Web App vs Native App

While developing an app the first you need to plan is what type of app you’re going to design. The two main choices you got are web apps and native apps. A web app, as the name suggests, is an app that the user accesses through the web browser. An example of a web app is Gmail. When you access it through a browser. A native app is an app that you usually need install and is platform dependent. An example of native apps is Pokemon Go. There also exist “hybrid apps” but we’ll stick to the web and native apps in this post.

source

Comparison between web apps and native apps

• Interface — The user interface is mostly similar in both native and web apps. Although there might be some differences depending on the device. For example, on Android, you’ll develop using a material design but on a web app, it can be slightly different from that.
• Development process — Every mobile platform has its own SDK that the developers use for development. In case of web apps, you don’t have any standard SDK for a particular platform. You are free to use any process to develop but have to support different types of browsers and screen sizes.
• Access to device features — Native apps can freely access device features like camera, accelerometer, GPS, etc. Web apps have very limited access to these features. Simple tasks like uploading images can still be performed. This is an important thing to consider when designing your app.
• Versioning and updates — Native apps can be easily versioned. It’s easy to provide update notes with the updates. The users can grab the new version from their respective app stores to update. Updating web apps isn’t as straightforward. Usually, it involves shutting down servers for maintenance before applying the changes.
• App monetization — In case of native apps, the app store takes care of your revenue but different manufacturers lay restrictions on the type of ads that can be shown. With web apps, you can set up your own ads service. While this gives you more control it increases the workload.
• Cost-effectiveness — Web apps, in general, are more cost-effective compared to native apps. You can use the same web app on multiple platforms. In case of native apps, the process of developing and maintaining multiple code bases increases the costs.

source

Pros of native apps

• Fast — Since native apps are made for the specific device using special SDKs they tend to perform better.
• Easier access to device features — Native features can make full use of device functions like the camera. For example, most GPS apps are native apps because they need access to device’s GPS functionality.
• Easier to promote — You can pay to feature your app on the app store. Also to share the app you just have to share the link to the app store.
• Fast development —Using SDKs, the development process becomes much faster. Special IDE features take up as much workload as possible to make the development process fast.
• Push notifications —Native apps can use notifications to notify users about various events. Notifications are also a great way to nudge users into using your app. For example, a gaming app can notify a user when a new quest is available. A messaging app can notify with the messages.
• Interact with other apps — Instances of native apps can interact with each other on different devices. An example of such native app is ShareIt. You can use it to move files from one mobile to other.
• Easily accessible — You can add shortcuts to your native app to open it fast every time you access your device.

Cons of native apps

• High development cost — The cost increases with the number of platforms you plan to support.
• High cost of maintenance — Maintaining multiple code bases requires extra resources.
• App store approval — You need to get your app verified by app store which might not be a straightforward procedure.
• Providing updates — You need to force users to update the app nonfunctional until they update it.
• Needs installation — Before trying a native app you have to download and install it first.

source

Pros of web apps

• Easy maintenance — Easier to maintain when you have a single code base.
• Support older devices —Depending on the type of device web apps can adapt to show different content.
• No app store verification— Since web apps don’t have app stores you can simply share it with the URL.
• Easier update — It’s a lot easier to update a web app than updating a native app for different devices.
• Inexpensive — Development costs are reduced to a single code base.
• Instantly available — A web is not required to be downloaded and is available almost instantly.
• Easily shareable — Since web apps are instantly available they are easily shareable by sharing the URL.

Cons of web apps

• Limited functional capabilities — Web apps don’t have access to device features like GPS and camera so they have limited use.
• Hard development — If you plan to support a large number of browsers then development process becomes much harder. Especially for older browsers since they don’t support newer browser features.
• Analytics — Since the same user can use the app on multiple devices it’s harder to record usage statistics for a single person.
• Harder to promote — Since you don’t have access to app store the ways to promote the app are limited.
• Security issues — Generally app stores provide security against hackers by providing checks. With a web app, you have to take care of all the security measures yourself.
• User experience — Since web apps can’t use device-specific features the user experience isn’t at the maximum possible level.
• Needs web browser — Web browser is prerequisite for all web apps, unlike native apps.

Conclusion

Before developing your app you should consider the following points:

• Performance — Native apps perform better.
• Device features — If your app uses device functions camera then you might need is a native app.
• Multiple platforms — Web apps are easier to develop for multiple platforms.
• Budget — Web apps generally need lower budget than native apps if developing for multiple platforms.
• Monetization — Native apps are easier to monetize.

Big companies like Google and Facebook nowadays develop both native and web apps. For example, on a phone, if you go facebook.com you’re using the web app whereas if you use the app from the app store you’re using the native app. Now you should have a pretty clear idea what type of app you’ll be developing when working on your next project.