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Native or hybrid mobile apps?
Hybrid applications
Hybrid mobile applications are those where one source code results in the operation of the app on devices with different operating systems, such as Android and iOS. The standard definition of hybrid apps includes applications based on web technologies (like websites), e.g. PhoneGap, Cordova, and Ionic. Such applications have several disadvantages compared to native apps. We list them below.
But new development environments, such as Flutter, have been created that combine the features of native and hybrid applications. They are commonly referred to as “cross-platform” applications. At least from 2019, they began to displace earlier hybrid environments.
The question is which way to go: create one hybrid application or separate native apps, and which environment to choose. Below, we will try to indicate the advantages and disadvantages of native applications compared to standard hybrid apps, from the point of view of the person ordering the application.
Native mobile applications
- Are created separately for each platform, like Android or iOS.
- Work faster than hybrid apps.
- Are better suited to the phones and tablets of a given platform and allow native use of all their possibilities
- Generally offer a better user experience, and fluid UI consistent with the platform's standards.
- Native apps are more supported by Google Play and App Store and are easier to find there.
- Provide greater security for the users and their data.
- Native apps are more expensive than a hybrid app when creating applications for several platforms because each native app is created separately.
- Require maintaining separate source code repositories for each platform.
- But on the other hand, native applications are easier to support, because (at least from our experience) it is easier to find good developers of native applications than hybrid ones.
Flutter
- One source code for android and iOS.
- 30 – 50% lower development cost of a flutter app than the cost of two separate Android and iOS apps,
- Speed of operation comparable to native applications; higher than that of hybrid applications.
- Any user interface, including typical android or iOS UI; much better than the UI of a hybrid app.
- Flutter offers the possibility to use the native functions of a given platform.
- Many free libraries for various functionalities are available.
- Flutter develops rapidly and gains popularity.
- The disadvantage of a flutter app is a slightly larger application file size than that of the corresponding native app.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with our Flutter application development offer.
We also create standard, native Android SDK and iOS applications.
Jarosław Pietras
