This solution is a seamless mixture of both native and web development. Technically, the core of the mobile application is developed using web technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. By using wrapper technology, the web application can be compiled into native platforms that are using technologies such as Cordova and PhoneGap. With plugins, web apps can run on a mobile and have full access to the device’s features.
There are many controversies around why we should use a hybrid approach for developing a mobile application. For a better decision, let us look at some advantages of hybrid applications
Hybrid application development suggests an easy and consistent user experience for both iOS and Android smartphones. You should pay attention that design and performance are actually important, but they are not enough. What makes your app unique is a seamless experience that your users might feel when they change from one platform to another. Hybrid mobile applications are able to provide the same set of items across different platforms, all from a single codebase. These apps adapt faster to different device screens for faster data display and streaming.
Hybrid mobile applications offer great quality in terms of speed and performance just like native mobile applications. Although native apps because of the optimizations have better performance, there are so many hybrid mobile frameworks such as Ionic that can be really helpful for improving performance level.
One of the main pros of hybrid mobile applications is that they take less amount of time to develop. In addition, learning different concepts of programming languages used to build a native application is a very time-consuming procedure for developers. Using the hybrid approach can facilitate this part, so when the code is written, the hybrid application can be run on every platform.
The most important benefit of hybrid development method is it can make the maintenance process very simple. Let me demonstrate it with an example. If you have a native mobile application, your development team have to release a new version for each subtle change. These consecutive updates could be tricky; because you put your users under a bit of pressure that if they do not update their app, they will not be able to use it properly. On the other hand, for updating a hybrid mobile application you just need to change a web page.
People believe that developing a hybrid mobile application is fairly cheaper compared to a native app. The hybrid mobile development method allows the targeting of multiple platforms without changing and keeping a myriad amount of codes. As we discussed above, Building a hybrid app means maintaining just one code for various platforms.
For most applications, performance is same as native app but 3D, HD games, high graphics-oriented apps and other performance centric apps, hybrid approach might not go well.
Hybrid app can able access all the native device features like touchId, media etc. but dependent on native plugins. Sometime entire new device feature might be not being readily available as native plugin. We can write our own but it adds complexity to the development.
Hybrid app is having dependencies on different libraries and frameworks like Cordova, Ionic that have to be in sync with latest platform version changes and releases.
Ionicframework. (n.d.). Ionic Article: What is Hybrid App Development? Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://ionicframework.com/resources/articles/what-is-hybrid-app-development
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