Magento 2 Native Apps Vs Hybrid : What to choose
Table of Content
What Are Mobile Applications?
Mobile applications are the software designed to run on a mobile device (or smartphone or tablet). They are the most accessible mode as you can work on an app anywhere and anytime.
They become more significant when we are taking an E-commerce industry into consideration.
Magento 2 being the best E-commerce content management platform can provide a great website. But with the growth in technology websites are things of yesterday. The current market scenario promotes more of the mobile app.
So Mobikul has developed a mobile app plugin for a website working in Magento 2, Magento 2 Mobile App Builder.
Type Of Mobile Apps
Before we indulge in the battle of hybrid vs native app lets know the mobile apps- Hybrid app, Web app, and Native app.
Native apps- Platform or device dedicated apps that will work on your smartphones are native apps. They interact with the operating system, giving a faster performance and more flexibility.
It can prove to optimize the performance and uses the device/os components to work more efficiently. Thus rendering better results.
Few popular examples of native apps are – Pokemon Go, Twitter, Waze.
Hybrid Apps-Website based apps( having CSS, Html5, and JavaScript), wrapped under a native container. Due to the web support, these apps lack the ability which a native app posses.
The app targets a WebView hosted inside the native container, instead of a mobile browser. This will allow them to access the hardware of a mobile device.
The hybrid app uses Apache Cordova which is a platform that provides a set of Javascript API’s which will help the app to interact with the hardware of the device via plugins, that are built through native code.
Native App Vs Hybrid App: Which Is Better?
There are multiple questions which happen to come to once mind before getting and app created or creating an app-
- What is the difference between a Native app and a Hybrid App?
- Which app is best for am e-commerce website?
- Which uses the latest technology in a better way?
- From where we could get the best app for a profitable e-commerce business?
So let’s take up these questions one by one, starting with the Difference Between a Native and Hybrid App.
What Is The Difference Between A Native App And a Hybrid App?
Which App Is Better For An E-Commerce Business?
If we are creating an app for a blogging website then it’s not compulsory that we think much about native or hybrid. However, this becomes critically important if we are creating an app for an e-commerce website.
The Answer to the query ‘Which App Is Better For An E-Commerce Business?’ is undoubtedly A Native App. So let’s know the reason why are they better.
Performance-
Being an e-commerce store owner one must keep in mind the performance of the app as it could prove to be a great tool to attract maximum app user. Thus, help to increase the sales of the store.
The native apps can interact with the hardware of your device to give amazing features that can increase the user engagement. They directly interact with the operating system which gives a better performance.
Whereas in the hybrid app it is difficult to achieve the functionality. As the hybrid apps interact with the browser.
For Example-
Likewise, if one wishes to use a camera. In this case, a native app interacts with the hardware without any other interface.
Whereas it becomes difficult in case of a hybrid app as it interacts with the browser.
User Experience-
It takes less time, and cost to create a hybrid app. Despite the native app acquires an edge over the rest of the apps. The only reason is a great User Experience.
This is the very factor that solely makes the native app a real winner.
This feature is highly countable if we are talking about an e-commerce app as the user of an e-commerce app can be from any part of the world. So app must be friendly enough to hold their interest.
For Example-
In case of sharing a file. This can be easy in case of a native app as they have Operating systems support. So there is no worry of the permissions. But hybrid apps requires permission from the browser.
Need For Speed Can Be Harmful-
Today’s world is moving at a fast pace, that is why people are preferring the hybrid app. But it can prove to be a loss as it compromises the User interface and experience. Due to hassle or fast launch to the app.
One must remember here that the application user (especially the e-commerce app users) doesn’t have to do much with the time of launch of the app but needs an app that has a great user experience and interface. So such comprise for fast delivery can cost a lot to application owners.
User Interface-
Being an E-commerce application it is very important that the UI of the application must attract the maximum number of the user. For this native app are the best option.
Whereas, the hybrid app is browser-based. So the layout will be bit distorted when the apps open up on different devices.
Which App Uses The Latest Technology In A Better Way?
The Launch of the native apps was in itself an advancement in the era of mobile apps. Now, these apps are helping the new technologies to bud and bloom even more.
Let’s discuss which are the latest technology and how they can be implemented in your native e-commerce app-
Headless Approach
Decoupling or headless approach is the most buzzed word nowadays. It is an advanced technology that is spreading like fire globally.
It is a way that gives a great user experience and providing the app owners the power to maintain a proof of their builds by allowing them to refresh the design without re-implementing the whole content.
Source-https://pantheon.io/blog/headless-websites-whats-big-deal-decoupled-architecture
The headless approach uses RESTful API or in recent time GraphQL, to be display content on the devices. The ‘Headless‘ approach works in a way-
- There is a traditional database-driven CMS that manages the content of the site, generally through an admin panel.
- The content of the site can be accessed through Restful API and in a mashup-friendly format such as JSON.
- The end UX is done by a JavaScript application.
This will add an extra layer of abstraction between an end user and website, which will divide the work of content management and database or backend management.
This technology will be more helpful in the case of a native app as now the API can work with each component of the device separately without interrupting the rest of the database and content.
GraphQL
GraphQL is the second latest known terms in the world of technology in today’s world. It is a Query Language for APIs which run provides data at runtime.
GraphQL queries get the properties of one resource along with the reference between them. It gets all the data your app needs in a single request, not like REST APIs which require loading from multiple URLs.
The GraphQL technique is the technique of implementation of headless technology. If we are trying to use a technology which is optimized then the native app can be the best as they can interact with the hardware of the device to make that implementation better.
It is faster techniques as we have got pre-built libraries of native app dedicated to each Android and iOS.
Machine learning and Native apps
Machine Learning is said to the most advanced form of technology which changes the machine into a real human being. To make the mobile smarter application we can implement the tool.
Machine learning technology is actually a device or hardware based that is the hardware takes in the data from the user and gives out the output as a resultant.
This hardware interaction is easy in when we are using a native app which can be tough for a hybrid app.
We generally use ML Kit for Android whereas we use Core ML for iOS.
Magento 2 Mobile App Builder, has the feature where we have implemented machine learning. This technique will help the get the data through a camera(which is learning) and search the related result and present it to the user as a response.
For a Quick review click here- https://youtu.be/pxlHEP71ewU
From where we could get the best app for a profitable e-commerce business?
Mobikul Native app Builder
With the multiple advantages, the native app development stands out among all the type of apps. So Webkul has come with the developed native app builder for multiple e-commerce platforms.
These apps are fully customizable that can be changed as per your business requirement. The apps give the user multiple features which not only give a great user experience but also make the store handling easy.
Few of the feature of the app are-
- Multi-Lingual Support- This feature will localize the app by converting to the local language.
- Tablet & Mobile Support- The app view isn’t affected by the change in the device, that is, it doesn’t get disturbed if you a switching from smartphone to a tablet.
- Synchronized-Both the app and website are ‘Synchronised’. So any change on the web will be present on the app and vice-versa
- Marketplace Addons Supported- Mobile apps support all the add-ons of the e-commerce marketplace.
- Sign In Via Mobile number– The app user can login the app by entering the registered mobile number.
- Sign In Via Fingerprint- The app user can make their app more secure by using fingerprint for sign-in.
- Voice Search- The app user can search for the desired product through their voice. The word gets recognized and fetched in the app. Displays a set of relevant result.
- Through voice recognition, the product would be identified and display a result.
- Enhanced Layered Navigation- The app user can optimize the search by applying the filters of the attributes desired in the product.
- Support Multiple Payment Gateway and Shipping Method- The app supports the integration of apps with major payment gateways and shipping methods.
- Unlimited Push Notifications- The admin can send information to the app user with regard to the offers, discount, etc. in the form of notifications.
- Customizable-As per the business need you can get the app changed and make it personalized.
These are few of the features of the application, our applications are enriched with more features which can be seen in Mobikul Mobile App Features.
Mobikul Mobile App Builder for Magento 2- Native App
This app is the best example of the E-commerce mobile application which is a fully native app. The app will give all the customer front features from where they can shop for the desired product.
With this app, the user can enjoy all the device based features more efficiently. So you can see the dedicated app for both the OS-
Android- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.webkul.magento2.mobikul&hl=en
iOS- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magento2-mobikul-mobile-app/id1166583793?mt=8
We also have the Mobile application that is compatible with the Magento 2 Marketplace web- store, Magento 2 Multi Vendor Mobile App
That’s all for the MOBIKUL still, have any issue feel free to add a ticket and let us know your views to make the module better https://webkul.uvdesk.com.