With more than 5.7 million apps on Apple Store and Google Play Store combined, generating a revenue of over $106 billion since 2018 (with a CAGR of 18.4%), it is of vital importance that businesses consider their choices well for application development – be it the platform, the language, or the way of launching it.
There is no ‘silver bullet answer’ for which platform suits your business the best. Most of the time, entrepreneurs endure a hard time deciding the nitty-gritty of their business needs. These choices have a long-term impact on your business – in terms of cost, time and functionalities. Hence, in this article, we have gathered all you need to know to choose the right platform for ideal app development.
Introducing Native Application Development
When developers think of high performance, they think of native app development. The features in a native app aid the specificity and functionality of apps. You can also say that they are made for the operating system – and not for the device. Naturally, native apps speak and understand the language of the operating system. So, these apps have undisputed executions, front runners, zero accessibility problems, and whatnot- overall, a great user experience.
Introducing Cross-Platform Application Development
Cross-app development is increasingly popular because it is developed in a uniform language- common for all operating systems. It saves both time and cost, but you need to be more mindful of enough customizations for an app. Based on a 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey statistics, Xamarin, Flutter, and Cordova were the most popular cross-platform frameworks among highly professional developers. The two types of cross-platform apps are Native Cross-Platform Apps and Hybrid Apps.
What to consider while building your app strategy
If you want an app that dwarfs everything in terms of performance, you’re natively on the go. On the other hand, in case you want an app that is platform-independent and needs a quick proof-of-concept of the application, you would be better off with a cross-platform application. But the design should always depend on the purpose of the app. Here are some major factors that you should consider:
a. Complexity:
While building an app that’s displaying information fetched from a network, cross-platform development is a good choice. However, if it involves heavy processing, you should go with native development.
b. Budget:
Native development produces high-performance apps, but they can be costly to build. You’ll save around 30%-40% as only a single codebase is created for an app that works on both Android and iOS.
c. Development Time:
When you want to get an MVP app up as soon as possible, consider cross-platform development. Only a single development cycle is needed for an app to be released for Android and iOS.
In a nutshell …
Choose Native if:
- You have complete access to all the phone resources and services around.
- You want to take complete advantage of your phone’s hardware.
- You want to have the most responsive application.
- You build an app that is easy to update.
Choose Cross-Platform if:
- Your business can do with a lesser responsive app.
- Your application is not complex and does not have to deal with complex logic.
- Or you have a stringent timeline to test the app idea and run the hypothesis.
In short, native apps are the go-to choice for people to enhance user experiences and journeys. However, it is a little heavy on your pocket (based on the customizations you want in an app). On the other side, cross-platform apps are quick and easy to build- which means a lesser responsive time is taking the deal to deliver the user experience. If you’re still unable to choose between the two application development platforms or want to develop the best of either kind of application, please feel free to book your consultation session with our experts today.
