobile app agency should have the in-house knowledge to suggest the best alternatives for you.

Do you need assistance in choosing which strategy fits you best? Click here for a free consultation to fill out our Contact Form.