Hybrid Mobile App Development

When developing an app, there are lots of decisions you’ll need to consider, including those regarding the design, UX, look and feel, functionality, and navigation. There are also technical decisions to consider for hybrid mobile app development, such as which APIs to use, third-party components, server-side decisions, and whether the mobile app should be developed in a hybrid mobile app environment or to use native code? The answers to these questions will have an impact on the cost, functionality, and performance of your app. Therefore, it is worthwhile to look at the pros and cons of each option.

In this article, we will be focusing only on the client-side choice for a hybrid mobile app development environment.

As a mobile studio, we work with a range of companies, including start-up companies, so we have a good understanding of the importance of the budget. We strive to develop the best possible solutions for our clients for the lowest possible prices. Apps built in multi-platform code, hybrid development environments, cost less, while native options cost more. Let’s take a deeper look at the two options – beyond cost.

What Is Hybrid Mobile App Development?

Most businesses and organizations want their app developed for the major platforms – To achieve this while also reducing development time and costs, we can use Hybrid cross-platform development tools so we can develop one code base for all platforms such as:

• PhoneGap
• Fuze
• Codename one
• Xamarin
• And many more …

The Development of Native Mobile Apps

Native apps are developed for each platform separately, aka. Android, iOS, Windows, KaiOS, and more… So they cost more of course.

One of the downsides of using a multi-platform Hybrid development environment is that these environments have to compromise on other areas in order to ensure their service is functional. These compromises make it harder – and sometimes impossible – to create complex apps or apps that incorporate a lot of internal APIs.

Another downside is the lack of support for all third-party components and libraries. The effect of this is either to restrict the functionality of the app or increase the cost of development. There is also a reliability concern. Working with the native platforms means working with Google and Apple directly, so there is a significant community of developers and comprehensive support provided. No multi-platform environment can match this even though it is a growing community.

Should You Choose A Hybrid or Native Dev Environment?

In most cases, we follow these two principles:

• Smaller, uncomplicated, or demo apps can be developed in a hybrid environment. This will save money and will have very little impact on functionality and performance.
• Larger, more complex apps should be developed using native code to ensure proper functionality, good user experience, and optimum performance. The initial cost for the development is likely to be higher, but it makes more sense in the long run.

We always advise our clients to test and release the app on one platform, before moving on to developing it on others. In any case, you should always discuss the options with your development studio since they will be able to help you determine which option best suits your needs.