The Ultimate Guide to Hybrid App Development
In the past, developers used to create native applications built for a single machine. As time progressed, technology revolutionised the application development landscape.
Today, there are several types of applications to choose from such as native, web, and hybrid. Each model of development has its own pros and cons, also depending on the type of application being built.
Smartphones have become more popular than desktops, notebooks, and tablets for accessing the internet. As such, a lot of tools have emerged to streamline the process of creating a stellar mobile user interface.
Hybrid mobile applications, although still evolving, provide a different cross-platform experience, thanks to their distinct coding structure. This blog covers the important aspects of Hybrid application development, its way of working and the reason why it is the most used mode of application development in the recent world.
What is Hybrid Application Development?
As the name suggests, hybrid application development is a blend of both native and web solutions. A hybrid app is essentially web software which is given a native application “container” with certain features. The core web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) can be used to write a hybrid application.
Instead of appearing on the user’s browser window, it runs natively on its own embedded web browser, which is not visible to the user. These applications use plugins for accessing the devices, both mobile and desktop computers, features such as a microphone, camera and other installed services.
Hybrid vs Native: A Comparison
Let’s compare all the applications to get a better understanding of why hybrid applications are the most suitable option for most businesses and tech players in the industry.
Native
Starting from Native, these applications are built right from scratch for a specific operating system. They serve the purpose of providing complete functionality and as built for a particular environment, native apps tend to have fast performance and high security. These apps do not support cross-platform compatibility. Native applications are built using different programming languages such as Objective-C or Swift for iOs and Java or Kotlin for Android.
Hybrid
Hybrid applications are built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Js or Python. These apps are made to support a wide range of operating systems, enabling cross-functional compatibility. Hybrid apps can achieve native performance and security with the implementation of efficient frameworks like React Native. Developers opt for Hybrid application development to achieve greater productivity and product offering.
Microsoft Teams, Twitter, and Instagram are some great examples of Hybrid Applications.
How Do Hybrid Applications Work?
Hybrid applications provide the same functions as web apps, but they need the user to download the app to their device before it can be used.
Hybrid applications are often written in the same languages as web apps. The code for hybrid applications is executed in a container. The browser engine can interpret HTML, JavaScript, and native APIs to get access to the hardware features of the device.
While the user experience of a hybrid app is often comparable to that of a web app, the ability to use the app without an internet connection is dependent on its features. To avoid relying on a network connection or a database, developers may make an app work without an internet connection or an online repository.
Why Choose Hybrid Development for your Next Project?
There are many reasonable benefits of hybrid application development.
In the start, these apps lagged when running on multiple devices. But as major tech players adopted this technology, hybrid application development has significantly improved over the years. Also, the new frameworks have shrunk the gap in performance between hybrid and native apps.
When looking for a suitable method for your next project here are the advantages Hybrid applications provide.
Cross Platform Compatibility
Cross-platform compatibility always tops the list when it comes to the advantages of Hybrid applications. These scalable web applications are suitable for developing a single app that works on different platforms. There are different frameworks such as Flutter, Xamarin and React Native that assist developers in creating all-in-one hybrid apps with great performance.
React Native Magic: the framework actually compiles all the JavaScript code to machine code, which technically makes it a native application.
Quick Development Time
Another major upside of Hybrid applications is faster development time. When developing hybrid apps, developers can conveniently reuse code components that significantly cut down the development time. That is one of the key factors most native applications lack when built for a specific operating system.
Cost Effective
Native applications are the most costly applications as they are made for a specific purpose. They also consume most of the hardware resources compared to web apps. Hybrid solutions on the other hand provide a cost-effective approach. The development costs do not cost a fortune, and one app solution can be deployed for multiple operating systems.
Scaleable
Code reusability is also a key factor in improving the application’s scalability. A single codebase solution modification scales up the app that automatically updates all the online web repositories.
Key Takeaways
Hybrid application development is changing the dynamics of software development with cross-platform compatibility. It helps developers to create a single web solution implemented on various operating systems on an embedded browser.
It is the need for most businesses to have a uniform application for all operating systems to deliver a seamless user experience. This is why prominent tech players are opting for hybrid application development and with the passage of time, we will only see more and more businesses adopting a hybrid app development approach for cross-platform compatibility.
