Hybrid Mobile App Development South Africa

What is a Hybrid mobile application?

Hybrid Mobile App Development South Africa is increasing in popularity mostly due to cost and time benefits. The days of simple mobile apps that you used to download from the Google app store or Apple app store are long gone. Users demand more functionality with less consumption of resources and developers are concentrated on giving them that. This had lead to different approaches for a mobile application giving rise to three main app types:

1. Native apps
2. Web apps
3. Hybrid apps

We will focus on Hybrid apps in this article while exploring the differences and additional benefits they provide relative to other mobile app categories.

Hybrid Mobile App

A Hybrid mobile application is an app that is installed from a store but runs using a built-in simplified browser called Webview. 

They are called a “Hybrid” between Native apps and Web apps. These apps are distributed using Google Play Store, Apple App Store or Windows App store and run just like a Native app (online and offline) while providing the efficiency of a Web app. They are integrated with both Web services and the device’s file system. 

Hybrid apps are best for you if you want your app to be available to users in less time while also testing if users like to install your app on their devices. This is the concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which is the product developed using the least resources that provides your basic functionality. Hybrid mobile apps are best for MVPs but also attract companies for regular development due to their less production time and efficiency.

Let us clarify the concept of Hybrid apps by differentiating them from other categories.

Hybrid vs Native Apps

Native apps are the apps built for a specific OS and installed from relative app stores. They are built using Native programming languages like Java for Android and Swift for iOS and make use of the OS features to run. 

Hybrid apps add Web features to Native apps. They are built using HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript Web standards and run inside a container i.e. the embedded browser allowing them to be installed like Native apps.

Hybrid vs Web Apps

Web apps are not installed on a mobile device. Rather they can be thought of as Websites available on your home screen as an app icon. They are opened in a mobile browser like Chrome or Safari instead of an embedded one, but without a navigation bar to give it a mobile-optimized look.

A Hybrid app can access more device’s features than a Web app like the camera and GPS. They are both built using Web technologies. The main difference is Web apps are distributed through Web and accessed using a URL while Hybrid apps are available on application stores.

Benefits of Hybrid Apps

Following are some of the features that make Hybrid apps so popular:

• They provide an easy development experience with low time and budget constraints.
• They provide Native app experience with extremely simple backend thus increasing efficiency.
• They are available both online and offline just like Native apps.
• They provide lag-free and efficient UI/UX designs.
• They are built to work on multiple platforms.

Hybrid apps combine the advantages of all mobile app technologies and provide a tailored user experience while providing some relief to developers too. Feel free to ask and clear any doubts about Hybrid apps in the contact form below.