Lots of smartphones,
Lots of platforms
Lots of platforms
Demand from target groups has long since clearly confirmed it: An app – whether engineered in iOS, Android, as a web app, native or hybrid – enriches existing services, simplifies outdated processes and also increases customer satisfaction.
But beware: organizations quickly rush into app engineering and make little headway due to many technical issues, high budgets, and lack of clarity about goals and target audiences.
Lots of smartphones, lots of platforms, and three ways to build an app: Cross-platform compatible as a web-based app, with the supreme discipline of native apps, or with the hybrid app as a mixed solution. Depending on the requirements, these three types of app engineering are sometimes more, sometimes less suitable. We will give a brief overview to help you decide.
The basic question in app engineering is, of course, the requirements and the desired platforms. Combined with the available budget, this simple calculation yields the ultimate strategy.
But which approaches are available and what are the advantages/disadvantages of these approaches? First, there are the web-based apps, which, as the name suggests, are built on pure web technologies (HTML 5, CSS 3, Javascript). The development of native apps in the respective platform technology (e.g. Objective-C, Java, C#) is probably considered the supreme discipline, and hybrid apps come into play as a hybrid of both worlds.
Web-based apps
The great advantage of a web-based app is the relatively simple implementation of a Cross-platform support. However, anyone who is already familiar with the browser problems on desktop systems will have an idea of the stumbling blocks that may await them on the countless mobile systems. Extensive tests must be scheduled here. Many providers offer emulators or other test options for this. Nokia should certainly be highlighted here, which offers registered engineers access to a pool of countless real (connected to a server) end devices (RMA = Remote Device Access)!
Web-based apps certainly often used for mobile websites . In addition, the new functions of HTML5 & Co. also allow many other requirements to be mapped:
- Local storage of data
- Access to geo-based functions
- Touch gesture support
- Mimic typical app interfaces using CSS3
Beyond that, however, the possibilities are currently still very limited, especially with regard to device access (sensors, camera,…). In addition, the performance and GUI naturally cannot keep up with real apps. A major downside for many is the lack of distribution options for web-based apps via the app stores (Apple App Store, Android Market,…).
Agile app engineering
In our agile app engineering, we take time to understand your target audience and find a custom solution that meets all requirements. Depending on time and budget, we create a clear roadmap and then start with the individually assembled team and project management. Transparent documentation of the project progress and insight are a matter of course for us.
What else is important for us? You can read about it here – we introduce our way of working.
Native apps
Before we go into more detail about the mixed solution of the hybrid Apps we first briefly look at the high-end variant of the native apps. These are implemented in the corresponding technology of the respective platform.
- Objective-C/Cocoa for the iOS platform
- Java for Android
- C#, Silverlight and/or XNA for Windows Phone
The implementation of an app is correspondingly complex, especially if this is to be available for several platforms. In this case, the different technologies mean that hardly any code components can be reused across platforms, and roughly the same engineering effort must be calculated for each platform. Furthermore, the underlying programming languages are for the most part significantly more sophisticated than the well-known web technologies. Java on the Android side already represents another level like HTML/PHP development for example, in Objective-C you even have to deal with pointer arithmetic and memory management (iOS doesn’t support automatic garbage collection) on top of that.
But in return for the significantly more complex engineering you then get access to all provided device properties/functions and has all the power in his hands when it comes to GUI and performance. And if you adhere to the manufacturer’s specifications (especially Apple), you will be faced with a publication in the markets and app stores.
Hybride apps
If one does not want to choose either of the two variants mentioned, a mixed path could represent the golden mean. The Hybrid implementation combines the best of both worlds and is often a good alternative. Hybride apps are accepted by almost all app stores and there are significantly more access options to device properties than with the web-based implementation. For this purpose Cross-plattform apps (mostly for iPhone and Android) can be implemented with a much more manageable effort than with the native solution. Hybrid app implementation is usually mentioned in the media in one go, but there are two clearly different variants:
Web-based hybrid apps
The actual functionality of the app is implemented web-based. Afterwards, this web-based App is wrapped in a native framework. This native framework allows more device features to be accessed in the web-based core, but performance and GUI remain limited to the web-based capabilities. The most popular way to wrap web-based apps is offered by PhoneGap.
Native hybrid apps
The app is engineered in a specific scripting language (e.g. Javascript). This code is then subsequently converted into a real native app on the various platforms. Thus, significantly more device features are available than in the web-based hybrid implementation, and the performance/GUI can be aligned with the true native implementation. However, with more extensive/complex requirements, one also reaches one’s limits here; moreover, new functions on the platforms are only integrated into the corresponding translation programs with a delay. Typical representatives of this are the Titanium Mobile project or the Cocona SDK for 2D game engineering.
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