Native App Vs Web App: Key Strengths And Weaknesses

By Author: jessica martin
Total Articles: 43
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Although both the native and web mobile app development have been around for quite some time now, there is often a hot debate as to which is better. Most programmers prefer to go for mobile web as every week there are new tools for web applications development and for monitoring the same on phones and tablets. In addition, the cost involved in developing mobile web apps is pretty compelling compared to that of the amount spent on hiring an agency or professionals for building two, three, or more number of native apps.

A little brief about the two applications:

Native app: It is an app for particular mobile device such as tablet, Smartphone etc. It is directly installed onto the device and users can easily avail such app from The App Store or other online stores such as Android Apps on Google Play, etc.

Native app: It is an app for particular mobile device such as tablet, Smartphone etc. It is directly installed onto the device and users can easily avail such app from The App Store or other online stores such as Android Apps on Google Play, etc.

Now to understand which is better, let us take a quick ...
... look at the differences between both the apps.

Quick comparison: Native app vs. Web App

Strengths:

Personalization: Native mobile applications can take advantage of your smart phone functionality such as camera, GPS system etc and has great features to develop personalized experiences for the device with minimal limitations. Being attached directly to the user's device, it provides several opportunities to target and build the user experience.

User Interface: Most of the companies choose to have both the types of apps as there is little difference in the look and feel of web pages as viewed on web or mobile and offers consistent user experience.

Speed: Native apps perform faster than mobile web apps, which use common code for all platforms.

Availability: Users can find native apps in marketplaces and App stores. But mobile web apps can be accessed through internet.

Quality Assurance: Safety and quality of native apps is assured by the approval processes of the App store while mobile web apps can be released at any time and in any form as there are no app stores to approve the app.

Development: Development of native apps can be speeded up using support and standard development tools and best practices by device manufacturers. While in case of mobile web apps, you can easily retrofit your existing web app with a responsive web design.

Weaknesses:

App Store: Approval processes of the App Store may delay or prevent the launch of native app, whereas, lack of a centralized app store may create difficulty for users in finding a mobile web app.

Maintenance and support: With users on different versions or mobile browsers, maintenance and support for both the kinds of apps may prove difficult.

Cost: Supporting multiple mobile web browsers or platforms may involve greater expenses in development and maintenance for both the apps.

Development: Native apps supporting multiple mobile devices are more expensive to develop while mobile web apps across multiple mobile platforms may result in higher costs.

Think of your business objectives, technical requirements, target audiences and budget before you choose to develop a native or web app.

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