Native vs cross-platform mobile app development

We all use them daily, they make our life easier most of the time, the modern world can’t live without them and they are fun to use! Although this was a cute little riddle, you already know what this is about. Mobile apps. Our go-to tool for… pretty much everything these days. Work, social interaction, making payments, and basically everything else, you name it and there is a high chance that there is an app for it.  So we have to ask our developers, what’s it like building a prospective mobile app? What do you love about it? Is there anything you hate about it? And… What is your favorite way to do it? 

In this article, we are going to talk about what is native and cross-platform development and the advantages and defects of both of them. Keep on reading! 

TOUGH CHOICE 

It’s always complicated when you need to choose the way and technology where you will be building your next groundbreaking app, and it’s completely understandable. Who wouldn’t be confused with so many choices? And when deciding, you need to be very careful because your decision depends on many details in project's scope. But, before saying anything, let’s clear the air about what’s native development and what cross-platform. 

NATIVE DEVELOPMENT

When the most important thing on your project is to deliver a top-notch app performance and you’re only aiming for one operating system (at that given moment) then you should probably choose native development. But let’s make a breakdown so you can clearly see what are all the benefits of native app development, this is where it gets interesting! 
Enhanced performance
Native mobile apps directly interact with native OS APIs without depending on anything else, which means that since there are fewer dependencies, native apps are quite faster and usualy more responsive than hybrid mobile apps. This is crucial for apps like games and other graphic-heavy applications where the key is performance. 
More consistent look and feel
Because native mobile applications are developed using only native software development kits, their UIs always look consistent! This ensures an overall better user experience, as there are no discrepancies at all between the operating system and the app design.
Immediate access to updates
Native-built mobile apps have instant access to the latest iOS or Android updates. Since web technologies can not directly use native APIs, hybrid applications have to be patient until there is a plugin made that supports that new feature.
Better fit with app store guidelines
Because of their architecture, native mobile apps are a better fit with app store guidelines, since Apple restricted its app submission guidelines. Since then, they started to reject apps that are too dependant on web views. And since it seems that app stores will continue cracking down on hybrid apps, native mobile apps are also a more future-proof investment.

CROSS-PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT

If you’re tight on your budget and deadlines and if you’re looking to deliver a decent app quickly and for both Android and iOS, in that case, cross-platform development is for you! There are many benefits of cross-platform development since it’s getting more and more popular but there also are some downsides. 

Launching your app simultaneously on more than 1 platforms
When you are working on cross-platform app development, you are in a position where you can launch your software quite quickly and on various platforms. You only write the source code once and it’s valid for all platforms. This means you’ll save time and resources since you don’t need to hire a separate development team for every platform because it’s possible to launch and update the software with a broad choice of cross-platform development tools.

Faster development
Your app only requires the deployment of a single code instead of writing separate ones for each and every platform. This really speeds up development time and cuts your timeline which means you’ll launch sooner, which benefits literally everyone, from the developers’ team, designers, project managers, and ultimately - users! 

Reaching a much bigger audience
One of the other cross-platform application development advantages is that it offers you a great opportunity to reach a bigger audience. How? Just think about it for a second – if your app is compatible with various platforms and OS like the web, android, and iOS, it can be consumed by a much larger audience. It’s a shortcut to maximize your potential – with less effort spent and way less time spent.

Easier updates
Because cross-platform apps are Internet-based, all of the updates (yes, no matter the number) are done smoothly and easily. Users do not have to download separate various updates, which would require maintenance as well as the support of multiple app releases. The app is updated pretty much automatically for all users to make sure they always have the latest version of the app, which, of course, positively impacts its performance and user satisfaction.

Cutting costs & faster path to profitability
All of the above-mentioned features work in your favor because of significant budget savings. With the development speed that the cross-platform development has, you reach deployment way sooner for each platform than if you had to develop each app from the ground up. What this means, is that you can get your software to start making money much sooner. And another plus is, you don’t need to keep a development team active for each platform where you launch your app, and that as well brings more than meaningful savings as time goes by. 

LANGUAGES

Every developer who has ever worked on a mobile app has his own favorite technology to work in. They can be similar, but the details that differentiate them, are important! Just to be clear, they all have their purpose and they all have their advantages, of course. 

NATIVE DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGES

• Java
  Although now already old, it got released in 1995, Java is still one of the best and most important development languages there is. It’s used to develop android applications and to this day it’s known for its simplicity in the overall development process. But (there’s always a “but” isn’t there?) it’s important to keep in mind that it performs slower than other languages and it requires more memory.
• Kotlin
  Kotlin is the new kid on the block. It got released only 10 years ago and it’s the new, cool way of developing android apps. It’s compatible with Java and when combined, the development process is quicker and more efficient. You know that it’s an important language when it got declared as the official development language of the Android ecosystem!
• Swift
  Swift is the language you use when developing an app for iOS. It’s fast, secure, easy to work with, and really straightforward. What more can you ask?

CROSS-PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGES
The cross-platform world is more open-minded and has many varieties, hence, there are much more languages, but some of the most important are

• React native
  Without a doubt, one of the most known and most used development languages for mobile apps in the world. Facebook developed it and its biggest advantage is its short development time. React-native makes everything easier!
• Xamarin
  Xamarin is maintained by Microsoft. It also gives you development speed but the best thing about it - it makes maintenance of your app much easier!
• Ionic
  Ionic uses standard web technologies when developing mobile apps. JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Angular - they can all be found in Ionic helping you out in your development! It’s amazing because it offers you a range of UI components that are easy to work with!

CONSLUSION

In conclusion, as you see, the differences are in details, and that details really depend on the spec and needs of your project. In today’s time, we all live life very fast and need to finish projects even faster. But a lot of projects are so delicate, they require specific attention. In the end, whichever way you choose to build your app, make sure that it’s the next big thing!