APP DEVELOPMENT – NATIVE APP OR PROGRESSIVE WEB APP?
App Development or Application development Industry has been in the rise in the recent past years and all thanks to the evolution of Charming Smartphones. But the trend didn’t stop with just the development of Mobile Apps, also it brought the expansion of Websites in the form of Web Applications.
We know what is a Native App but anyway lets just see a brief on the term.
Native Apps are specifically built according to their corresponding landing devices or in other words, OS platforms . For example Siri is the popular iOS app and for Android, we have Clash of Clans. So it is obvious that we can’t search an Apple app in the Android Play Store and vice versa.
And for many of us, Progressive Web Apps is a new term but it’s just the mix of Web World and App world.
They are a Google Initiative started two years ago, with the idea to improve the functionality of the Website Applications. So how it works is that, when you access a web app, they make use of your Native phone features such as contacts, camera, photos, GPS etc. But it doesn’t stop here because they provide Push Notifications, offline viewing, etc to give you an App-like experience. So when your web app completely behaves like a native app they are the Progressive Web Apps.
Also note these web apps are accessible, irrespective of your device’s Operating System i.e Android, iOS, BlackBerry or Windows phone. And unlike Native Apps, there is no requirement to install or download them. Rather you just need a browser and a network connection to access them.
To help you out, we have come up with some major unique advantages of each platform.
Advantages of Native Apps:
Monetary Benefits – It is not that hard to see money through Native Apps, as many users are ready to pay for apps which proves to be making their day to day life easier and better.
Feels Very Native – Yes, it’s very obvious as the design and development of native apps, is to look cool and tempting enough to use them.
Works Offline – This is a highly desirable advantage as some native apps provide you the option to use them offline.
It’s Free – Most of the native apps are free. All your users need to do is go to the respective store to download their favorite apps.
Use of Device’s features – Native Apps can very well use the device’s features such as camera, GPS, accelerometer, contacts, etc. So it will be easy for you to customize, to send notifications or alerts.
Speed – Speed is a very important factor to grip your customers. Because you need to make them spend considerable amount of time in your App to showcase its purpose. And Native Apps does that very well by loading quickly and as fast as you want.
User Experience (UX) – So when your App is near perfect to provide all the above stated actions you can certainly provide a great user experience. Also Native Apps allows you to be more creative in your design to exhibit your creative talent.
Well, nothing comes with few, major or minor disadvantages.
Expensive – Native Apps are too costly to develop, as the SDKs pricing are very high.
Unreliable – Programmers need to have a thirst for knowledge, because the programming language varies from one Operating System to other.
Updates – Native Apps needs constant updates to exploit them to the fullest and this requires considerable amount of data and it’s a very repetitive process.
Maintenance – It’s quite tricky to maintain the code base as some programming languages are complex. Mainly if you are working with two platforms altogether. You need to constantly work on both the platforms to maintain them up-to-date. Also some OS are combination of two programming languages, hence you may find it difficult to be the best in both, unless you have a strong team to assist you.
App Approval – Yes it’s a painful process to wait for your app approval, but once you pass through the process, you can easily reach the people. Also you require an impressive ASO to rank high among the other apps.
Accumulation of users – It doesn’t happen that fast in reaching and gaining wide number of audience in Native Apps. The process is slow as it requires multiple levels of marketing and that comes with a price.
Quite Risky – Appreneurs should be ready to face the result, as it won’t be favorable all the times. Good amount of hard work and perseverance is very much required, to sustain your dream app in this competitive market, to make it a success.
Advantages of Progressive Web Apps
Low Cost – The average customer acquisition cost for PWA is very low compared to Native Apps. Moreover, App developers no need to worry about taking risks. They can go ahead with full confidence, as there is always a chance of making things right, anytime.
Service Workers – Now, web apps are blessed with this web workers called Service Workers. It is a Javascript file which runs separately on background, chiefly to push offline messages and for background sync. The message behind is that, web apps should provide the users an app-like experience.
SEO(search-ability) – As for Apps it is ASO, for web apps it is SEO( Search Engine optimization). Unlike Native Apps, you just don’t need to be creative with your design but to be creative with your content to have a good SEO score.
Supportive – PWAs supports every browser on your Android device and fits to the screen irrespective of your Native devices.
No Installation and Updates – Thankfully. Therefor you are not consuming your users device space and their data constantly.
No Terms and Conditions – Contrary to Native apps, which requires to accept terms and conditions before installing them on the device, your users can straightly view the content once they open the website. And with all the Customization and Personalization, they are now no less than Native Apps in terms of functionality.
Connectivity – PWAs work even in low quality networks. Hence loading the pages won’t be a problem anymore. Because they have service workers, which provides the speed that you want.
Engagement – As service workers enable offline push messages, users can be in constant touch with your content. Also they can readily go back to the website to view more, without any login process.
No need of any submission and approval process. You can just straightly start working on your Web App.
Safe and Secure – Since websites are Https secured , users data and information are always safely transmitted.
Disadvantages
- Promoting is difficult as it requires an App store but advertising is quite easy.
- Apple’s iOS only partially supports Progressive Web Apps.
- We have to accept that in terms of User Experience, PWAs may lag behind. Because they lack creative elements to make them irresistible.
Conclusion
It’s not about who is the winner but who, at the end of day, served better and will serve way better tomorrow. When it’s comes to users/customers, having a significant Native app or PWA is very crucial and essential to benefit your customers. But to choose between these two categories, you need to have a clear view on how each of them benefits your purpose. So if you are an App developer, clearly know their high and low points, so that you can choose a platform, that enhances your product.
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