Hybrid mobile app development has become one of the major points of interests these days The following post emphasis on a few points to consider right before pursuing a hybrid mobile app approach.
In today’s era, people prefer using mobile applications over accessing the website. This has given a rise to millions of applications on both Google Play as well as Apple iTunes Store. As a result, hybrid mobile app development has become one of the major points of interests these days. Technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript have enabled developers across the globe to target multiple platforms from a single code base, instead of writing native code (Objective-C, Swift, Java, C#) for each platform respectively.
The following post discusses a few points to consider right before pursuing a hybrid mobile app approach.
#1 Features required
First of all, it is very important to differentiate between something that can only be done natively and what can be done entirely within the hybrid code. The rule of thumb says: If it is something you have seen a website do, it can only be done entirely within the hybrid code and if it is not, it likely requires a native code.
Accessing customers location or simple animations and page styling are examples of Non-native apps while accessing a customer’s camera, photos, passing control to a customer’s Facebook app for easy authentication are examples for Native ones.
Being an app developer, I am sure you must be well aware regarding the fact that all hybrid apps have some sort of wrapper that makes the app installable (provided by hybrid framework such as Cordova, PhoneGap) Other than this, hybrid apps often utilize packages or libraries especially those which allow developers to complete native functionality in a hybrid mobile app. This means if your app requires some native behavior, you will either have to find a functional library or perhaps write your own.
#2 Current and future app functionality
Next is to consider the future and potential scope of your app. Down below is an image of app graveyard full of abandoned hybrid apps that worked as minimum viable products (MVPs) but eventually failed as robust applications.
Unfortunately, many product leads have faced the situation where the developed app is pulled down and replaced with a native app. In order to make money from the app, a hybrid app development company requires to start their research in prior just to find out the most demanded apps by users. For this one needs to simply visit the App Store and look for top grossing, top paid, and top free apps.
#3 Know current performance as well as app limitations
Much like native apps, Hybrid apps have several key limitations that leave native as the solo option for development companies in many cases. Limitations such as:
Animations- Unfortunately, hybrid apps handle animations with less fluidity than the native apps. This is something that can be designed around but often results in involving least amount of animations.
App fluidity- The point is pretty much similar to the above item but is a bit more general. Hybrid apps often appear sluggish during page and state transactions. For instance, the slide tray open animation looks worse in hybrid apps.
Memory usage- Mobile apps are supposed to run on a small physical device which makes memory usage a real concern. Hybrid apps utilize a device’s Webview, which by itself takes up a substantial amount of memory. However, it does not kill the project but harms it.
#4 Lack of native user-interface and user-experience
Android and IOS apps both have their distinct design languages and offer their own user experiences. Today, app developers are encouraged to make their users feel at home within their developed apps. No matter how differently both app development platforms look or function, but they tend to achieve the same purpose, i.e. customer satisfaction. The only difference is that IOS control shows all options and must be clicked on if you want to change tabs while with Android, one can hide item if the list of options is larger and the app can be swiped right or left to initiate a tab transition.
#5 Choice of Hybrid Framework
Native apps are considered as one of the most well-documented technology stacks. While hybrid apps are built with the help of numerous app frameworks. The development procedure is usually similar but it would be non-trivial to take an app built with one framework and rebuilt with another. Hence, it is very important to make an informed decision when choosing your project’s framework.
Conclusion
Getting started with hybrid can be a great approach to mobile app development but at the same time it can end up costing you more than even you think. So before making a decision, it is advisable to thoroughly understand the associated pros and cons in prior.
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