Mobile Cross-platform App vs Native App – What’s The Difference and Which One is Better?

The mobile apps market keeps growing and it is unlikely that anything will significantly change in the coming years. At the same time, 99% of all smartphones in the world work on one of two platforms – iOS or Android.

Entrepreneurs, start-uppers and independent developers produce hundreds of apps in a variety of niches every day. However, anyone who is going to develop a mobile app faces the need to choose between one of two options – native or cross-platform development. Cross-platform app development offers several advantages, such as hassle-free development, great product maintenance, reduced cost, and wider market reach. It reduces the need for hiring multiple teams, speeds up the development process, lowers development costs, and simplifies building and maintaining the app.

In this article, we will tell you the difference between native and cross-platform apps, their advantages and disadvantages, and what option is better to choose in a particular situation. Cross-platform development allows apps to run on different mobile platforms or operating systems, such as iOS and Android.

Native app development: simple explanation

The simplest example of native mobile apps is this – they are the ones you encounter on the first day of using the device. That is the browser, calendar, mail client, alarm clock and other basic programs. Native mobile apps are designed and developed for a specific mobile platform or operating system, such as iOS or Android.

Native mobile app development uses programming languages and development tools that are “native” to a particular operating system. For example, that is Objective-C and Swift for iOS, and Java and Kotlin for Android. Such apps are initially developed to create a product that will work exclusively on the target platform, leveraging platform-specific programming languages, optimizing performance, and delivering the utmost user experience.

Advantages of native app development:

• There are no performance or speed limitations. This is important for some types of applications, such as those designed to work with graphics. Native mobile applications offer enhanced performance, high speed, and unique device and operating system features;
• User interface elements are familiar to users of that platform, providing a high-quality user experience;
• Access to all smartphone features and operating system options (camera, microphone, geolocation, accelerometer, etc.);
• New software and hardware features are available immediately after the update is released;
• Availability of a wide range of quality control tools that make the testing process faster and more convenient;
• High level of integration with the platform – development is done using technologies recommended by the developers of a particular operating system.

Disadvantages of native app development:

• If a presence is required for both iOS and Android, you have to create two separate apps which will significantly slow down your development and testing;
• Separate development for each platform requires more specialists, which increases the budget;
• You will need to monitor applications for both platforms, which requires more time and resources for technical support.

Cross-platform app development

Cross-platform applications are developed using specialized tools (Unity, PhoneGap, Xamarin) that allow you to create source code, most of which is then reused to compile the solution for a separate operating system.

Cross-platform frameworks such as React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin allow developers to write code once and deploy it across platforms, reducing development time and effort compared to building separate native applications for each platform. The most promising technology for cross-platform mobile app development is Xamarin.

Advantages of cross-platform development:

• The ability to reuse portions of the code, unified logic, and architecture that can significantly reduce development time;
• High economic efficiency, which makes development affordable even for small companies;
• If a product has a bug to be fixed, it will be fixed for all platforms on which the project is distributed;
• High speed to market and reduced update costs. In today’s market, this is a very powerful argument;
• Lower development costs and unified marketing and update efforts associated with cross-platform mobile applications.

Disadvantages of cross-platform development:

• Shared code-based applications are not always seamlessly integrated with the platform, so it can be difficult to create a consistent user experience across operating systems;
• Cross-platform mobile applications are not as well integrated with the OS as native applications, which affects performance and speed;
• There may be limited access to the unique features of the platform and device;
• Cross-platform mobile applications may require advanced coding skills to overcome their inherent limitations.

In most cases, these disadvantages are irrelevant if the project is being developed by high-skilled professionals. For example, Xamarin allows you to easily interact with the necessary device function’s API-interface app.

Native vs. Cross-platform: What Is Right for My Project?

Each of these options has its advantages and disadvantages. The choice between cross-platform and native development should be based on the functionality required and the deployment environment of the application.

Cross-platform development allows you to build mobile applications that run on multiple platforms using a single code base. The benefits of this approach include broader market reach, faster time to market, cost effectiveness, and UI/UX consistency across platforms.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to “which is better,” because each case is unique.

Opinions may vary, but we single out 11 mobile app development process steps.

Make a choice in favor of a native application if:

• Your product requires full access to hardware features and OS capabilities;
• Maximum efficiency is required when using device’s hardware capabilities (for example, processing large volumes of data on the client side);
• When developing utilities that manage system resources;
• The product must provide the highest possible quality of user experience.

Cross-platform technology will be an excellent choice if:

• You need to quickly enter the market to test your idea under real-life conditions;
• It’s about developing a B2B solution, where deployment speed is much more important than the way it looks;
• You need to create an app for several platforms on a limited budget;
• You need to make a client app for a website (or other product) which does not involve complex functionality.

Remember that you never know how things will be moving, and it’s always worth thinking about the strategy in terms of a long-term perspective.

If you are faced with a choice of technology or you have doubts concerning your choice, you can always seek our specialists’ advice. Write to us and we will be happy to help you!