Everything You Wanted To Know About Native, Hybrid and Web Apps; but Were Afraid To Ask

 

As the debate about web, hybrid and native continues, we are starting to see trends that give us a glimpse into the future of mobile app development. One fact remains the same, all three approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages and the decision of choosing the right approach should be made on a case per case basis.  Knowing the best use cases for all three approaches will help you make better choices based on your project needs. The infographic below takes a more in depth look at the statistics, trends and best use cases for the three approaches.

 

The future is “multi-platform”

The days of desktop only apps are over. Today’s users are increasingly accessing information through multiple devices. Developers will soon find themselves not only developing for various smartphones and tablets but also for wearable devices, smart TVs, and connected cars. Although this change makes the development process more challenging, it also creates new opportunities of revenue.

In addition to multi-platform development, many other moving variables have to be considered when choosing the ideal approach for the mobile application project. Here is a quick look at all three approaches:

Choose the right approach for your project

Native apps provide the functionality, user experience and performance beyond the capabilities of Hybrid and Web apps. However, native apps require significant resources to build and are not cross-platform compatible.  Developers need to know the platform specific (Objective C, Java, .NET, etc.) languages to create mobile apps.

Hybrid apps are web apps wrapped in a native shell. They are cross-platform and can be distributed to the multiple app stores without the extra effort needed for native apps. The market is seeing an increasing interest in hybrid application development. 

Web apps require the least amount of resource investment of the three. Web apps are cross-platform and ideal for information, search, and shopping applications.  The biggest disadvantage of the web approach is the lack of app store access.