Even though recent Covid-19 pandemic toppled global businesses, shook up the market forefront, shocked business giants, crashed the stock market, yet the one industry that did remain comparatively less affected was the tech industry.

Let’s be more specific – the mobile or smartphone industry. Statista states that there are more than three billion smartphone users worldwide, and is expected to increase even further adding a hundred million in the near future. With a majority of countries observing a strict lockdown, the canceled domestic and global business travels lead to a sharp increase in mobile communications.

This was a golden ticket for many tech enterprises as well as startups. They immediately began building and promoting mobile apps that enhanced their businesses, making them the biggest gainers during the hike in demand of mobile apps.

When it comes to developing a mobile application, you should know that mobile apps outperform the website in many areas such as personalization, instant notification, accessing speed, apart from offering potential features suitable to every individual consumers’ needs.

Now that’s one aspect. The other essential point to look into is deciding what platform to choose for developing a mobile application for your business. Modern-day developers prefer native app development.

Why so?

Read on below to understand what makes Native Apps developers favorite. But before we answer that let’s shed some light on what Native apps are.

native apps - origami studios

So, What are Native Apps?

Native app development focuses on building a mobile app exclusively for a single platform using programming languages and tools particular to a single platform or mobile operating systems.

Users can access these applications from dedicated app stores including App Store and Google Play Store.

As witnessed, building a mobile app has become a top priority for companies worldwide because of the amazing outreach it offers. Nonetheless, there are 101 decisions needed to be made along the way among which, choosing the right mobile app development approach as well as using the best mobile technology stack top them all.

If you’re building a native mobile application for iOS, mobile app developers will use Objective-C or Swift. For native Android application development, the best programming languages to use are Java or Android Studio NDK(Native Development Kit).

Both Apple and Google provide their set of development tools, interface elements, and SDKs. Mostly, companies invest in native mobile app development for multiple benefits it offers compared to Hybrid or Web applications. With mobile software increasingly becoming a requirement for companies, it’s equally important for them to be well-informed about choosing the right app development approach.

Even though app developers build native apps that are compatible with desktops, smart TVs, and other smart gadgets. However, the most common device that developers target develop is the smartphone.

Not like other normal or non-native mobile applications, native mobile apps utilize the features of the specific or chosen operating system (Android or iOS). The fact that native apps are built upon one specific operating system and OS-specific programming language, means that you’d have to create a distinct version of the same app to make it cross-platform.

what are native apps

What Makes Native Apps Different From Other Types of Applications?

Native apps are different from Hybrid and Web apps due to the following fundamental features:

Platform-Specific:

Native apps are platform-specific. In other words, native iOS applications can’t run on Android devices, or any operating system other than iOS.

Strictly Custom-Built:

As native app development requires a language that is platform supportive, developers feel more comfortable as they don’t have to integrate any third-party model within the native code. Because of the expediency, the vast majority of expert app developers across the globe typically favor developing a mobile application with native code.

Easy Access to Hardware Features:

Native apps use built-in features of the device it runs on, including the camera, microphone, and GPS. This is because these native apps are developed using a code that is similar to the code language of the operating system it runs on. Even though cross-platform applications can also access these built-in features, however, native apps largely provide a more sleek experience and enhanced performance when using these features, since they have been built for the device these features run on.

High-Level Data Security:

Native apps can only be downloaded from the operating system’s app store (Apple Store or Google Play store). You won’t find them available on any third-party sources. You see, the app store requires approval before the app is allowed to appear in the app store. Plus, the app is only accessible through the app store. That’s 0% risk of downloading malware!

Easy To Upgrade:

Applications developed using the native code are not just easy to configure but at the same time, are faster to configure because of the platform supportive language used for the app development. In addition, users wouldn’t need to worry about the different versions of Android. Simply use any of the available features from the given platform, be it Android or iOS. Likewise, developers can continue using the native code and carry on extending some of the modules to make the app as responsive and enhanced as a cross-platform one.

Stability:

Let’s talk about the stability of native Android and iOS mobile apps. We already know the stability of Android and iOS as platforms. Hence, the native apps that operate on them are consequently more stable than the non-native apps developed using other programming languages owing to a lack of trust when it comes to getting support from the language makers.

Furthermore, native apps are accessible faster than other non-native ones since they don’t include any third-party APIs for becoming cross-platform applications.

Overall Competence:

Typically, native apps show enhanced performance compared to other apps and also manage to have the fastest response time. This is because of the frequent updates of operating system’s SDKs with the latest developments in technology for programmers to work on. More so, native apps can directly access native APIs, which also helps in better performance.

Moreover, developers choose native mobile app development considering the forced standards of using better UX/UI configurations for a particular platform. As a result, the integration process of a native app with platform-specific features like Google Pay or Siri can be much easier and less complicated compared to a platform-independent application.

These are some essential reasons that make developers and business owners prefer developing a native application with multiple competencies that meets all criteria. Besides, a native app gives all the benefits of any normal web or mobile app along with the advantage of exploiting the features of the specific platform it operates on.

Tools for Native Android App Development

Tools for Native Android App Development

Developers opt for Java, Kotlin, and C++ programming languages for building a native android app. However, they also use other advanced android development tools offered by Google that include:
Tools for Native iOS App Development

For developing native iOS apps, developers prefer Objective- C or Swift. Not like Android, the iOS platform has temporarily closed source code specifically designed for Apple devices. As a result, developers need a Mac device for developing native iOS mobile app development.

Apart from that, Apple offers many tools and unique resources for developing iOS applications, some of which include:

Tools for Native iOS App Development

Also, you can check out this well-compiled list of mobile app development tools to further add to your knowledge.

Significant Features for Native Mobile App Development

The Pros and Cons of Native Mobile App Development

Now, before you dive straight into the native development of your mobile app, it’s safe to consider the pros and cons. What if the native app you develop doesn’t align with your business objectives or even suitable for your target audience.

You have to be 100% sure and have a clear understanding of what you seek to build and for you and how you wish or propose to see your app grow in the market.

pros and cons of Native mobile app development

Native Mobile App Development at Origami Studios

At Origami Studios, our dev team is dedicated, focused, and experienced in building all kinds of applications, with native app development standing as a forte. We generally develop our native applications using programs like Java, Objective C, Xamarin, and Android Studio SDK among many others.

Nonetheless, we concentrate progressively on building apps with access to multiple platforms and devices and count more on cross-platform development to provide access to a wide-ranging audience.

Leveraging the latest technological tools, the industry’s best practices, and our unique application development methodologies, we build high-performance apps to scale your business. After all, it isn’t just about building apps, it’s about creating experiences that last.

Interested in knowing how we can develop your app? Touch base with us, and we’ll give you a walk-through on the entire process of application product development, all the way from idea generation to technical development and roll-out.