More and more people are turning towards modern technologies these days. Due to the high usage of smartphones and applications, the demand for smartphones and apps has increased to a large extent. According to a Statista report, the number of smartphone users has increased extensively during the last few years. In 2016 approximately 62.9% of the world’s population owned their own smartphone, this number is going to extend and is expected to reach 67% by 2019. With the increasing use of smartphones, the usage of various applications is also increasing. Millions of apps are launched on the app stores regularly for the users. According to a report, there are around 2 million apps on the Google Play store whereas around 1.83 million apps on the Apple App Store by 2019 from which users can download any of the Mobile apps from both the app store as per their need. For satisfying the growing demand of customers and businesses, the advent of new technology, platforms, and frameworks has become one of the mandatory factors.
To fulfill the needs of the present generation with an effective and attractive mobile app, developers need to use advanced technologies that ease the coding process, save their time and effort, and also help them to complete the development tasks within the estimated time. For achieving their mobile app development goals many developers have started using various advance frameworks and app development platforms and leveraging their advantages for develop business apps, social apps, entertainment apps, educational apps, etc.
React Native V/s. Native: The Battle Begins for App Development
The battle between React Native and Native has begun since the day from when it became mandatory for all to have a strong presence on both iOS and Android platforms. Some of the developers like to continue with the Native app development platform whereas other developers have accepted the opportunities which have been offered by the React Native mobile app development platform.
Some of the developers and users are still confused about which one is best. Whether they should choose the Native platform or go with React Native? Hence to solve their doubt, let’s discuss which app development platform is the perfect choice for developing an app that offers higher ROI. Also, let’s have a quick glance over the opportunities and limitations of both React Native and Native app development platform.
React Native: Why Developers Must Go with This Option?
According to a survey, it was found that Reactive Native is a famous framework among others, around 10.5% of developers agreed that they use this advanced mobile app development framework as it offers various advantages and eases their development tasks. React Native app development framework has gained huge popularity among developers during the last few years.
It is a cross-platform mobile app development framework that was created by Facebook developers and they organized an internal Hackathon project which was accomplished successfully in 2015. Various successful applications like Facebook Ads Manager, Uber, SoundCloud Pulse, Activity Feed, Bloomberg, Instagram, etc are developed using the React Native app development platform. (Source)
What React Native Framework Offers
- A User Interface, Apps Impeccability, and Visual Effects Are the Main Focus While You Choose React Native.
- With the Help of Virtual Dom, You Can Easily Update the User Interface.
- Offers a High Level of UI Responsiveness.
- Allow You to Use Native Components.
When to Prefer React Native App Development Framework?
Preferring React Native Framework for Mobile App Development Can Be Fruitful When:
- Developers Want to Craft a Simple App.
- When They Want to Release the Developed App on Cross-Platform.
- Client Has a Lower Budget for mobile App Development.
- Developed Are Asked to Develop a Social Media App Like Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
- Aiming to Develop an E-Commerce App.
Pros of React Native App Development Framework
- Requires Only Single Code Base for Both Android and iOS Platforms.
- Lesser Development Time.
- Eases Development Tasks.
- It is an Open Source Framework So Does Not Require Additional Charges.
- Hot Reloading.
Limitations of React Native Framework
- Absence of Various Native Elements.
- Availability of Limited Third-Party Libraries.
- Support Limited Native APIs.
Native App Development Approach: Why Developers Prefer This Option?
Using a Native Application development platform developers can develop an application for a particular platform that is: Android or iOS, Both mobile platforms have gained huge popularity these days. While developing a native application for Android, developers use Android Studio, they also use Java or Kotlin programming language for coding the code for Android applications. Whereas while developing the application for iOS developers go with IDE that is Xcode and use Objective-C and Swift as a programming language for crafting the application for this particular platform.
When to Prefer Native App Development Approach?
Going with Native App Development Approach Can Be Beneficial Especially When,
- Developers Have to Build a Complex App Like Messaging App.
- Wishing to Focus Mainly on the Native User Experience.
- Developers Want to Develop Utility App.
- Developers Are Demanded to Craft an IoT-Based App.
- Developers Have to Develop a Mobile Application for a Particular Platform: Android or iOS.
Pros of Native App Development Platform
- Offers Complete API Access
- Availability of Numerous Third-Party Libraries
- Robust Language.
Limitations of the Native Approach
- Requires High Development Time and Efforts
- Need to Develop Multiple Apps.
- The Different Code Base for Both Android and iOS Platforms.
Various Aspects to Consider While Choosing Between React Native & Native App
Both the App development platform: Native and React Native have their own pros and cons. Bot application development platforms serve the same purpose as app development. It’s very hard to decide which app development platform would be the race lead, to know which one is better, let’s elaborate a few of the differences between both app development platforms.
App Development Time
When it comes to native app development, developers have to write the code for both ios and Android platforms individually because both platforms has their own technical variations. While going with native app development two different teams have to work for the same application on two different platforms. Besides this, developers also need to test the whole project when they make minor changes in the coding, this can result in the wastage of a huge amount of time and effort.
Whereas while going with React Native app development developers can use the same code for both platforms. Now there is no requirement for two different approaches for coding as the same developers can code for both platforms which simply means that developers can develop React native apps for both the platforms Android and iOS with a single code base.
Apart from this, the concept of hot reloading eases the development process as the developers do not have to rebuild the project every time, this can result in a reduction of app development time and effort. Hence if your client wants an application like Uber which runs effectively on both platforms then it will be better for you to go with the React Native app development platform.
UI/UX Experience
Not a single developer can deny that the React Native app development framework eases the development process and lessens the coding process. But then also when it comes to creating UI/UX experience then React Native is not the race lead because developing complex user interfaces(UI) such as animations, custom views, seamless transitions, etc using this app development platform is quite a tough task.
It becomes more difficult for the developers when it comes to matching the UI/UX standards for both iOS and Android platforms while using React Native as an app development platform, whereas it becomes much easier with a Native app. When the developers use Native application development they design each and every screen individually for both iOS and Android devices, this can result in a higher UI/UX experience. So when it comes to UI/UX experience then Native app development leads the race.
Scalability
React App Development platform offers Extensive opportunities to the developers compared to the Native app development approach. When developers use React Native as an app development platform they can easily complete a high amount of development tasks and can also release a higher-functionality update in the app. So, when it comes to scalability then React Native is the best choice for app development.
App Performance
React Native App development mainly works with JavaScript and JavaScript only works with a single device thread which simply means that it is not capable to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Apart from this React Native App development platform doesn’t support numerous trending functionalities and modules. Hence developers go with the Native app development platform as it offers various device features and performs all the complex manipulations very easily.
While developing a native app, developers use Java, Swift, or Kotlin as a programming language, all the advanced programming languages are far better than JavaScript. Using Native app development platform developers can easily develop any type of app as per the specified requirements of their clients.
Ending Note
The app development platform plays a crucial role when it comes to developing an effective and excellent app for users. Before stepping ahead to any of the decisions for application development, developers should have a clear idea about the long-term goals of the app, its scope, timeframe, budget, etc. Both react native and native app development platforms are preferred by developers to develop various applications these days.
These app development platforms offer solutions for different complexities and offer great convenience to the users. Both React Native and Native app development platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses. If you want to choose the best from the available list of frameworks then it’s vital for you to perform deep research on various app development platforms to know about its capabilities. Before moving ahead to any of the decisions you must consider the project requirement and choose the development platform accordingly.
Author Bio
Gaurav Kanabar is the Founder and CEO of Alphanso Tech, an India based IT Consulting company that provides music streaming platform development service and other app development services to individuals as per their specified demand. Besides this, the founder also loves to deliver excellent niche helping readers to have deep insight into the topic. Contact Gaurav Kanabar at Twitter or Linkedin Profile.
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