Everyone in the field of mobile app development has heard of hybrid mobile apps, but not so many have had a good word to say about them. Why? Because hybrid apps are seen as the ugly ducklings amongst their “sisters” – the native and web apps. However, young Patrick Rudolph from Hojoki has a couple of advice to people who are interested in tackling this particular field.
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Two Ways To Build A Hybrid App
First things come first: what are hybrid mobile apps? Here’s exactly where the catch of this whole concepts resides. Hybrid apps are the result of a combo of features specific to native and web apps. To be more precise, you get to use a common code base to create native-like apps which you can deploy to a wide array of platforms. A hybrid app can be built as a WebView app, in which your HTML, JavaScript or CSS code is ran through the WebView internal browser, wrapped within a native app. Another type of hybrid app is the compiled one, which is written in one language code and is compiled to native code according to the platform which will support it. The result consists in a native app, while the development process is not as fluid as when building an actual native app.
Why Go To The Trouble?
According to Rudolph, hybrid apps, especially WebView apps, are useful and fun because they pave the way for mobile app developers towards putting their web skills to great use.
That’s one, but there are more benefits to come, once you’ve started taking an interest in hybrid apps. You can use one code base for multiple platforms, which makes it all so much easier and timesaving. Also, it’s not as costly as building a full-on native app. Another great thing is that, even though it’s not exactly a native app, it can be distributed natively through app stores and to mobile browsers via search engines, so you don’t need to worry about low visibility.
As we all know, not everything that shines is gold, and the old saying applies in this case too. Which means there are, of course, a series of drawbacks you should take into account. If you’re planning to build a hybrid app, make sure you’ve got the time for it. You will be investing more time and more effort than you usually do, in order to emulate a native user interface. You also need to know that not all types of device and operating system features are supported and, if you’re app doesn’t have the right native feel, you might be rejected by Apple. And you sure don’t want that if you’re aiming for profit.
It may or may not be your cup of tea, but if you enjoy experimenting, then you should give hybrid apps a chance. Just for the fun of it.
