With the phone apps now accounting for more than 53% of all web traffic, you must have a solid plan in place. If you are a small start-up or a large organization, it can be tricky to decide either to go with a native mobile application or a cross-platform app.
According to Allied Market Research, the mobile application market continues to expand, with greater than 4.4 million apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play and a predicted $407.31 billion growth by 2026. You will want to know your options for getting a faster return on investment.
Following the growing trend, many start-ups are developing native apps and pushing their mobile apps out as fast as possible. But what is so special about native apps? Is there any distinction between developing native and other types of mobile applications?
In this article, we will give you a straightforward answer to all your queries related to single system application development and will help you bring out the best app ever!
Native Mobile Development Technologies
Native mobile development involves creating applications that can run independently on mobile devices. To implement this, creators need to learn languages and mobile application technology specific to the operating system. For example, an iPhone application is written using Objective-C or Swift while an Android application is written in Java or Kotlin.
What is a native app?
These applications are written specifically for the OS of mobile devices, such as Android or iOS. The code is usually targeted towards a specific device’s processor and operating system, so it will only function on that mobile.
Native applications by definition, are considered to be more stable and faster than hybrid or web applications. Further, they provide infinitely better performance because they can work with all the native devices’ capabilities such as camera, geolocation, accelerometer, etc. Thus, they need lesser memory to operate efficiently.
Examples of the best native apps
Native applications run on a specific operating system. Most commonly, these are iOS or Android apps.
- iOS App Development
The iOS operating system powers all Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It comes with a sleek design, intuitive interface, and improved security features. It’s okay to say this operating system is easy to use, cost-effective, and has a high return on investment.
Tinder is a classic example of a native application, and it was designed specifically for iOS and then ported to Android. It looks completely different on iOS than it does on Android.
- Android App Development
Apart from offering an open-source operating system, Android offers something else to developers: millions and millions of users. According to Statista, The Google Play Store has had over 111.3 billion downloads by the end of 2021, and that is the main reason why most of the best applications are created for Android first.
Many popular native apps for iOS and Android include Waze for navigation, Twitter, WhatsApp for social networking, and Pokémon Go for gaming.
How the native app differs from other mobile application types?
If you have an Android phone or use iOS, you have most likely downloaded and installed some applications to your smartphone. But have you ever wondered what the real difference between a hybrid and native app is? In this section, you will understand their differences in features and characteristics.
| Key Features: Native, Web and Hybrid | |||
| Feature | Native | Web-only | Hybrid |
| Device Access | Full | Limited | Full (With Plugins) |
| Performance | High | Medium to High | Medium to High |
| Development Language | Platform-Specific | HTML, CSS, Javascript | HTML, CSS, Javascript |
| Cross-Platform Support | No | Yes | Yes |
| User Experience | High | Medium to High | Medium to High |
| Code Reuse | No | Yes | Yes |
The Key Benefits Of Native App Development?
Higher-performance
iOS and android native app development is designed for their specific platform and has a mature feature set. They run directly on the device, allowing for increased performance. They can access a device’s hardware components such as GPS, camera, touch screen, etc., and connect with local APIs for added features. Because they are coded to interact directly with the device’s hardware and software frameworks, you can expect that your application will remain performant and stable over time.
Improved security
Another reason why you should choose native app development is that you get a secure platform. The native application does not run in the browser and has no reverse connection. This eliminates security issues that might arise from browser vulnerabilities, for example, cross-site scripting and SQL injection.
Great user experience
Native apps are built using the platform’s native components only, which enables them to interact with the host operating system and each other seamlessly. This results in a superior user experience, making it easy for application users to learn how to operate the app.
Quick integration of new features
Android and iOS native app development can feature a wider range of hardware and software features than cross-platform applications. Hardware features include accelerometers, cameras, and GPS, while software features may include barcode scanners, NFC readers or speech recognition.
Difference Between Native and Cross-Platform App Development
With the number of mobile phone users growing, it’s become even more challenging for app developers to win their share of attention, as there is a wide variety of apps that users can choose from. You need to make sure you are developing a mobile application that stays relevant, and to do so, you may find yourself in a position where you have to choose between the native mobile app and cross-platform.
Native Apps
Native applications are developed specifically for a given platform, with an eye on the special features and aspects of that particular operational system (OS). They utilize the native graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and tools built into the OS, including its look, feel, and other details.
Native mobile app development is becoming increasingly popular with businesses and application creators. The major reason for the trend is that native applications offer a high-performing experience that web-only or cross-platform apps can’t match. In addition, native applications provide a great user experience.
Cross-Platform Apps
Cross-platform app development has its benefits. One is that you can create a single app that runs on multiple platforms. This is in contrast to creating separate apps for each platform, which could be time-consuming and costly. This section will discuss the benefits of cross-platform development. And some of the tools that are out there for cross-platform development.
There are a few cross-platform development tools you might want to consider: Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin. Cross-platform development can be efficient, but it may not be the best choice for developers who value quality. Cross-platform apps will run differently on different phone models and operating systems, so they’ve got to be customized to run smoothly on each one. This means they’re generally slower and don’t take full advantage of the hardware they’re running on.
Top Cross-Platform App Frameworks
There are many frameworks to choose from when it comes to cross-platform mobile application development. Let’s take a look at three of the most popular ones:
Flutter
This is an open-source mobile development framework developed by Google. It allows developers to develop native Android and iOS from a single codebase. Since Flutter doesn’t require the use of platform-specific frameworks, it makes cross-platform development smoother, easier, and faster than ever before.
However, it has only been in the market for less than two years, and it has gained quite a fan base in such a short time and is regarded as the best among other platforms. Here, we will look into what Flutter is and its features to try and understand what makes it so special and unique.
Hot Reload: This feature instantly changes your code without rebuilding the entire application. Changes you make are reflected as soon as you hit run, which saves time and eases development considerably.
Widgets: Are the fundamental building blocks of Flutter, they allow you to modify portions of your applications’ user interfaces by creating, configuring, and customizing objects that implement the Widget class.
Code integration: Flutter allows programmers to leverage a single codebase for their applications, which maximize code reuse across iOS, Android, and the web. It’s a fast-issuing framework that helps programmers build modern mobile apps for any platform.
React Native
React Native is a Javascript framework that was initially developed on Facebook to build applications for mobile platforms. It allows us to create cross-platform mobile apps using only Javascript without writing the app in Objective-C or Java. This way, we can easily build an application that will perform just like a native app.
Its main advantages are:
- Its speed.
- The ability to reuse code across multiple platforms.
- A high degree of device-native UI performance and accuracy.
Many mobile apps have been created using React Native, including Artsy, Bloomberg, and Delivery.com.
Xamarin
Xamarin is a great solution for mobile application development that can help build iOS, Android, and Windows Phone mobile applications. One of the greatest benefits of using Xamarin is code reusability, which increases code sharing to 80%. This allows one team to deliver faster, with fewer mistakes and overall better performance.
In 2019, Xamarin was among the top trends in software development. However, we are in 2022 now, and new trends appear, making old ones irrelevant. Although Xamarin indeed remains one of the top application development toolkits, it seems that Xamarin’s popularity has begun to decline over the past year.
Build A Native App With Andromo
Andromo is a mobile app builder that makes it easy for anyone to create and customize their own apps without learning how to code. Creating a native application or cross-platform app has never been easier and more affordable than with Andromo.
Andromo offers various templates designed to give users full control over the look of the application and the way it functions. You can also use Andromo’s tools to customize these features for a personalized app that matches your specific needs. Andromo’s interface is easy to use, so even people who aren’t familiar with coding can build apps with its help.
So when you think of building a mobile application, you may imagine high costs and large amounts of time. While some projects require developers and large budgets, others can be easily handled by a single platform. Andromo is one of the many native mobile app development companies that can handle the task. Andromo is a mobile app builder based on the Flutter framework that allows users to build cross-platform apps and native apps for both iOS and Android.
Andromo application builder has many benefits that make it the best choice for creating iOS and Android native apps. Some of its best features include:
The ability to create apps in different categories
Andromo is a platform that lets people create mobile apps without knowing how to create mobile applications. This platform helps you create various types of applications like entertainment, business, and work just to name a few, and allows users access an open library of features where they can select what they want in their own app.
You can use the Andromo platform to quickly and easily create applications for fashion, utility, media player, audio, educational, spiritual, knowledge, and entertainment purposes.
Beautiful design
Andromo is a web-based mobile app development tool that takes away all the hassles of coding by providing ready-to-use templates for different applications across different industries. Just choose a template and customize the application to your needs, such as adding logos or uploading images and videos. Andromo’s rich collection of templates includes ready-made app templates for different purposes such as entertainment, education, and many more.
Andromo builder is easy to use
Andromo’s interface allows users to drag and drop activities to build mobile applications. Simple, scalable features let users create applications more quickly, leading to greater business goals by offering a better experience for users.
The ability to create for the Android and IOS operating systems
The Andromo platform is a mobile app builder that allows users to create their own apps easily and quickly. Users can build both iOS and Android applications with just a few simple clicks, making it much easier to use than other more complex application makers.
Develop Native Apps With Andromo
Ultimately, native application development is continuously changing, and there is no single way to build an application. That said, native Apps may best be suited to those who require utmost speed and performance, while cross-platform software is most appropriate to those seeking multiple platform flexibility.
It’s important to note that what works for your business may not work for someone else’s. The key is being mindful of the benefits and drawbacks of each app type to make an informed decision as to which is suitable for you.
Andromo has made it easy for you to create and design your own native app for both Android and iOS. The platform gives users the ability to create an application in minutes without coding. The Andromo builder is very user-friendly, and if you get stuck, our support team is on hand to help. With Andromo you can create your application and easily promote upcoming events or sell your products within the app. It’s okay to take that big step and start creating native applications today with Andromo!
