Regarding application development, a common discussion that tends to come up between companies and clients is whether the apps should be developed as native or with cross platform. Generally clients want to develop apps in one coding language or domain for all platforms to optimize time and money, for both the software engineers and company. Most companies have large software team consisting of engineers, highly experienced in developing native apps for IOS, Android, and Windows. Many of these software companies also know that cross platform is not always the best choice for developing mobile apps because they do not provide as good of service. Towards the end of development, each cross platform works with a native compiler to make a separate build.
Based on my personal experience with developing apps and collecting research from various blogs, I have come up with a pros and cons list for both.
[See Also: The Rise of MEAN for Application Development]
100% hardware support and fulfills all feasible requirement into a functional reality
Native language support available
App developers are more experienced and efficient
More flexibility
Implementation and modification is more feasible
More fragmented in use and integration
New Features announced are easily accessible
Faster development
Developers are more familiar with UI and components
Native apps get full support from the App Store
QA testing and performance optimization easily done
Need to upgrade apps often for the latest OS and features
Takes more time and resources to develop apps in multiple native platforms for a product
Uniform look and feel
Use of known technologies
General scripting language used
Reusable across different platforms
Update once and sync all
Greater reach and more platform cover
List based application can be speedily implemented
Report based application looks more attractive
Web and mobile view look similar
Requirements may not be fulfilled into functional reality
Different tools and languages used throughout, such as Xamarin, Phonegap, Titanium, Grapple, Open plug, Corona, Unity etc.
Limited compatibility with different platforms
User interaction lowered since app is built to be suitable for all platforms and runs slower
Loss of flexibility overall since each platform has its own flexibility
Less accessibility of hardware is available, like camera, GPS, and push notifications
Hard to find a vastly experienced developer in this platform
Except for gaming, developers do not prefer it
Difficult to test on actual devices
Not much information available for developers
Optimization for the particular platform is usually tough
Generally companies avoid to implement cross platform anyway
[See Also: The Historic Introduction of SWIFT for App Developers]
Most of cross platform is built using the developer’s own subset of javascript. This means that if you want to switch to another platform, the written code is not easily reusable, requiring more work. For native apps, you can change and enhance code without much work, if needed. Just from looking at the pro and cons list, it is straightforward that cross platform app development has more cons. It should now make sense why the most successful and well-known applications in any platform tend to be made in native.
Everything you need to know about outsourcing technology development
Access a special Introduction Package with everything you want to know about outsourcing your technology development. How should you evaluate a partner? What components of your solution that are suitable to be handed off to a partner? These answers and more below.
0 comments
Leave a Reply