Native vs Hybrid Apps: What’s Best for Your Billion-Dollar Idea


The use of mobiles has been increasing over the years. Mobile phones are personal devices that have become a necessity and are used almost always. Have you ever noticed how irritated you get when your phone doesn’t function properly? When you can’t find your phone around how worried you are for that moment?

It is recently found that about 30 billion iOS apps and 15 billion android apps are downloaded every year. That simply means your app is going for a world tour when online! Also, if you imagine a large crowd of people using your mobile app, your app that you present becomes their only source to judge if you are reliable, especially when the user is on the other side of the world.

A recent research claims that about 79% of mobile app users retry an app once or twice if it doesn’t function properly for the first time. Whereas only 16% will try the app up to three times based on how much they rely on it.

Here’s brief survey that shows how quickly people think an app should launch:


So ultimately it’s all about what your users see and experience on the other side, that’s how they think. Since there is no direct interaction with the user. But is that all that matters?

Although the user experience is a must there are many other factors that needs to be considered while developing an app. These factors cannot be sidelined and hence it is necessary to understand the difference between a native and hybrid app.

So what exactly is the difference between a native and a hybrid app?

Native Apps:

An app that is built and designed specifically for a particular operating system is called native. Therefore, an app designed for an Android system can run only on that system it won’t function in an iOS system and vice versa.

Development: A Native App on the iPhone (iOS system) is written in Objective C or Swift. Whereas, an Android system is written in Java. If you need an app for both the systems, they need to be written individually.

A Native App Looks Like:-


Hybrid Apps:

They are apps that have cross-platform functionalities. They are consistent across platforms and compatible with most devices like the iOS, Android, and Blackberry.

Development: The Hybrid app can be developed by using HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript for various mobile devices. The hybrid app can work on Android, iOS, Blackberry & Windows smartphones.

A Hybrid App Looks Like:-



Two main questions you must ask yourself before choosing your preferred development method.

Who’s Your Target Audience?

If the majority you wish to reach out to use just one platform (iOS or Android) you can easily opt for the native style development. If your target market is people using the iPhone then you choose iOS solution with exclusive native app feature. You can later switch your Android app to iOS and vice versa.

If you are interested in a minimum viable product with a quick development process for cross platforms. You’ve got your answer already! A hybrid development is faster and can always reach out to a larger set of people using different platforms.

What’s Your Budget?

After knowing the hurdles and tradeoffs, your expense and purpose are to be considered. Although they are slow, hybrid apps can look and feel like the native apps itself. Getting an app in the market with less budget, faster and for cross platforms may have some untapped features that you may lose out.

Both Hybrid and Native approach can get the job done. However, compromising on user experience is a big risk and can have serious consequences.

Yes, the user experience matters! But, an app with heavy graphics, large audience base, and with surfeit features can take the risk with hybrid development?


For e.g. Facebook, a giant social media company, when decided to go mobile, they opted for HTML5 Hybrid app development. But, making things user-friendly while comprosing with features made Facebook first mobile app launch a failure.

So, does that mean it’s not possible to have a hybrid app that works just fine? Well, it depends on what kind of an app you aim to develop. An app with heavy graphics and features like Facebook that’s a social site need to function well. Whereas a non-social site that may not be loaded with functionalities and with a low budget can always choose hybrid development.

Both Native and Hybrid app have their own advantages and disadvantages. This short infographic will help you understand.


At the end of the day, every coin has two sides, it’s necessary to have a look at both. Although native apps are safe, hybrid apps are cost effective. But you have to make a wise decision on your own. That’s where your success lies as an entrepreneur.