
// Mobile apps
Pros & Cons of Cross-Platform and Native Mobile App Development
// Mobile apps
We will define a cross-platform and native approach to application development, describe the pros and cons of each and tell you which one to choose.
When smartphones first appeared, developers were limited to a platform-specific, or native, approach to building applications. That is, they could only create an app for a specific platform (iOS and Android). If you needed support for both platforms at once, then you had to create two separate applications for each mobile platform.
There are a few more choices now because in addition to the native one, you can also create a cross-platform application that will run on both Android and iOS using just one codebase. Next, we will tell you what is behind the terms of native and cross-platform application development, and also describe in detail the pros and cons of each approach and their nuances.
Native programs are those that run only on one mobile platform or operating system, that is, only on iOS, Android, Windows mobile, Blackberry, etc. These are almost all applications installed by default: phone book, accelerator, file manager, calendar, calculator, email client and other standard services, as well as almost all mobile video games and other programs using graphics chips.
Users love "native" for responsive UX, high speed of work, familiar design and responsiveness. This is achieved through the use of "native" language environments for each platform: Swift and Objective-C for iOS, as well as Java and Kotlin for Android. In addition, using a native approach, programmers can get more complete access to the hardware and service part of the device: photo and video cameras, audio module, phone book, GPS module, etc. - in general, they are easily integrated and "feel at home" on native platform.
For the adapted UX, responsiveness, functionality and performance, you have to pay with time and, consequently, development costs, since it takes one and a half to two times more time to write code for two platforms, which means that the development budget should be much larger (more about this below in the text).
Thanks to the cross-platform approach to creating programs, you can significantly reduce development time and cost. However, you should not expect outstanding performance and / or maximum integration with platform and device functions and services. Customization can also be a problem as it will be limited by the structure used.
Native development uses languages that have the most complete tools to implement all the requirements of the guidelines, that is, to create a familiar audience of the design platform. Whereas cross-platform development involves the use of universal tools that, although they allow you to bring the design closer to "native", for this you will have to spend much more effort. At the same time, the animation speed, responsiveness, effects and design will still be at least a little, but different (though this is not always a bad thing).
User experience. Lower responsiveness (the speed at which the application responds to user actions), sharper (stuttered) animations, pings and freezes can seriously ruin the user experience. These problems often lead to users uninstalling the application after the first launch, despite its uniqueness, nice design and low cost.
Cross-platform solutions, due to the use of non-platform-specific languages, are inferior to native ones in this regard - they slow down and freeze, and this is their main problem. And although freezes can be for a split second, but this is enough for the user to give preference to the native application. For example, many people prefer Android devices, since in this market you can find devices with a screen refresh rate of 90-140 Hz, while on the same iPhone 12 Pro Max it is only 60 Hz, which greatly spoils the user experience.
In addition, developers of cross-platform applications usually create the same design (it's easier, faster and cheaper), which may not always be good, since each platform usually has its own specific rules (guidelines). And when these rules are ignored, users of one of the platforms may find it unusual (uncomfortable) to use the application.
A striking example is the Back function, which is familiar to Android devices, and has no analogue on iOS. If a cross-platform application has the same design, then users of the same platform will be forced to adapt, which can degrade their user experience. This problem can be solved only by creating two different designs, taking into account the peculiarities of each platform. But these, in fact, will be two different applications, but in the same cross-platform language, which largely negates the advantages of this approach to software development.
Limitations of the mobile platform. With native development, you will be limited by the platform and device you are using. When designing a cross-platform application, the developer must take into account not only these limitations, but also the capabilities of the language, bridge and framework used.
Service and support. For a comprehensive service of a cross-platform solution (updates, security updates, search and fixing of errors), you usually need half as many resources, since one specialist (team) can handle this, while servicing native solutions for two platforms requires at least two specialists (Android, iOS).
Development time and cost. The creation of cross-platform solutions, as a rule, is much cheaper than native development, due to the smaller amount of work. The payoff is usually between 30 and 50%. Here is a table comparing the time and cost of cross-platform vs native development, based on data from the international freelance platform upwork.com.
Now that we understand what is meant by cross-platform and native development, and we also know the pros and cons of each option, let's take a quick look at the main differences between the two.
The decision to choose the optimal approach to application development depends on the business problems of the project complexity and individual circumstances, so there is no single correct answer. Only general recommendations can be given.
It is worth stopping at the native approach of application development if:
The cross-platform approach (React Native) is best used to test an idea and go to market as soon as possible. Also, this approach is more preferable if you need a simple application for solving a specific task, for example, a news feed or a voting form.
If you still haven't decided which option is best for you - cross-platform vs native development, use this scheme:
Development method selection map. Source