Hybrid Apps – Why It Is a Cost and Time-Effective Choice

We have witnessed a great transition in mobile app development where hybrid apps have emerged as the most cost-effective and swift way to reach wider audiences. Hybrid apps are gaining maximum traction because of the perfect blend of native and web apps into it. Hybrid apps run across multiple platforms (iOS and Android) and are developed using a single code base and web development technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. According to a Forbes report, 37 (74%) of the top 50 retail apps in the US are hybrid. Moreover, these apps are hugely preferred by startups and small businesses and will dominate the mobile app industry in the coming few years.

This post highlights some critical reasons behind hybrid apps’ huge success and why businesses should opt for this as a convenient, swift, and affordable way to target wider audiences.

Hybrid mobile applications – an overview

Native apps are designed to run on a particular mobile operating system, such as Android, iOS, or Windows. Hybrid apps, on the contrary, are time-saving and deliver great performance even on smaller screens, as these are developed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The fact that your existing website’s pages are being created into App screens feels like a strong enough reason to choose Hybrid app development services. 

• Cross-platform functionalities

Performance is something that every prospective app owner is concerned about. They might be under the impression that native apps, built to run on a specific platform, would offer great user experience and perform at par, while a Hybrid app designed to run on multiple platforms may not be able to provide the same level of performance and lack user engagement.

However, one of the most appealing aspects of hybrid apps is their ability to perform flawlessly across various mobile platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows, as opposed to native apps that require dedicated versions to serve the needs of respective users. 

• Native-like user experience

A Hybrid app built with strong codes and integrated with a lot of multimedia and rich graphics would deliver exceptional performance and a native app-like user experience. Users cannot differentiate whether they are running a native app meant for their specific mobile platform or a hybrid app for multiple platforms. In short, a hybrid app, if developed exceptionally well, will offer a native-like user experience without fail.

• Leverage the existing skills of the developers

When it comes to converting your present web pages into a Hybrid mobile app, a developer doesn’t necessarily have to learn new skills. Any developer with sound knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can create a multi-platform mobile app for any business. Unlike developing apps for iOS or Android that require a developer to learn complex languages, hybrid apps eliminate the need to spend a lot of time learning new skills, making the development a time-effective affair.

Besides this, for Native apps, any future update would require you to update multiple apps, a hassle that isn’t there with the Hybrid apps. As a single app is built to serve the needs of various users across different mobile platforms and mobile app developers can utilize their existing skills without the compulsion to learn new skills, Hybrid apps are quickly gaining popularity among business owners and mobile app developers.

• Highly Adaptable

Another major benefit of having a hybrid app is easy maintenance. You can easily tweak designs and add features and functionalities to a hybrid app without involving complex processes. This allows you to follow the latest trend in the market and offer your customers what’s trending. In addition to this, hybrid app development frameworks like Cordova, Xamarin, Flutter, and React offer great features which allow easy and swift maintenance as developers use a single code base to develop these apps. You can easily do it even if you want to create different versions of the same app.

The thing to be noted

Despite the growing popularity of hybrid apps, they might not serve the purpose if you are looking for a highly graphics-oriented app or having 3D effects in it. Hybrid apps may not deliver the expected results if the project requirements are too large. Moreover, these apps have greater dependencies on frameworks; hence, make sure to keep updating the platform versions to ensure optimum performance from hybrid apps.

Over to you

To put this entire information into a nutshell, hybrid apps are the best choice for any startup or a small enterprise looking forward to launching an app immediately with a limited budget. Not every advantage of hybrid apps may fit your unique business requirements. Therefore, it’s advisable to prepare a detailed project requirement list and then make a decision on whether you need a hybrid app or a native one.