Native App vs Hybrid App vs Web App: Different Between App Types

Blog Synopsis: The versatility and efficiency of the applications have captured the market. To make your business outshine the others, you also need an efficient app solution. Native, Hybrid, and Web apps are the common options you have. But picking the appropriate one is tricky., So, let’s get into the difference between native app vs hybrid app vs web app! 

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The world already has almost 7 billion numbers of smartphone network subscriptions in 2023. It is estimated to increase close to 8 Billion by 2028. This shows how significant it is to have mobile phones in the future. Today, we are connected to the loop of mobile apps and networks. Without internet-connected phones, it becomes difficult to stay updated with the latest news or trends. 

You will come across lots of well-known mobile apps on the market at present. The app marketplace is successful in generating lots of revenue. With the enhanced demand of the users, for any services or products, apps are handy stores for them. Moreover, they also help us to save a considerable amount of time.

So, creating an app is important yet tricky as well. Because you have to make lots of decisions and pre-planning. One of those decisions will be to choose among going for a native app, hybrid app, or web app. 

To do that, you’ll need to figure out what your target audience is, which platforms they use, etc. A remarkable web app development company can have the competency for all these types of app services. Yet it is a fact that what you decide will depend on your product objectives and future goals. In this article, we have mentioned definitions and differences between native app vs hybrid app vs web app.

What Exactly are Native, Hybrid, and Web Apps?

Mobile applications majorly fall under three different categories which are diversified based on devices. They are native apps, web apps, and hybrid apps. In a simple one-liner definition; 

• Native apps that can be used on your smartphone (via app stores) or on home screen
• Web apps are easily accessible on your internet browsers
• Hybrid apps are a combined blend of the above two and allow users to get the mid-way out of them    

So you can create either native app development, web app development, or hybrid app development, as per your business needs. To opt for the best one, you need to make a difference between web apps vs hybrid apps vs native apps. It can be possible with their advantages and drawbacks, which we will discuss below. To navigate through the deeper concepts of these, let’s have a look at them. 

What do you mean by a Native App?

The native apps are built with platform-specific programming languages and can be downloaded from the particular app store. Right now, the two most popular operating systems happen to be Android and iOS. 

The languages used for building native apps are Objective-C or Swift for iOS and Java or Kotlin for Android. Programmers also employ SDKs (software development kits) or frameworks for creating these types of apps. Here’s a showing of the most popular native app names. 

Examples of Native App

• Spotify
• Walmart
• Facebook
• Uber
• Discord

Native App Pros

• Outstanding performance

Native apps offer outstanding performance as they are created for a particular OS. Your app will surely deliver a better user experience. So, the end user will easily access the native app feature without any hiccups. Even after having the tech stack of native when comparing hybrid vs native App Performance, native will be a win. 

• Offline Accessibility

Users can leverage the Native apps’ functions even without any Internet connection. So, this makes it extremely convenient for the users while using native apps.

• Enhanced usability

When you have developed Native mobile apps from a reputable native app development company, it will offer an exceptional user experience. They’re also quite simple to use besides being more intuitive.

Native App Cons

• Inadequate to maintain

Updating the native app with new features becomes more challenging. Even after the smooth publishing on the App Store, maintaining the native app adversely impacts performance.   

• Expensive than others 

More time and resources will be required for developing native apps since they have to be created from scratch. Moreover, the cost of development is also quite higher than web and hybrid apps. 

What do You Mean by a Web App?

Web apps are efficient and responsive websites that can be launched in a browser on any mobile device, tablet, or desktop computer. You don’t need to download them, you just have to access web apps with their URLs. However, web apps also provide you with a native-like experience despite having the ability to run on all types of devices and browsers. If you hire web app developers, you can easily make appealing and seamless web apps that match industry standards. Few examples of web applications you must have heard about;

Examples of Web Apps

• Netflix
• Canva
• Dropbox
• Google Products 

Web App Pros

• Multiple Platforms Compatibility

After creation, it will be possible for you to run the web app on virtually any platform without any problem whatsoever. Moreover, no additional time has to be invested in developing it.

• Instant updates

No updates have to be downloaded since it will be feasible for users to access the app’s most recent version.

• Higher Online Traffic

Web app development services can indeed receive traffic from Google and other search engines. However, it will also be able to send your website visitors to the web app on mobile gadgets. Hence, it may confuse people as a hybrid app, but the difference of hybrid apps vs web apps is that you don’t need to download it.

Web App Cons 

• Lower Performance

Web apps are suitable for simple applications like online outlets. However, they are not able to provide top-notch performance if required.

• Lack of offline usage

You can’t access web applications without an internet connection. So, a stable wi-fi or internet is a must for the smooth performance of your app. 

• Doesn’t access device functions 

As you can access web apps through links, they can’t optimally utilize the device features. Consequently, your app has to be promoted in some other ways. It is the major drawback among hybrid app vs web app comparison.

What do You Mean by a Hybrid App?

A hybrid app is going to combine the attributes of native as well as web apps. Therefore, it is possible to run the hybrid application on virtually any platform with some slight enhancements. Apps produced by hybrid app development services are backed by a hybrid development framework based on HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. So, the difference of native apps vs hybrid apps is clear in performance and cost incurred. 

Examples of Hybrid Apps

• Twitter
• Evernote
• Gmail 
• Instagram

Hybrid App Pros

• Simplified Development

There is no need for developers to master quite a few technologies for developing a hybrid app. Consequently, the time required for developing these apps is considerably less.

• Less expensive

A hybrid app has to be created just once to be run on virtually any platform. This helps to make the development process less expensive when you native vs hybrid app comparison.

• Efficient scalability 

It is simpler to scale hybrid apps to another platform. After building it for one particular platform. So, it can be launched on another one quite easily and offer proper time to market.

Hybrid App Cons

• Insufficient Performance

Unlike native apps, hybrid apps can’t support heavy games and complicated applications.

• Poor user experience

As compared to native apps, hybrid apps are often much slower. It is not possible for apps developed for more than one platform to make use of the native features on all gadgets.

Now, you need to have a better understanding of the comparison between Native App vs Hybrid App vs Web App. So, let’s begin… 

Difference Between Native App vs Hybrid App vs Web App

• Performance

In the comparison of native vs web vs hybrid apps, performance is the most emerging factor. Native apps are remarkably brilliant solutions with great performance and smooth processing. On the other hand web apps lag the native-like performance. Moreover, the hybrid apps meet the mark for sufficient user interface-based solutions. Therefore, a comparison of performance between Native Apps vs Hybrid Apps vs Web Apps has the native apps lead. 

• Development Cost

When it comes to cost, native apps indeed need a higher budget compared to hybrid and web apps. The web application is way more affordable than the three. However, among the native vs hybrid app comparison, the latter has less cost needs.

• Technology Stack 

As mentioned above, the web apps use HTML5 and JavaScript. While native apps utilize Android app development solutions for the Play Store and iOS app development for the Apple Store. Moreover, hybrid app development demands HTML, CSS, and JavaScript along with the Android and iOS frameworks. Flutter and React Native are the most common among them. 

• User Experience

This is the most crucial aspect, in which native apps are popular for the high-end user experience. Hybrid also maintains its pace with a decent native-like experience. Web apps also have a simple user interface that manages to retain users. So, the native apps are the ultimate bets in that as well. 

Which App type would you Choose? 

Whether you like to develop a native, hybrid, or web app is entirely up to you. This will, of course, depend on the requirements of your application. Hopefully, after a detailed comparison between Native App vs Hybrid App vs Web App, you have got your answer. Now, you can simply get started by collaborating with a mobile app development company. Focus on having a reliable partner to get robust app development services.