Pros and Cons of Native Apps Development

Peculiarities of iOS and Android native app development

Are you looking for quality mobile app development? Search no more — among hybrid, cross-platform and native approaches quite often the best bet is to create a native app.

Need proofs?

When choosing between the two most popular approaches everyone should take into account a number of factors including the benefits and flaws of each mobile app development method for app owners, app developers, and most importantly — for app users. While mobile app developers have a huge scope of requirements for development tools, in this article we will focus on satisfying the demands of app owners and app users.

So let’s go further to see why native apps are the best for the business willing to grow!

What is Native App Development?

Native app development requires writing code for a specific platform. It means that developers take into consideration the distinctive characteristics of each platform so they need to create different codebases for iOS, Android, or any other platform.

The main tools iOS app developers use are Objective-C and Swift, while Android developers utilize Java or Kotlin.

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Benefits of Native Apps

This is how native development can bring benefits to your app:

• Performance. Native apps are built specifically for a certain platform so they take the full capacity of the device’s functionality and deliver steady work, quick operating speed, and smooth performance.
• User experience. Native apps guarantee excellent UX/UI design and great user experience prospects. This way, users understand how to navigate within the app more easily and quickly.
• Built-in Compatibility. Native applications get easily integrated with the device’s hardware: camera, GPS, touch screen, calendar, etc.
• Easy to launch in the App Store. Native iOS apps fit with the App store guidelines much more easily compared to other types of apps. The same with Android apps for Google Play Market.
• Security. Native apps especially iOS applications are properly checked by the App store for data protection parameters so they provide enhanced security and reliability for users.
• Simple Update. It is easier to implement new complex features upon the market needs compared to other types of apps. The innovations may include the integration of artificial intelligence, IoT, or big data processing elements.
• Offline Mode. Users of native apps do not necessarily need an Internet connection to use a native app. It is only required for specific functionalities.
• SDK for developers. Native app development may be streamlined with half-ready, frequently updated pieces of code and libraries. It provides properly operating features and makes the app development process faster saving the app development costs.

Drawbacks of Native Apps

Flaws happen. Here are some major cons of native development:

• Separate Codebase. The app for each platform should be developed from scratch using different programming tools that require specific developers.
• High Initial Cost. You can either develop only one app or need to invest in the development of two separate apps for iOS and Android. Surely, initially, it will cost you twice as much.

What Popular Apps Are Native And How Do They Perform

The native app development approach is chosen by many popular brands. Think about a few:

• Twitter
• Telegram
• LinkedIn
• PokemonGo
• Google Maps

All of them create mobile apps separately for iOS and Android platforms. They understand how competitive the mobile app market is and try to satisfy demanding users from the start. Due to research, 80 percent of mobile users will most likely never use an app if they find even a little performance issue.

Even the biggest brands try different approaches and finally choose the most trustworthy one. The story relates to the Airbnb app. The company has spent almost two years on the development of advanced native functionality with React Native. Their expectations were high as they wanted to implement such features as parallax scrolling, transitions, and other complex things that a cross-platform framework couldn’t provide initially. After all, they’ve got back to native iOS and Android app development.

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Conclusions

With an evolving tendency to satisfy the demands of users in the first place, native apps show better performance, higher security, and awesome user experience results thus they guarantee a tremendous customer experience so valued these days.

Surely, the ultimate decision completely lies on the app owners’ shoulders as only they decide on their business goals and can define how much effort they are ready to put into their product.

Wonder which mobile app development approach to choose? Check the comparison between cross-platform and native apps presented in the original blog post previously published at https://topdevs.org/blog/crossplatform-vs-native-app-development

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