Mobile app development is not an easy thing to do. It requires a lot of planning, and many other things feature in, for the formation of a smart mobile app. Mobile app development has not one but many stages involved, for the proper implementation. The stage which first comes upon is the idea for the app, which is the first stage for pretty much everything, right? Then come stages such as planning, designing, developing, testing, and then, finally, deployment of the app, into the desired and intended mobile devices. Before everything, it is very important for you to finalize on how you want to create and deploy your mobile app. The choice that you are given is between two: you either choose to develop a native app or a web app.
If you are wondering what is a native app, then it is an app which can be downloaded through the play store, and a mobile web app is one which can be accessed through the web browser of the mobile app. For the mobile web apps, there is no need to download or install them on your device. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages. You need to compare these two with each other before finalizing on which one you want to develop.
These two may be comparable in a number of ways, and one of the ways is the user interface. When comparing on the merits of the user interface, both of these are not very different from one another. However, some companies choose to develop both native and web apps, in order to increase the reach of their apps, and also to provide better user experience. Although the differences are not huge when comparing the two using user interface, the differences do come hugely when comparing the two in the cases of development. Every mobile application development platform that the native app is developed for requires its own unique development process. However, when you consider the case for mobile web apps, that basically depends upon the web browser, and each device may have its own features, as well as flaws.
Regarding the capabilities of both, there is no doubt that a native app is the one which is more capable, because of the fact that it can interface with the devices hardware, information, and native features, including the likes of the camera, accelerometer amongst other, while web apps don’t have similar capabilities.
It would also be true to say that native apps are not only more capable but are also faster. Indeed, they are more expensive to develop when compared to a web app, but with native apps, quality is ensured! Web apps have high maintenance costs, and they also cannot ensure good quality, as there is not real authority to ensure any types of quality standards.
Both the native apps and the mobile web apps have their advantages and disadvantages, and at the end of the day, it is the choice of the developer to choose which type of app he wants to develop, all in accordance with his requirements.
