Native Mobile App vs React Native

This article will compare Native Mobile app development vs. using the React Native framework.

The majority of mobile phone users in the United States spend 4 hours on the internet, according to a report by eMarketer. This report also reveals that users spend 88% of this time on mobile applications. It means the use of mobile applications is enhancing among users.

That’s why developing new applications and demand for numerous development tools & platforms is also increasing.

Among these tools, Native Mobile development is always a reliable traditional way of mobile app development for any platform.

Another cross-platform development technology that is famous among coders is React Native.

In this article, we will discuss both the Native Mobile app and React Native in detail. Let’s have a look at the Native Mobile, React Native development, their pros and limitations. Indeed, we would also compare them at the end.

What is Native Mobile App Development?

Native Mobile app development is the term that refers to the development of mobile applications specifically for a single platform.

There are two leading platforms for mobile applications. One is Android and the second is iOS. These two platforms are most widely used among coders.

If we talk about languages, then Swift & Objective-C are used for iOS mobile app development, and JAVA & Kotlin are famous for native Android app development.

There is no cross-platform compatibility in applications that are built through native mobile development.

Native development is preferred when you need extraordinary results & high performance.

Moreover, Native mobile apps can access & use device-specific features and hardware resources; that is why it optimizes the application’s performance & quality.

In a stance with native mobile development, JAVA and Kotlin are used for Native Android App Development.

Swift is most widely used for iOS mobile app development all across the world.

Native mobile apps are more secure. They also provide programmers with access to all device features because they are used for only one platform, i.e., Android and iOS.

Similarly, developers don’t need a generalized way to establish an application for more than one platform. That is why Native app development is preferred in big organizations. Small and medium-sized organizations don’t choose Native app development because of its high cost.

Advantages of Native Development

Native app development has several advantages. Some of them are listed & described below.

High Performance

Businesses prefer to use high performing applications. Indeed, Native mobile applications provide efficient & optimized results on a specific platform because they are built using platform-specific core languages. Compilation using platforms’ core languages offers extraordinary performance. The applications are responsive because they are made for a specific forum.

Highly Secure & Reliable

The native apps are built for a specific platform without any flexibility, so they provide high protection & stability. With native development, it is easy to evaluate risks & multi-factor authentication to enhance users’ security.

In the same token, proactive performance & security upgrades are beneficial in native mobile applications. Implementing multi-factor authentication in native mobile applications is much easier to improve the security for the users.

Better User Interaction

Native applications are more user-friendly & interactive. The native mobile applications inherit the operating system’s interface, making them more interactive concerning the device.

They are also smoother concerning inputs & outputs. Native mobile applications are designed & developed for a specific platform, enhancing the user experience by being more specific to the device. The user can feel the application as the integrated part of the device due to similar behavior.

Besides, users do not need to learn how to interact with the application because they are already using the platform for which application is developed. They can use the same actions & gestures to control and navigate the application without learning it.

More Access to Device

As we know, native applications are developed particularly for a single platform, so these apps have more advantages. Developers can develop & design an application using the full benefits of the system & its features.

Native applications can also manage the device’s hardware resources more effectively to give optimized solutions to the users. Applications can use & manage device resources and their features for better performance.

More Functionality

It is also another advantage of native development. Native applications can be developed by using all the resources & APIs by the platforms for efficient and effective development.

Programmers can boost the speed of its growth by using the platform’s pre-built APIs. Programmers can manage the application according to their requirements, and there is no limit on the way of working on a native application.

Fewer Bugs

Native applications generate fewer bugs during production because there are no extra dependencies in the project you rely on. The advantage of a native application is that it only depends on platform-specific libraries.

Documentation for them is well written, and programmers can write high-quality code with fewer bugs. The developer can resolve bugs & issues more effectively as compared to the cross-platform applications.

Disadvantages of Native Development

On the other hand, the disadvantages of native mobile app development also exist. Major disadvantages of native development are the following:

Development Cost

The organization requires more cost for the development of native mobile applications. No doubt, businesses need to spend more money on the development of different applications for different platforms.

The application’s functionality for each platform will be the same, but the budget will be different because different development teams will be working for other platforms.

Additionally, native Android apps will require JAVA/Kotlin developers for development & native iOS apps need Swift/Objective-C developers. It costs much more than a single hybrid application.

Development Time

For native mobile applications, different development teams will work on the same project. They may operate simultaneously, or one team completes the app then the other team starts its work. It needs more time for development.

The development time is double & team coordination also takes some time to script the mobile applications effectively. The development time is increased due to different platforms and languages. That is why the native mobile application is preferred when a project can bear its duration cost.

Larger Development Team

The employment of more development teams is also a disadvantage of native development. Unfortunately, you would have to spend more time with each of the groups in terms of coordination.

You will also have to explain the functionality & requirements according to each platform to get your work done. In a hybrid app, you do not need to explain separately because a single application will be able to handle all your work on each platform.

It requires more effort from you to get native mobile applications for each platform.

Frequent Updates

The mobile platforms often update their systems to improve the user experience & security. The native applications will have to be upgraded after an update in the operating system.

Otherwise, the functionality & user experience may not be satisfying for the users. That is why users always need to update the applications frequently to avoid any kind of issues.

The app will be running smoothly & effectively if the user has the updated version of the application; otherwise, some problems may occur.

Maintenance Cost

The development is not the end of the journey. Most organizations require maintenance of the application for each platform.

Maintenance is necessary for the smooth running of the application & maintenance team to fix bugs & issues after completion of the development.

The organizations will have to hire more maintenance teams for every platform to run the application smoothly.

What is React Native?

React Native is a popular open-source app framework that Facebook introduced.

It is a JavaScript framework used for writing and rendering hybrid mobile applications for Android and iOS operating systems. This framework is based on React JS library by Facebook.

It targets mobile platforms instead of targeting web browsers and focuses on user interfaces. JSX is the mixture of JavaScript & XML for writing React Native Applications.

React Native framework can be used to develop apps for different platforms, including iOS, Android, Mac OS, Android TV, and tvOS, etc. You can also use React Native in your existing Android or iOS projects instead of writing an entirely new script from the beginning.

During the development stage, developers need to refresh the project after edits to test it. React Native framework helps you iterate efficiently with JavaScript’s power for efficient testing during production and development.

It has become a very famous mobile application framework in significantly less time because of its limitless features. The cross-platform applications built with React Native helps you reduce the development cost and time.

With JavaScript’s power, the interface can be improved and more user friendly with React Native using UI components in the React Native applications.

Advantages of React Native Development

React Native mobile application provides a lot of benefits for organizations & users. A few significant advantages of React Native Applications are as follows.

Cost-Effective Hybrid Apps

A React Native application can be developed if you want to get it done within a limited budget.

React Native applications can run on multiple platforms, so you don’t need to spend more money on different development teams to work on various platforms.

Undeniably, it reduces a tremendous amount of development cost. It also reduces the time of development because you need only one application for each mobile platform.

You will not have to spend time and money on multiple development teams, and only one development team will meet your requirements for each mobile platform.

Live Reload

The lightning speed of reloading the application during the development is one of React Native applications’ significant advantages. It saves a considerable amount of time for coders.

The developer saves the changes, and changes can be viewed in the application instantly during development. It helps quick testing of the changes in the application during the development phase.

It is instrumental and efficient for the developers to save their time for rendering apps again and again.

Embed in Native Mobile Apps

Programmers don’t need to create an entirely new application to use React Native. If you have a pre-built native mobile application, then you can use React Native in that app instead of creating a new project from the beginning. It helps you in the case of updates & adding new features to pre-existing applications.

Moreover, coders can benefit from the features of React Native framework that do not exist in native mobile app tools and languages. Mostly it is seamless to update a native mobile application or add a feature if you are a React Native developer.

Third-Party Plugins Support

React Native framework supports third-party plugins for additional options and functionalities in the mobile application. When you need to add new functionality that does not exist in an existing library, then you can use third-party plugins.

This third-party plugin support can be constructive for the developers to connect and integrate the application with other existing solutions for better functionality & user experience. It will also help reduce development time and cost.

Single Development Team

There are a lot of benefits of hiring a single development team, including cost-effectiveness.

• You need to describe the requirements and functionalities of the application only to a single group.

• You can put more effort into a single team because it requires less energy.

• The coordination with a single development team will be more productive and easier for you instead of focusing on multiple teams.

There will be no issue of different behaviors of the application that can be caused due to different teams using React Native framework for the mobile application.

Community Support

Another advantage of React Native is its large developers’ community. You can easily find developers for your application from freelancing sites & other platforms.

Through supply-demand methodology, the supply of React Native is high, which means that you can get your applications developed at cheaper rates.

Disadvantages of React Native Development

There is no technology in the world which does not have any limitation. Some major drawbacks of React Native app development are enlisted below with details.

Native Functionalities Require Native Code

There is no ready to use component in React Native for Android / iOS APIs. It means that you cannot access platform-oriented functionalities through pure React Native code.

You will have to use some native code to access the native functionalities of the devices. Although some third-party plugins for native functions are available but they do not cover all native functionalities yet. So, a pure React Native application cannot be enough to access native functionalities like push notifications, etc.

Developers will have to get some native development knowledge to become a full android app developer. However, you cannot say that you can create a large & complex application using pure React Native code.

Longer Debugging

The development & testing speed of React Native is the significant advantage of React Native app. On the other side, the React Native app’s debugging process during development is more than an ordinary native mobile app.

The duration of debugging an application, especially on Android, is much more, reducing the speed of development. It may cause the production to be slow as compared to a simple app.

Lack of Security

React Native is based on a JavaScript library, and it is an open-source framework. Due to the open-source framework, it may compromise the security of the applications.

Developers need to add extra security in the application for the protection of the user’s data. React Native application is not preferred in the same token when creating a banking, financial or sensitive data application.

It means that you must avoid this framework for your application if security is the primary concern.

Performance issues due to Third-Party plugins

Suppose you need to use third-party plugins for your React Native applications, which are vital in using native functions. The performance of the application may be compromised by utilizing third-party plugins.

Because the components that load from third-party plugins may take more time than usual, it can compromise the applications’ performance and damage the user experience.

Performance issues may occur by using third-party plugins in React Native applications.

Native Mobile App Vs. React Native

Mobile native & React Native apps both have their own advantages and disadvantages. You may choose any of these options according to your budget and requirements.

The comparison between them can be constructive to make the right choice according to the app requirements. Let’s have a look at the comparison among them.

Conclusion

In short, both technological options for application development are beneficial in particular cases. The advantages and disadvantages of React Native and native mobile applications rely on your development requirements.

Such as in React Native, you may save your development cost but compromise security. On the contrary, native development could be expensive. So, both options are good until or unless there is a loose end that may damage your app or users.

The application can be developed in any of the options if they meet your requirements without affecting your budget’s user experience. You will have to make a choice among them based on the comparison, advantages & disadvantages.

In this article, we have shared the comparison of both of them with pros and cons in detail. Hopefully, it would assist you in picking the right development platform.

FAQ