The main difference between native and hybrid apps is not how they are programmed, but how they work on the device. Therefore, a very common confusion is the idea that if we are not using Swift or Kotlin, we are not developing a native application. This is an erroneous opinion. Keep reading this article to find out.
Before starting to develop an application, each developer thinks about which tool to choose for this. It all depends on the type of application, for example, it will be web and mobile development, as well as what features and functions should be.
Core Technologies
iOS with Swift
It is a programming language offered by Apple for developing applications that run on its platforms: iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iPadOS.
While its main benefit is performance, it is important to keep in mind that applications developed in this language will only run on the aforementioned platforms. Therefore, if you think that your application should work on iOS and Android, you should be aware that you will need to duplicate code.
Kotlin
This language allows you to create native applications of high quality and high performance on all platforms supported by Android: smartphones, TVs, watches, etc. Its main disadvantage is the same as applications developed with Swift. Duplication of efforts, equipment, and code.
Since 2017, Kotlin has been considered by Google a first-class language for Android development.
Hybrid development: technologies for developing cross-platform mobile applications
The term “hybrid” is commonly used to talk about any application not developed with Swift or Kotlin.
However, in the strict sense, apps developed with some of the frameworks we'll see in this section (React Native, Xamarin, or Flutter) should not be considered hybrid apps, the correct name would be “multi-platform apps”.
As you can imagine, the big advantage of these solutions is the reduction in development and maintenance costs. Starting with the same language (Javascript or Dart), we get a dedicated app for both iOS and Android devices.
Ionic
First of all, we have Ionic, the most popular framework that allows us to develop cross-platform applications. It helps us to create applications with HTML, CSS3, and Javascript using the full potential of web development technologies.
A big difference from other frameworks like React Native is that Ionic presents the user interface in the browser.
The result that can be obtained with this structure is really good. Since several benchmarks justify the myth that Ionic offers lower performance compared to other solutions.
Flutter
Next, we find Flutter, a tool developed by Google for developing cross-platform applications. It is based on Dart and although it was introduced in 2015, it was only released in 2018.
A big advantage over other solutions is that the developed application can run on 4 platforms: iOS, Android, Web, and Desktop.
Undoubtedly, mobile application development technology is currently growing the most. With a large developer community that continues to grow and contribute.
React Native
It is a framework created by Facebook in 2015 for developing cross-platform applications.
Like Ionic, it also uses Javascript but does so under the guise of orchestrating platform-specific user interface (UI) controls.
Although high performance is achieved with this development tool, it is not fully integrated with native systems. So in some cases, you will have to touch your code.
Xamarin
It is a platform created by the developers of Mono and subsequently acquired by Microsoft. It uses C# and like other frameworks, it manages to build native applications with very good performance. The UI takes longer to develop and the community is not as active.
Each tool is perfect for developing a mobile application. Your task is to decide on the goals that you pursue in development to select the ideal option.
