Are Native Apps Still Needed In Enterprises?

By Author: Yancy Marry
Total Articles: 185
Comment this article

A mobile app that is designed to run in only the computer environment it was built in is known as a native mobile app. For instance, an application may run on only the operating system or machine language of a computer. But gone are the days when locally installed apps were still in use. With the advance recorded in software architecture, even native mobile apps are running successfully in interpreted machine environments such as Java applet. Native mobile apps are contrasted with web apps (that run within browsers) and emulated apps (those which are written for a different operating system, but converted in real time so that they may run effectively).

With the improvement of HTML5 app development, the rising traffic towards mobile web browsers, the phenomenal success of the mobile web app, and the constant evolvement in contemporary OS platforms, has raised the question as to how relevant the native application is in today’s mobile market? Though organizations had once rushed to deploy robust native mobile apps after the release of Apple iPad, the same organizations are pulling out native apps because their deployment ...
... leads to excess cost in the form of 30 percent subscription revenue to Apple. Moreover, native apps serve as an enterprise’s intermediary with the target audience base rather than establishing direct contact.

However, there are still few enterprises worldwide that continue to deploy native mobile apps. According to mobile analysts, there are still few departments of enterprises & some industries where the prevalence of native apps is felt. For instance, the publishing industry worldwide uses native mobile applications to complete daily work such as creating immersive reading environments within the business unit. But with the gap between web based apps built with HTML5 and native apps rapidly increasing, it will not be long before the native application experience in publishing is also stopped.

One of the biggest uses of native apps is to spread advertising messages to promote an enterprise. But at the same time, the only way to attract a larger consumer base towards the mobile apps of an enterprise is to ensure multi device advertising experience. After all, most people are the owners of multiple mobile devices today, ranging from a mobile phone to a tablet. The purpose of these mobile devices can be completely utilized if mobile apps are installed in them; hence the need of apps which will function across multiple devices & platforms, unlike native apps.

But analysts in favor of native apps are of the opinion that like web apps, native apps can also be installed in mobile devices. Like the former, the latter also lends the user access to different features of a mobile device. And this is the reason why it is important for an enterprise to use hybrid apps, which which will have the features of both the native app & the web based app. There can be no doubt about the fact that the user experience from native apps is the best; from fast & fluid app usage experience to discoverability in leading app stores, native apps beat web based apps and are thus still important for current enterprises. Though native apps require more time to build & bigger budget requirements, the building process helps the amateur developer to become acquainted with designing skills which are required for creating all types of mobile applications.

Copper Mobile is a enterprise app development company with offices in the US, the UK and India. Within a span of less than a decade, iPhone apps development has grown from the position of an app developer in Dallas, to create hundreds of apps for major platforms like Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and iOS.