Your business is sure to flourish if you sell your services and products on-the-go. Almost everyone has access to the internet via their smartphones today, so it only makes sense to have an app for your product. This makes it easy for your customers to shop while on the move.
However, when it comes to mobile app development, there is no one-size-fits-all policy. Depending on the specific needs of your business and what your customers are looking for, you can choose between native apps which integrate with single operating systems, web apps which are developed using HTML 5 or hybrid apps that combine the best of native and web apps.
More and more businesses are preferring hybrid apps over other types of app development because of the numerous benefits they offer in terms of device performance, responsiveness and user experience. As per Gartner’s, more than 50% of smartphone applications in 2016 were hybrid in nature.
So, what is a hybrid app?
Hybrid apps are cross-platform apps that leverage multiple technologies and techniques from mobile web apps and native apps. Speaking from a business point of view, hybrid apps remove the need to develop applications from scratch for every operating platform you plan to cater to. With cross-platform designs, hybrid apps offer better user experience than native apps and solve several other issues with web applications.
A 2014 study by VisionMobile for over 7,000 app developers found that 15% of app developer experts use web technologies to integrate with native tools, that is, in laymen terms, build hybrid apps. With higher businesses turning to smartphone marketing, these numbers are set to escalate.
Apart from a better user experience, hybrid apps have a myriad of benefits to offer. Let’s look at some of them:
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Seamless app integration – Hybrid apps make use of the internal inbuilt applications like the native apps through overlay or wrapper. This means these apps work well with GPS, Camera, Messaging and other device features to offer better customer service.
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Cost-Effectiveness – When compared tothe web or native app development, hybrid apps are budget friendly. The development costs and efforts are reduced significantly as the same HTML components can be used to develop the app across multiple platforms.
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Improved User Experience – Hybrid apps provide a consistent user experience across all platforms. A website appears differently in different browsers and mobile platforms. This is not good for the branding of your business. In contrast, a hybrid app utilizes the inert functionalities of the end user’s device to create a standard shopping experience. It is also easy to update the app on a various platform with a single release as well.
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Easier Maintenance – Hybrid apps are relatively easier to maintain. As a developer, all you need to do is pick out the right framework for development. Moreover, the hybrid app fully utilizes all features available on your device so that maintaining the content and updating becomes easier.
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Availability and Speed – In case of hybrid apps, you do not need to reload app data every time you run it. This means that it is easy to use a hybrid app as compared to a native or a web application, even with poor web connectivity. Because of the technology and framework used in hybrid apps, they work faster than their web or native counterparts. Moreover, the hybrid app can be uploaded to multiple platforms easily. This means that you can offer your services across almost all mobile platforms and reach out to larger end users.
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Offline support – One of the major features of a hybrid app is its ability to use a device’s API and store data offline. This reduces the loading time of the app significantly. While you cannot update the data in offline mode, you can surely run the app, which means more business, even without connectivity. You can create versatile hybrid mobile apps with BluEnt mobile app development services for your business. Connect with us and become the market leader in mobile eCommerce today!
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