There are unique advantages to native and non-native mobile apps. Each have their place in the industry, so understanding their benefits is helpful. Mobile apps continue to expand each day, so your final chance has a big impact.
The Mobile Market
The mobile market is setting itself up for another positive explosion in the future. The top mobile app development companies see this trend, and are making big development decisions. Apps are more profitable than ever, and mobile usage has reached another peak. Trillions of hours are spent on apps and games each year, and hundreds of billions of mobile apps are downloaded. Despite the market being split between iOS and Android, there is a healthy competition between the two rivals that doesn’t affect their bottom line.
Native
A native application is developed with a specific platform or device in mind. A good example of this is the difference between iOS and Android apps. With a native app, you are taking advantage of the specific device’s features. When the super retina display came out for the iPhone 12, apps that wanted to take advantage of that feature could only do so on a supported iPhone device.
Pros
Native is built with usability in mind. The application takes full advantage of the hardware that it is being used on. That makes it faster, easier to maintain and less likely to have unsolvable bugs. For apps that are meant to enhance or replace core features of the device, native is the best way to go.
Cons
You lose a ton of flexibility when it comes to development. There are plenty of companies that never made it off of the ground due to bad planning. This was enforced when they started out with a native app on multiple devices that needed constant upgrades. If you want to thrive with a native app, then planning ahead for maintenance is the smartest thing to reap its benefits.
Non-Native
Non-native works on multiple platforms as a native app without taking specific features into account. The biggest in this category are web applications that can run on anything, including smart televisions. Non-native apps are not the same as hybrid apps, which tend to run in their own category.
Pros
Easier to develop and high compatibility are the highlights of non-native apps. As a cross platform software, it is geared for wider audience adaptability. Development is less hectic, and overall resource costs for maintenance never surprises your finances.
Cons
Since the user experience isn’t tailor made, you’ll get varying levels of issues depending on the device. This includes unsolvable performance glitches that happen to a small percentage of the userbase. You’re also limited to a standard experience that never utilizes a device full strength. For non-native to work, a dedicated team with problem solving skills is mandatory.
Your Choice
It’s your choice when it comes to deciding how mobile apps affect your business. You can go either way, but it will be a headache to change your mind at the last minute. Manage your resources wisely, and make a choice that will set your company up for a bright future.
Great article. But also lately we are seeing a lot of popularity on react native and other tools like that. I am personally developing mobile apps for sitemile since we offer mobile apps for our themes. And i can confirm that an app done with react native, gets in your phone as a native app itself.
From what i see, react native transforms the javascript code, into objective c code and from there generates the app . You can also open the project after compilation in xCode and modify things.