Native vs Cross Platform vs Hybrid: Which Mobile Technology Wins the Battle?

“Native vs cross platform vs hybrid: Which mobile technology wins the battle? “If your plans don’t include mobile, your plans are not finished.” Thomas Husson, Vice president at Forrester research aptly stated, “Mobile is becoming not only the new digital hub, but also the bridge to the physical world. That’s why mobile will affect more than just your digital operations- it will transform your entire business.” Various technologies to develop mobile applications may often put you in a dilemma. Which is the best for your business – native, cross platform and hybrid? The choice of application depends on various factors such as targeted audience, your budget and final performance. However, it is quite pertinent to know the basic features of all the applications in order to make a final decision. Let’s brush up our knowledge!

Key features of native applications:

• Safe and secure since they exist in mobile and utilize its security features.

• Efficient built in features such as GPS, compass, address book and camera give unique user experience.

• Need to be updated timely. Automatic synchronization is enabled between the mobile and app store

• Quite convenient. For instance, it stores credit card detail information to make purchasing easier each time from an e-commerce app.

• Maximum usage of features to ensure better user experience.

• However, these can be expensive and need prior approval from the app store before being released.

• Cumbersome to ensure support and maintenance on multiple devices.

• Suitable for apps that need device specific features, high security concerns and high performance.

Key features of cross platform applications:

• Eliminates the task of rewriting codes for different platforms.

• Cost effective, Developers can be leveraged to work simultaneously on different platforms unlike the native app development.

• Latest updates are easily synchronized.

• Beneficial during maintenance period. If a bug is reported it needs to be fixed once only.

• Since, mobile phones are not as powerful as desktops, there is less hardware power to perform HTML Animations.

• Consume more battery power.

• Helpful for business process automation projects.

Key features of Hybrid applications:

• Common codebase is used on different platforms.

• Require less maintenance and can be easily developed

• Affordable

• Ideal for business professional apps.

• However, they often fail to give best user performances due to slow working.

• They will always require internet connection.

Now, that we have a clear idea about the working of native, cross platform and hybrid mobile applications, it is quite easier to comprehend which mobile technology wins the battle. Of course, HYBRID! However, it depends much on your requirements, still the craze for hybrid applications never drops.
If you wish to develop an application like that of Facebook, hybrid should be your first choice, since you can use the same code on both android and i0S platform and even integrates features of camera.
Hence, hybrid wins the battle.