Hybrid apps vs React Native apps – What Should Startups Choose?

Introduction

When your startup is still in its initial stage, there are several tasks that you need to handle. Some of these tasks involve building a website, selecting a domain name, and getting your product out there. This isn’t it, there are several other things as well that you need to get right. One of those things is selecting the development platform for building applications for your business. You can’t go wrong here. The platform you choose will have a say on how far your startup can go. If you are in it for the long run, you must carefully compare different platforms before making a decision. You can choose to build hybrid apps or React Native ones amongst other options.

A lot of startups choose hybrid apps because you can build them in lesser time. This is because they come with shortcuts that significantly reduce the development time. It is due to this reason that hybrid apps have been so popular with startups over the years. Another reason that makes them so popular amongst startups is their low cost of development. Startups usually don’t have a lot of money to build native apps for different platforms. Hybrid apps provide them with a cost-effective way of building apps that can work on different platforms.

Disadvantages related to Hybrid Apps

Hybrid apps have several disadvantages as well that can make them less appealing to startups. As a startup, you may have to compromise on a certain aspect of your app. A hybrid app may not be the right option for you if you are looking for a responsive app that works equally well on different platforms. No matter the platform, their overall performance is questionable. But if you are more interested in the cost advantage you get with hybrid apps but are really worried about the compromises in quality and performance, then there is a better solution available. We are talking about React Native apps. You get the cost advantage without compromising on anything. So before we tell you the benefits of hiring a React Native app development company, let us first discuss a few more challenges of going the hybrid way.

Hybrid app development challenges

One of the biggest challenges with hybrid apps is how slow they are in comparison to their native counterparts. If you know how hybrid apps work, you wouldn’t have any difficulty in understanding the questionable performance. These apps have an extra layer to separate the source code and the mobile platform. This is what brings the speed and performance down so significantly. Do you know the reason why Facebook switched to React Native from HTML5? It is what we told you just now.

It is also very difficult to introduce new features to hybrid apps. When you are a startup trying hard to make your app, you are looking for flexibility when it comes to feature addition. You will have to update your apps at regular intervals and add features that can help you compete. Hybrid apps make this job very difficult. With limited or no value additions, your app’s value proposition comes down dramatically.

Another reason for choosing React Native apps is the difficult debugging process in hybrid apps. The additional layer between the source code and the mobile platform makes debugging a complex process. This could have a big impact on how your finished app performs as it will still have bugs.

Why React Native apps?

The first reason is the low development cost of React Native apps. But it goes without saying that you need to hire mobile app developers in India who are well-versed in making the most of React Native. You can build an app with all the basic features that you want it to have initially. You can continue adding features as and when you require. It is a cost-effective proposition, one that doesn’t ask you to compromise on the experience or performance.

You can use React Native for cross-platform app development. Unlike hybrid app development, React Native handles cross-platform development challenges quite well. It does this without giving away the native experience. Developers use a single code for both iOS and Android platforms. And React Native uses minimum coding to deliver a better native user experience.

You can expect React Native apps to perform much better than their hybrid counterparts. They provide faster loading time to go with high performance. As it uses simple architecture and reusable code, developers prefer React Native for building apps in much lesser time.

React Native vs Other Languages: A Quick Comparison:

Kotlin vs React native :

Kotlin, a flexible programming language, is extensively employed for Android app development, offering concise syntax and interoperability with Java. On the other hand, React Native, a cross-platform mobile framework, utilizes JavaScript to build applications for both iOS and Android. Developers benefit from code reusability, enabling efficient development across multiple platforms. Each technology serves distinct purposes, with Kotlin excelling in Android ecosystems and React Native facilitating cross-platform app development through shared codebases.

React native vs Swift :

React Native, a cross-platform framework, allows developers to build mobile applications using JavaScript, offering code reusability between iOS and Android platforms. Swift, an iOS-exclusive programming language, provides a native approach for Apple ecosystem development. While React Native simplifies cross-platform development, Swift ensures optimized performance and seamless integration with iOS features. The choice depends on project requirements: React Native for cross-platform versatility or Swift for an exclusive focus on iOS development.

React native vs Tauri :

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces primarily used for web development. React Native extends this to mobile app development with shared codebases for iOS and Android. Tauri, however, is a different approach, allowing developers to build lightweight, native desktop applications using web technologies. React and React Native are geared toward web and mobile, respectively, while Tauri is focused on cross-platform desktop applications with a minimal footprint.

Conclusion

It is quite evident from this discussion that React Native apps are a much better version of hybrid apps. They are better than their counterparts in several that we have talked about in this blog. So if you are thinking of building a cross-platform app for your startup, you know what to choose.

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