What is Hybrid Mobile Application-A Brief Introduction

You may find several definitions about what is Hybrid mobile application however most of them are either highly technical or a little obscure and not easy to understand from a common users or client’s perspective. In this article we will try to explain Hybrid Mobile Applications in simpler way. Just to begin with you need to understand that Hybrid apps are “Cross-Platform Apps”, that can run on multiple devices with very minimal and singular efforts. Before we explain this in more details, let us first understand what Native mobile applications are? :

1. Native applications are built for some specific mobile platform or operating system only, (such as for Android, iOS or for Windows phone).

2. We should remember that native apps may look good and perform very well in comparison to HTML5 App or Hybrid Mobile App (We are coming to it in next paragraph), but that may not be true in all business cases. If your application is very dynamic in nature, lets say, a mobile game application with lots of animation then native apps should be your first choice however if your need is for a simple yet interactive app, with little bit of animation then hybrid mobile application is the answer.

3. The major drawback of Native applications is that you will have to get it developed for each mobile platform or OS separately.

4. The truth is, Native apps would cost you a lot in comparison to Hybrid apps, because you’ll have to pay cost for development for each different application and for each different device/platform/OS. And since each mobile platform has its own User Interface, there would be lot of additional work to do, starting from Designing Mobile theme to Mobile app programming.

Whereas, Hybrid mobile apps are actually a combination of: (HTML5 mobile app built with HTML5, CSS & Javascript) + (Some features of Native mobile app)Basically, Hybrid Mobile Apps are HTML5 Apps with access to Some Native App features. When we say “Some”, it includes:

• Access to mobile camera
• Getting Address book
• Geo-location tracking
• Push Notifications etc.

This technology is evolving very fast and there would be a day when we can access every possible mobile feature using Hybrid Apps. These apps are packaged inside a mobile wrapper and can be downloaded & installed from iTunes or Play store exactly like the Native apps. In terms of look and feel, Hybrid HTML5 mobile applications may not exactly look like the Native apps as they look on respective platforms, still its a great technology to bet on. In fact in some cases you won’t be able to differentiate if it is a Hybrid or Native. Did you know that Foursquare and Twitter mobile apps are actually Hybrid applications? The biggest benefit of Hybrid mobile application is its Cross-Platform nature. You build it once and then can easily deploy on different platforms such as Google Play store or iPhone iTunes store. You no longer need different application for different devices. From the technology and development point of view, one just need to be expert in HTML5, CSS and Javascript. By using these three simple technologies you can get a great working multi platform mobile application. If you’re looking for a light weight mobile application and have low budget, go for Hybrid mobile application. You can also hire a mobile application developer, consultant, or Hybrid mobile application development company who will analyze your requirements and will recommend best solution. ArohaTech is a leading Hybrid mobile application development company out of few early starters available out there, and have strong team of expert mobile app developers. Our other services include Website Development, Website Design, E-commerce Solutions on various technologies.