What is Hybrid Mobile Applications
Hybrid development combines both the native and HTML5 worlds. We define hybrid as a web app, primarily built using HTML5 and JavaScript, that is then wrapped inside a thin native container that provides access to native platform features.
Hybrid mobile apps are like any other apps you’ll find on your phone. They install on your device. You can find them in app stores. With them, you can play games, engage your friends through social media, take photos, track your health, and much more.
Like the websites on the internet, hybrid mobile apps are built with a combination of web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The key difference is that hybrid apps are hosted inside a native application that utilizes a mobile platform’s WebView.This enables them to access device capabilities such as the accelerometer, camera, contacts, and more. These are capabilities that are often restricted to access from inside mobile browsers. Furthermore, hybrid mobile apps can include native UI elements in situations where necessary, as evidenced by Basecamp’s approach towards hybrid mobile app development.
How to implement a hybrid app
You know that native apps are installed on the device, while HTML5 apps reside on a Web server, so you might be wondering if hybrid apps store their files on the device or on a server? Yes. In fact there are two ways to implement a hybrid app.
Local- You can package HTML and JavaScript code inside the mobile application binary, in a manner similar to the structure of a native application. In this scenario you use REST APIs to move data back and forth between the device and the cloud.
Server- Alternatively you can implement the full web application from the server (with optional caching for better performance), simply using the container as a thin shell over the UIWebview.
Netflix has a really cool app that uses the same code base for running the UI on all devices: tablets, phones, smart TVs, DVD players, refrigerators, and cars. While most people have no idea, nor care, how the app is implemented, you’ll be interested to know they can change the interface on the fly or conduct A/B testing to determine the optimal user interactions. The guts of decoding and streaming videos are delegated to the native layer for best performance, so it’s a fast, seemingly native app that really does provide the best of both worlds.
Benefits and drawbacks of hybrid apps
BENEFITS
Developer can use existing web skills
One code base for multiple platforms
Reduced development time and cost
Easily design for various form factors (including tablets) using responsive web design
Access to some device and operating system features
Advanced offline capabilities
Increased visibility because the app can be distributed natively (via app stores) and to mobile browsers (via search engines)
DRAWBACKS
Performance issues for certain types of apps (ones relying on complex native functionality or heavy transitions, such as 3D games)
Increased time and effort required to mimic a native UI and feel
Not all device and operating system features supported
Risk of being rejected by Apple if app does not feel native enough (for example, a simple website)
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- Source: Hybrid Mobile Applications
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