Why native iOS development is better than cross-platform HTML based
During the last few years we have been witnessing an incredible growth of the mobile device market. Nowadays there is a wide range of available solutions for customers and developers. But how to choose wisely and what’s the best way to start developing your iOS application?
What cross-platform development can offer you
The main goal of cross-platform technologies is to take advantage over written code and spread to as many different mobile brands as possible. As the project communication breaks necessity of maintaining consistency for various platforms, the process speeds up.
Developers code daily in popular and relatively easy to learn JavaScript language. With cross-platform development, your app would reach customers noticeably faster and the investment in the project would need less funding. Sounds brilliant right? Only if you can accept that your app will perform worse in comparison to native iOS development.
A closer look at native iOS development
Are cross-platform technology advantages really advantages? Do you want your iOS, Android, Windows Phone apps to behave exactly the same? If you stick with one platform for a while and try to switch to another you will become pretty surprised.
Even within the same app, there are minor differences between platforms. For instance navigation buttons with their arrangements and various gestures to move around. You can of course fill the gap with extra coding, define the special native behaviors for every mobile brand. That requires extra work and knowledge on how to proceed.
Working on the technical layer to achieve close to native performance, you will find yourself struggling with device-level functionality limitations. And what happens if Apple reveals a new operating system for iDevices? Usually everything which is crucial for cross-platform developers is being held secret until Apple’s public launch.
Native apps work fine because Apple cares about it’s business. Changes won’t affect your native application in the same way that would happen to cross-platform apps. Cross-platform teams have to wait on library updates, then implement improvements and release a new version to the App Store. And let’s not forget that all of this needs to be reviewed by Apple…
Pick a technology that serves your business
Before I got into iOS development I have developed cross-platform apps for R&D. The main goals were to reach the widest mobile audience, outline data in a very basic way and receive feedback from many testers.
Topics as attractive UIs with animations, performance and access to resources were beyond discussion. Looking back at the specification build stage, cross-platform was the right way to go. We used it to explore how the idea can be monetized. Once you have all the data, you can start building your product with native iOS development technologies.
Currently Apple is one of the world’s largest companies with a budget for making native iOS development even better. You need a stable and successful partner to keep your customer satisfied and focus on your business.
