Native vs. Cross-Platform Apps: Which to to Choose

What’s a Native App?

Native app development refers to creating applications exclusively for a particular platform, for example, iOS and Android. The application gets developed using a programming language specific to a single platform. For instance, you can build a native Android app using Java or Kotlin and an iOS using Objective-C and Swift.

Native Applications are high-performance apps renowned for delivering exceptional user experience—as the visuals are tailored to the platform UX.

However, native app development concurrently for each platform leads to higher expenses and efforts that might keep businesses from creating a native application.

Pros

Cons

When To Consider Native App Development

What’s A Cross-Platform Application?

Native and cross-platform applications are different in many ways. Cross-platform development is the process that involves building an application that performs on different platforms. Developers can use tools like Xamarin, Flutter, React Native, and so on to develop a cross-platform app. Applications developed using these programming languages can be deployed on both iOS and Android.

However, cross-platform development curtails the time, effort, and cost associated with it; you might have to bear the lower quality of the product. As you can save time, effort, and expense, you have to sacrifice when integration and making changes to it.

Pros

Cons

When To Consider Cross-Platform App Development?

Native Vs. Cross-Platform Application Development: An In-Depth Analysis Following a Critical Approach

As we have looked at some basics of Native & Cross-Platform Apps Development above, now, let’s explore it in detail. We discussed what Native and cross-platform apps are, their pros and cons, and the time to develop.

Besides that, we explored the circumstances when one needs to create one. Now, let’s move towards an in-depth analysis of some more aspects, like performance, security, cost, customization, and so on.

Performance

Mobile apps have next-level computing requirements, especially for games. Therefore, if you want an application to deliver high-rated performance, you better consider native app development. Creating a cross-platform application may not satisfy your requirements leaving your needs unextinguished. Anyone who wants high-end performance should consider building a native application that functions effectively, fulfilling users’ needs.

Ease Of Testing

Would you tolerate a bug lurking around your application when a user accesses it? Of course, a big no! App testing matters the most to ensure an app has a better user experience; hence it’s essential to test an application before it gets deployed. Testing a native application is tough as they require individual testing for app versions like Android and iOS.

Contrary to this, testing a cross-platform application is convenient because of a single codebase— you need to test a single code that can be reused across platforms.

App Security

In terms of security, first of all, you need to gauge the impact that losing users’ trust would have on your business and then make the decision accordingly. Robust security assurance is of immense importance for particular apps like banking apps. If the risk is high, you prefer building a native mobile application that facilitates several built-in features, like intelligent fraud detection and file encryption, by making use of operating systems libraries.

On the other hand, cross-platform development isn’t a perfect solution if you have security restrictions. It might have security vulnerabilities resulting in not the application you expect for your business.

Time To Market

When it comes to time to market, cross-platform applications win the race. Businesses want to launch the product as early as possible to start receiving feedback from the users. For this, cross-platform apps are the best fit– as they are quick to develop and iterate.

Native applications, on the other hand, are time-consuming and tough to maintain, resulting in a slower time to market. Hence, for a better time to market, cross-platform development should be the best choice.

Development cost

When it comes to cost, cross-platform application development stays ahead of the curve. Native app development is for a particular platform, hence needs a separate team and particular coding that you can’t utilize for another project resulting in an increased expense.

Contrary to that, building cross-platform applications is less in the budget— as the code written for this app can be utilized for another project resulting in a higher reduction in time and cost. Those having a limited budget should consider cross-platform development.

User Experience & App Customization

Around 70% of customers state that they abandon their shopping carts when they find an absence of a better user experience. Approximately 90% of smartphone users agree that they prefer to continue shopping if they get a satisfactory user experience. Customers have plenty of expectations from a brand, and getting a worthwhile user experience through the app is one of them.

This advocates that the overall user retention rate depends on the user experience of an application. Native applications own high-level UI capabilities– as they have customizable interface components and preset libraries. Therefore, organizations in need of quality customization and user experience should consider native application development.

Wrapping Up:

Regardless of the industry vertical you’re dealing in, the mobile application you build has a lot to do with your business and its success. So you must wisely invest in mobile app development and build one that fits your unique business needs and customer expectations. It can bring an insurmountable advantage to your business.

Whether you go for native or cross-platform application development depends on your business needs, its customers, and many other facets. Creating both iOS and Android applications have pros and cons; hence, you need to assess your requirement, hire the best mobile app developers and build one that meets what you expect.