“Should we order pizza today?“ Yes, why not, order a pepperoni pizza for me with capers and black olives. So the next thing you do is open your favourite pizza outlet’s app, select the pizza, your base, the toppings, extra cheese (Yum!!), select your address and place the order. Calling for a pizza cannot be more difficult than this, Right? Well this was not the case until a few years back, you actually had to call up the outlet, explain the specification of your pizza, mention your address, spend 10 minutes for the entire process. And then hope that the pizza would land up as you expected it. The mobile app has definitely made it simpler, you get to see and review the details of your order before you actually place it. And more than that it has simplified the overall process. 

This revolution bought out by these pieces of code running on your mobile devices has made life so much easier. Apps have become such an integral part of our lives, that we can’t imagine going back to doing things the old way. And believe us, even big businesses have realized this fact. Having a presence in the market form of a mobile app, can as well be the deciding factor in being chosen over your competitor.

So you have a crazy idea for an app and you feel it will definitely help ease people’s life, go for it. But before you actually take the leap of faith before building the app here is something you should consider when deciding which technology to use for building the apps.

 

Native Applications

Apps created using native technologies are built for a specific platform or an Operating System. They are written in a programming language understood by the platform like java in case of Android or Swift for iOS. And as obvious it seems, a native app created for one platform does not run on the other.

 

React Native Applications

React Native is a javascript based framework created by Facebook that allows you to develop native mobile apps for both iOS and Android. This means an app written once can run on both the phones. Isn’t that a superpower!!

 

So now that we have an idea of the protagonists of our story, let’s check out their superpowers.

 

Native:

There are certainly some areas where the native apps fare better. Consider it like the father with streaks of grey hair: They’ve earned these with all the years of hardwork and the experience that comes with it.

  • Faster app performance

Native apps are fast. This is because they are written in a language which is most suited for the OS and optimized for the platform.

 

  • Lower App size

The resultant size of a native app is less as compared to a React Native app.

 

  • Hardware power-ups

The native apps have a better ability to handle interactions with the hardware components of your phone. So if you want to build an accelerometer-based remote for your drone, a native app is more capable to handle it.

 

  • Animations and Sound effects

You want to build an app where screens swoop from one corner to the other. And has some amazing sound effects, the native will help you keep your user engaged with the app.

 

React Native

If native is the father then React Native is Generation Next. It’s the enthusiastic kid who is always on the lookout to try new things and also find better ways to tackle existing things.

 

  • Lesser Delivery time

When an app is built using React Native, it is as good as building Android and iOS in one go. This directly translates to significantly less time than would be required for building the two apps separately.

  • Smaller team size

A single React native developer can deliver two apps as opposed to separate developers required for native apps. Thus your team size reduces, which in turn results in cost savings. ?? Wohoo!!

  • Less time spent on regression

Everytime a new feature is added, we need to ensure the previously implemented features have not been adversely affected. If it were for native, these checks would be required for both Android and iOS. But with React Native a single validation is sufficient.

  • Reduced bug resolution time

In case of native apps, a bug reported would need to be fixed at 2 places. With React Native a single fix quashes the bug in both the apps.

  • New features can be shipped faster

You feel that a new feature can take the app to the next level. With a native app it would take twice the time to get it out to the market. React Native helps you roll out new features quicker.

 

Haven’t you heard about Hybrid Apps?

Yes, we have heard about hybrid apps. These are essentially built using a combination of native elements and web-apps. Under the hood they display web-pages adapted for a WebView display(Or in simple terms, a browser). Thus, similar to React Native, a single app can be deployed for both iOS and Android.

So is a React Native app also a Hybrid app?

No, a React Native app is not a Hybrid App. Fundamentally, a Hybrid app is running on your phones browser, whereas a React Native app runs on your mobile’s resources similar to a Native app. So a React Native app’s performance is much better than a hybrid app.

 

So Who wins?

The new kid on the block is catching up very fast. It is trusted by some of the biggest names of the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Uber, Discord, SoundCloud and Skype to name a few. This shows that React Native has definitely built its credibility. With every subsequent release React Native gets more powerful in terms of features. React Native provides dual advantage, it helps keep the execution time and costs in control and also caters to users of both the platforms(Android and iOS). And from a maintainability perspective, React Native codebase is easier to maintain. This gets additional brownie points from the developers.

In case the application relies heavily on certain hardware based functionalities, a native app may score a bit more higher. But it could just be a matter of time till RN bridges this gap too.