They are really useful for businesses and they also reduce the efforts that a developer has to put in when they are developing applications. Developing one application for two different native platforms can be a really frustrating job. Developing the same logic just using different methods and syntax and sometimes the process gets really tiring. This is one of the reasons why hybrid development came into existence.
Developers are the smartest people, they know how to help other companies and they know how to help themselves too. Mostly, they firstly help themselves and then they go out and help others. In this article, we will learn a lot of things about hybrid app development, its benefits, the frameworks that can be used, etc.
Understanding The Difference Between Native and Hybrid Applications:
Native applications and hybrid applications might not be different in terms of use but their architecture and development styles are different. Native applications are developed using platform-specific programming languages like Java or Objective C. Hybrid applications on the other hand have a development process that resembles web app development. They have the qualities of native applications and come with a web view that can be experienced by the user on the browser.
Native applications are always connected to the hardware of the device, they take up space, use the CPU. Hybrid applications do interact with the hardware of the device and they also use CPU as needed but not as much as Native apps. They use CPU and hardware resources only when they are in use. Hybrid applications use less power/resources from the device's CPU.
Hybrid and native applications do have a lot more differences. Companies have to decide for themselves which of those apps suit their requirements. There can be big problems in the future if companies choose without analyzing the scope of their business in the future. If companies are considering great performance a benchmark, native applications are for sure the better choice. But if companies want an application that has all the important features and can be used to increase their reach in the budget, hybrid is the model to go with.
No development process can be started without assessing what the business requires from the application.
Benefits of Hybrid Application Development
Benefits are the reason why so many businesses and developers are switching to hybrid app development from native app development. There are benefits for everyone in this development style. The companies get high-quality applications that are way better than web applications and the development company has to put in less effort. There are more benefits to this style of development and we will read about them in detail below:
- Low-Cost Development
The cost of developing hybrid applications is less than the cost of developing native applications. There are many reasons for that and one is that codes can be reused. This one factor makes this development style way more effective than the native development. In native development, the developers have to write codes separately for both iOS and Android. This is not the case when they are developing hybrid applications. Also, the applications are comparatively simple in terms of architecture and that reduces the cost as well.
- Provides Experience Like Native Apps
Native applications are popular because of the experience that they provide to the user. Now, the hybrid applications have also come to a point where they can provide almost the same experience to their users. Although, hybrid applications are not capable of handling ideas that are too complex. They will have to develop with the native development approach. The reason behind this is that complex applications need advanced development features. Those features are available with only native applications. Also, only native applications can handle high-quality complex applications smoothly. But, that is if we talk about general applications. Hybrid applications are no less than native ones. They are also able to provide a seamless experience to the users.
- Allow Developers To Be Creative
When the developers will not have to put too much effort into the code, they will have to think. When someone has time to think, they can be creative. Creative development always gives better results to a business. In today's world, the applications that businesses use need to be unique in some way. That is the only way to create a place in the hearts and phones of people. A developer can think about the UI/UX, the features to add, what types of transitions would be better. These things collectively make the development of the application a lot better for the businesses and the end-users as well.
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- High-Quality Performance
As mentioned previously, hybrid applications can provide an experience like native applications to the users. That also takes us to another similar point. Hybrid applications that are built with general features but great creativity can provide great performance. The application will have light elements, these elements will allow the app to perform better. Most people are cynical about the performance of Hybrid applications. The reason behind this can be that they are mostly web-based. But, a lot of people don't know that there are offline hybrid applications as well. Offline applications help users to take advantage of the application even when the internet connection is not stable. Also, not all people have an unlimited supply of internet data. This is where hybrid applications with offline support come into play.
- Attractive UI/UX Design
The UI/UX design of these applications is sometimes better than the native applications. Because these are built on the basis of web apps the designs are very much appealing. The concept of design here is according to what the users may prefer. Hybrid applications provide a really smooth experience to the users. The developers try to provide a minimalist design so that the application never stops working. There are cases of applications that had too many features, or resources but they had a really bad UX. Nowadays, developers are finding new ways to keep the size small and productivity high. Also, UI/UX developers for hybrid applications don't have to work for two different types of AI according to the platform. One common UI/UX can be used for both platforms.
- Easy To Integrate With Other Apps
It is easy to integrate hybrid applications with third-party applications. The architecture and the functionality that the developers include in the applications make them easy to integrate. Just like other web applications, users can connect their app with other applications that allow them to use their data and features This can be a symbiotic integration where both applications get benefitted from each other and add value to their businesses. Businesses these days are smart and they all leave scope so that other applications can integrate into their platform. This increases the reach of both the platforms and also increases the number of useful features.
- Support For Multiple Platforms
Because these applications are developed for multiple platforms the support is also available for all of them. A mobile app development company would be benefitted from this feature a lot as they will not have to worry about anything if they get stuck. Support will always be available at all times. That is something that really makes hybrid development important for the industry. A lot of people have shifted from native app development to hybrid app development because of its rise. The development community makes sure that no new developer has to struggle a lot. This is something that attracts new developers.
These are some of the benefits that a business or a progressive web app development company will have if they choose hybrid app development. There are no doubts about how useful it can be if businesses want a solution that could help them in their operation or with CRM. Developers are also trying constantly to make the development approach better with every passing day. Constant changes are being made and the quality of development is improving. After the pandemic, a lot of companies have wanted to have their own applications. Not all of them could afford or required native app development and there these hybrid applications came into their use.
List Of Frameworks For Hybrid App Development
There are no alternatives to dedication and creativity in the app development field but both of them matter when the work is done smartly. Smart work here means, choosing the right platform, the right style of development and the right framework. That is why we will have a look at some of the best frameworks that can be used to develop a hybrid application for businesses. An iOS and Android app development company that is able to make one app that can be used on both platforms, it can be called a hybrid app development company. Let's have a look at the frameworks:
- NativeScript
This is a framework in which applications are built on top of JavaScript or any other language that can translate into JavaScript like TypeScript. The framework was initially created by Progress. In the starting days the framework might have faced some problems to reach out to the developers but these days it is one of the most prominent app development frameworks.
The framework used by mobile application development services has deep integrations with versions of modern Angular. Full-stack features are also available, like the feature to integrate with the Angular CLI, router support, and generation of the code. The platform can also be integrated with the Vue community-developed plugin, this plugin enables the Vue CLI, Vuex, and some other features of Vue.js.
The hybrid application developed with NativeScript does have a native look, they look and behave like it too. They use the same APIs just like the Native apps do. This means that they don't have to be executed in the web view, hence the users get a platform-native user interface that provides them with a great experience.
- React Native
A name that almost all the developers in the industry would know. React is one of the biggest and best frameworks for the development of hybrid apps. There is no other framework that has gained as much popularity as React. Developed by the social media and tech giant Facebook, this framework already has great support behind its back. Facebook is the best example or portfolio for React. Developers can easily develop hybrid applications using React Native by just knowing and coding in Javascript. React native allows the developers to create a rich mobile user interface. React's components are better in comparison to other decorative components.
The developers here don't build a web app or an HTML 5 app or a hybrid application. They build real mobile applications and no one can distinguish between an application built with Objective-C or Java. The building blocks used in the framework are the same as the UI blocks of iOS and Android. Developers just have to put in all the building blocks together by using Javascript and React.
React native is one of the most trusted and most used mobile app development frameworks. A mobile app development company that uses React will not have to face problems when they decide to go with hybrid app development.
- Ionic:
Ionic offers a complete software development kit for hybrid app development services. Hybrid applications developed with the help of this framework are great. There are a lot of big companies that are using this framework for native as well as hybrid app development. The developers can develop applications by using CSS, HTML 5, and Sass. A hybrid application can be built using these web development languages.
The application can later be distributed through native application stores to be installed on the native devices. This way, the development process becomes easy and the developed application is still installed as the native app on a device. A hybrid application will be lighter in size, faster in performance, and will have all the general use features. Any business that makes use of this framework will get a great looking hybrid application.
This is an open-source framework and hence it comes totally free. The companies that decide to use this for their hybrid app development have to pay nothing at all for this. This can also be used by an Android app development company if they want to reduce their development cost.
- Quasar
This framework is also powered by another framework that is built on the job of a javascript framework, Vue.js. The framework allows the developers to write a code once and then deploy it as a website, mobile app, or desktop app. Can a company have more benefits than having one single code be deployed over all other platforms? There are so many different entities with the same type of backend. There are no differences in the way they behave or look, just the native platform changes will be present. Those changes are necessary as they make the apps look like native apps.
With this framework, the developers can create a great user interface following the Google material guidelines. The framework also gives HTML/CSS/JS minification features, cache busting features, tree sourcing features, etc. All this is provided while making sure that the performance doesn't get affected. A lot of hybrid app developers believe that this is the most focused app development framework for hybrid apps. This can save cost, provide efficiency, and great design when a native or progressive web app development company chooses it.
- Kendo UI
You may want a framework that can provide an extensive range of Javascript UI components along with some libraries like jQuery, Vue, React, etc. for the purpose of developing hybrid mobile apps. Kendo is the one that you should be trying once. This platform has all that is mentioned in the last sentences. The framework is powered by Telerik. It already comes with a lot of plugins and ready-to-use widgets.
The framework is focused on providing the developers or the development companies with applications that give a great performance. A PWA development company can get great advantages when they use this framework for their hybrid app development projects. There are a lot of developers who are already using this. This is also an open-source development framework and provides everything for free to the developers.
- Framework7
This is a free, open-source framework for HTML mobile app development. Mobile application development services need modern solutions in this time and this framework provides just that. The framework helps the development companies in developing mobile apps, web apps, PWAs, and more. It can also be integrated with tools like Electron and NW.js. This will allow the developers to develop desktop applications as well.
Development companies can also use this framework to present the working prototype of some applications. Companies don't trust the power of hybrid applications till now and this can be a great way to show them how they work. Once someone see's the working of an application, they are more likely to have confidence. The framework is mostly focused on two platforms i.e., iOS and Google. This makes them great in what they do, they know their target marketplace.
- Aurelia
The framework itself is described as a collection of modern javascript modules. When these tools are used together, they can be used to develop mobile apps, desktop apps or browser-based apps. A PWA development company would have the most benefits from this framework.
A lot of developers describe this as the only framework that lets you develop in pure Typescript/Javascript. Other frameworks need you to learn more languages, it might just create confusion. When there is confusion, the quality of development will surely go down. When the developer is certain about what they want to develop, what are the things they have to do, it shows. The applications made with Aurelia can provide high performance, great experience to the users and almost all the important features according to the app.
- Onsen UI
This can be termed as one of the newest frameworks in the industry. Since its launch in the year 2013, this framework has grown to become really popular in the hybrid app development community. This is also an open-source development platform. The developers have the freedom to switch to Angluar.js, Angular, React, Vue.js, etc. It is on the developers, they can also go with pure Javascript. The framework is flexible for the developers in terms of the choice of development frameworks.
Onsen is an easy to use framework, it provides flexibility and has semantic markup components that can be useful for the developers. Also, this is free to use even for commercial projects.
- Axway Appcelerator
This framework is also known as Appcelerator titanium. It uses Javascript for the purpose of app development. A mobile app development company that wants to create a high-quality hybrid application can trust this framework.
The framework provides cross-platform app development services for iOS and Android app development. The SDK also has a number of APIs and Cloud services that can make the developed applications even better.
Developers can find both free and paid versions of this framework.
Final Thoughts
It is not easy to decide which platform is the best for your development project. It might sound easy but hybrid app development also has a log of problems. An android app development company if it chooses to increase its ROI can shift into a hybrid model of development. The frameworks are easy to use, most of them require you to understand just JavaScript. This is something that almost all web and desktop app developers already know. Know what are your requirements and then choose which framework is right for you. Develop for all platforms with any one of the above-mentioned frameworks.
