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The Best Way To Build A Native Application In 2021: A Short Guide 

As you know, nowadays the issue of creating mobile apps has become extremely popular. Many companies rely their success on building a sophisticated mobile app. The recent survey has shown that more than 3.5 billion people in the world own a phone with an Internet connection. This fact proves that nowadays we have an enormous online market which can be used for some certain purposes thanks to the existence of phone apps.

Moreover, there are some difficulties concerning the fragmentation and diversity of the people, living in different parts of the world. Due to investigations, there are nearly 74.14% of people using Android, 25.26% of people using iOS, and nearly 0.6% of users opting for other options. Although, these figures may vary from one region to another. For example more than half of the US population use iOS, while in the regions of South America and Asia the vast majority of smartphone owners opt for Android platform.

It has resulted in the popularization of cross-platform smartphone app building as a divergence measure. Initially, a person who decided to develop his or her own app has to pay great attention to choosing the app platform. It is of crucial importance to take into consideration the residency and needs of a particular audience. But it is not the last issue a person has to cope with, since after opting for a platform a person, who wants to build own app, has to know how it can be done.

Three major variants of solution in native android app development are available. 

As a matter of fact, a person is capable of building different application codes for each platform, opt for a cross-platform app building framework to use code for each platform several times, or create a progressive web application (PWA).

In the article, we will look closer into these approaches and assist you to decide on the best option for you.

What should a  person know about a native application?

A native app is an application which is built specifically for a target platform, using programming language and tooling preferred to this platform. If we talk about iOS, it would be Swift. If we talk about the Android platform, it would be Kotlin or Java.

Pros and cons of a native application

The beneficial side of opting for a native app include:

  • Efficiency: Due to the fact that native apps are oriented at their particular target platform, they are quicker and more efficient than their precedents.
  • Capability: Native apps have direct access to smartphone facilities, such as the camera, compass or accelerometer and notifications if it is Apple. 
  • Quality: Such applications without any difficulties blend into their aimed platform. Thanks to this, a native application is so easy to use.

On the other hand, there are some cons which include:

  • Price: You will be forced to establish a separate app for each platform, since the code for iOS won’t be functioning on Android. 
  • Professionals: Such applications must be created by the programmers who master  Swift, Kotlin or Java.

Some well-known native app samples:

As a matter of fact, the most well-known apps are usually native ones, since only teams with a solid budget opt for such apps. Among the most prominent examples are Twitter, Pokemon Go and Waze. Impressive, isn’t it?

What should a person know about a cross platform application?

Cross platforms are those working on different platforms and demanding only small modifications.

Pros and cons of a cross-platform application

Cross-platform applications can boast of some essential benefits:

  • Price: Since this code can work on all of the targeted platforms, a person is not required to spend money on establishing two or more different codes. Thanks to this, a company can maximize its profit.
  • Time: Cross-platform apps don’t demand such a great deal of time and can be built much quicker than a native application.

Although, there are some disadvantages as well:

  • Flexibility: Such apps may limit your capabilities somehow. It may be challenging to create custom UI elements and some particular device features won’t work properly without a native code.
  • Quality: Sometimes such apps can’t be efficient enough to achieve an aim for covering a particular audience.
  • Speed: Cross-platform applications are not so fast as native ones.

Some popular samples of cross-platform applications

You may not know about this fact, but there are a number of apps created with the help of cross-platform methods. Among such applications are Uber Eats, Bloomberg app and even Instagram.

What should a person know about a progressive web app (PWA)?

PWA building is the fastest and easiest way of creating cross-platform smartphone applications.I t is something between a mobile accessible site and a conventional smartphone application.

Progressive web application is a framework created with the help of web languages and technologies like Javascript, HTML and CSS which are built to function as a native application.

Although, the user gets access to PWA not like to native applications. It is the main difference between these apps’ development. Unlike native and cross-platform apps, PWAs can’t be found on the iOS App Store. A user can access PWAs only through an Internet address or on the Google Play Store in case a specific PWA demands are met.

Benefits and drawbacks of PWA:

The main pros of using progressive web apps

  • Speed: By building a PWA you receive an application that can function on all possible platforms, involving Android, iOS and other platforms. 
  • Price: As you are not required to pay for each platform code separately, you can easily save money and get higher profit.

The cons involve:

  • Performance: Some device features may be limited by a PWA. For instance, sometimes the users having an iOS platform can not receive push notifications. To avoid this problem you will be forced to build your own notification tactic. Moreover, if you wish to make use of GPS, camera, and other features like that, PWA isn’t a good variant for you.

Well-known samples of progressive web applications

As a rule, online companies opt for PWAs to boost their existing sites. Among such Internet pages are Financial Times, Twitter and Pinterest.

So, how should a person build a native app in 2021?

Your choice should depend on the purposes of your application. If you are interested in getting some feedback from customers, opt for a PWA. Want to get an app in the most competitive segment and get access to GPS, compass or push notifications on iOS? Then a native app is exactly for you. And if you want your application to be available on the iOS App Store, without endless substitutions of App Store requirements of acceptance, you should opt for establishing a cross-platform.