Hybrid Apps – The Future For Mobile Application Development

According to a report conducted by Statista that estimates by Statista that the smartphone population will surpass 7.516 billion worldwide by 2026. This simply highlights the enormous demand for mobile apps, which is predicted to increase. Therefore, it is essential to be aware of the various classifications of mobile apps prior to you deciding to build one.

Mobile applications can be broadly classified into three categories: native, web and hybrid. Native apps are developed to work with a single operating system. For instance, native Android applications work only on Android platforms. Although they offer the highest performance, they take a long time and are expensive to create.

Responsive web-based apps are simple to develop, maintain and deploy, needing only a web browser in order to function. But, they aren’t discovered on the app store.

A hybrid application is developed by combining the best features of both native and web counterparts. Hybrid apps are cross-platform and can be built with a single codebase. Hybrid apps offer a lower-cost alternative to native apps and are readily available on the app stores of all platforms.

Hybrid apps built with web-based app technology like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript are enclosed in a native app-like shell that allows them to interact easily with platforms. Hybrid mobile apps tend to be popular within the corporate world due to their wider market appeal and lower development costs in the initial launch and future release.

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Frameworks that are used to enable the development of hybrid mobile apps –

1. React Native:

React Native is an open-source platform created by Facebook. It is extensively used to build hybrid apps because of the extensive use of native modules to improve performance. React Native is developed to interface with specific components of the platform, creating applications using native APIs and improving a hybrid application’s interactions with operating systems.

Advantages:

• Reusability of code: React Native supports a code reuse rate of 90 per cent, thereby reducing the amount of time and expense involved in making the application.
• Live reloading: Live Reloading allows for real-time modifications to code without intervention. React Native supports this feature and automatically transmits the newly-compiled code to the simulator.

2. Flutter:

Flutter is an open-source application developed by Google and was released in the year 2017. It’s compatible with many platforms and provides real-time updates for the application. While it isn’t as old as others, Flutter is used extensively by software firms to support hybrid mobile apps.

Advantages:

• Hot Reloading: Flutter can support hot reloading. This means that the file that’s been changed is modified to reflect the new changes. The source code files then get integrated into your virtual computer in real-time. This is where Flutter automatically redesigns the current widget tree with no manual intervention.
• The native app-like experience: Flutter is known widely for creating cross-platform applications which provide native performance that is comparable to an app. Flutter allows this to be achieved because its applications are written directly in machine code, which means that they can outperform bugs in the interpreter process.

Benefits of hybrid mobile apps – 

1. Hybrid apps can help you reach more customers with the ability to work across platforms. Because they’re lightweight and run seamlessly across any platform, and offer top performance, hybrid apps have a high level of acceptance from end-users.
2. Hybrid apps support code reuse and reduce the testing burden. Since hybrid apps are created from a single codebase, the infrastructure needed to test the app is also minimal, which helps in reducing the QA (Quality assurance) process.
3. UX/UI can be greatly improved when using hybrid apps. Its user interface is light and makes it simple to load content and graphics quicker. Hybrid applications are created for a variety of sizes of screens, which ensures the satisfaction of customers.
4. Hybrid apps do not depend on communication via networks while loading on mobile devices. This lets them handle network traffic in a way that is efficient. Twitter is a hybrid app that can handle large volumes of network traffic around all hours of the day.
5. Hybrid applications have a strong offline assistance system. This allows the app to operate in areas with poor internet connectivity, such as remote areas or regions with high climatic turbulence. Thus, hybrid applications have led to radical changes in business practices, allowing firms worldwide to gain access to new markets.

Hybrid mobile apps offer efficient alternatives to web-based or native apps. They blend the capabilities of both to provide an application that is light, efficient and simple to manage and deploy, has cross-platform compatibility and is cost-effective.

Hybrid applications are gaining more popularity due to their extensive offline support as well as their excellent performance in handling traffic. 

If you’re curious about custom mobile app development services, get in touch with us to schedule a free consultation. We at TFT are one of the most prestigious mobile app development service providers that offers engineering solutions that create path-breaking applications for your organization.

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