You’ve identified the need to develop a mobile app for your company. Now you need to decide on your mobile application strategy and make the right choices in technology. It is important to be aware of what options you have available in front of you, as well as their advantages and disadvantages compared with one another. Knowing how each can set out for completion will help give you a clearer picture of whether or not it is suitable for your product development needs and business goals. For starters, let’s discuss what native app development really entails!
Native application
Native applications are software that directly can be installed on your smartphones. Also, these kinds of applications are available on the play store and AppStore. These applications are developed in the native programming language for a single platform.
Objective C can be used for developing applications for Apple iOS, JAVA for Android, and C# for Windows Phones.
Web Applications
Web applications are those kinds of applications that can be handled via the web browser on mobile devices. There are web standards like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3 which can help you develop Web Applications. Web applications basically mean that one version of it will work across several major platforms such as iPhone, iPad, Android phones, and tablets. And also Windows mobiles you just name the phone and it will work on everything or anything.
Hybrid Applications
Basically Hybrid applications are the kind of applications which has qualities of both native and web applications. Hybrid applications could be of great use but let’s just focus on primary types of mobile applications first. Technology is transparent to its users so web applications and native applications have different possibilities for each user.
Key Difference: Native application & Web Application
Pros of Native Apps
- Allow function with no internet connection
- Offer access to the underlying device platform for improved performance and additional functionality
- Distributed via app stores
Cons of Native Apps
- Developing only one native app excludes users on other platforms
- Can require considerably more time and money to develop for multiple platforms
- Require users to download and install updates
Pros of Web Apps
- Allow a Single version to be developed and run on multiple platforms
- It May be updated instantly on the server side for rapid development
Cons of Web Apps
- Require Internet connection to function, and may perform erratically on low-quality data connection
- HTML5 adoption is fragmented across platforms and web apps may not render consistently
- Do not support digital right management background processing, or secure storage and push notifications
The technology selected is the foundation on which your app will be built. Whether your app has 4 or 40 screens, the size of these individual screens (or “canvas” as they are referred to in design-speak) has a direct impact on how users interact with it.
Some mobile devices have different screen sizes, resolutions, and pixel densities than others. This can lead to inconsistent screen dimensions and make your design parameters obsolete before management really begins testing out the product.
With advances in smartphone browsers and HTML5, the functional gap between mobile websites and native apps continues to close, and because of this, it’s possible for developers to develop highly customized user experiences that are as feature-rich on one platform as they are on another.
It’s challenging but also an exciting time to be developing a mobile application because each day seems to bring us closer to progressive reform across all kinds of industries when it comes down to someone accessing data related specific or at least applicable to the business facet at hand.
The difference between web or native apps is typically crystal clear once you’ve specified your audience, target business objectives, and technical requirements.
For instance, if you know that your app will only be used on iPads exclusively by your sales force, then it makes sense to choose a native app.
Although not everyone has the budget for this, some corporations have both a web app and a native app. This lets them make sure that there's an optimal user experience and accessibility. Of course, not everyone can afford to build both apps at once, but you can still get that great user experience and end result by making one.
Despite being previously mentioned, HTML5 is an increasingly popular option because of its cross-platform compatibility. HTML5 web apps are developed using simple markup conventions and rely on a combination of JavaScript and CSS to provide functionality that’s visually appealing.
Developers can design once and rapidly target multiple devices for distribution because, unlike native apps, no coding is required for each separate platform.
Conclusion
It’s predicted that the majority of mobile apps have been adapted to become web applications in the future – but it’s important to remember this doesn't mean a clear winner has been decided on.
Native apps and web apps are just two different solutions and marketers should continue to use them both based on their target market as technology evolves, this topic will always be a conversation in the minds of app entrepreneurs. Hire dedicated mobile app developers for your project and Business.
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