React Native vs Native mobile app development – What to choose for app development!

Traditionally, native languages have been used to write mobile applications. However, nowadays, cross-platform development is immensely gaining popularity with a significant market share. The ongoing wave of the growing adoption of React Native has made the developers’ community think whether or not React Native can be a right replacement for mobile app development to a full native ?

Launched in 2015, React Native presently has a full-fledged community of more than 2 thousand active contributors with over 3 lac weekly downloads on average from npm. Facebook, Skype, Uber etc. are notable global brands, which have incorporated React Native. The key reason for the extensive adoption of React Native is its ease of cross-platform environment and exclusive technological style helpful in accomplishing it.

Though React Native has gained success in a very short span of time, yet there are people who still prefer native mobile applications. The followers or supporters of Native stand by its advantageous performance and high strength as compared to hybrid platforms. 

Though settlement aspects do exist between Native and React Native, yet thorough consideration is mandatory while making a right selection between both of the technologies.

In this article, you get to weigh in the aspects that make React Native and Native different from one another and a thorough comparison between the two prominent technologies.

Comparing traditional native with react native mobile apps –

What is native app development?

In contrast to web applications or websites, native app development demands specific technologies and skill-set from a developer. These are platform-specific apps that do not run over a browser. Hence, there are no concerns related to compatibility or browser behaviour while creating these apps. 

To access these apps, the users should download them via app stores like Google Play and App store of Apple. Once you install the app on your mobile, it can be used by tapping over the respective icon that appears on the mobile screen. By utilizing mobile OS’s native features, the native app developer can implement app functionalities and deliver a better user experience.

Pros of native app development –

Native app development caters some significant advantages that encourage app developers to give it preference over React Native. Here listed the key advantages of using native app development for your development projects –

• Native web apps offer great speed – Though native app development is a time taking process, yet the apps feature a great speed as compared to React Native based apps
• Access to APIs helps developers make great apps – APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) help making an app look and perform great with native qualities. With these APIs, the app can access frameworks and tools available on certain platforms. Based on the SDK platform, these APIs offer integration of hardware and software, allow media sharing even without network connectivity etc.
• Native web apps have easily identifiable native appearance and feel – Being created on Native environment, the apps developed on this framework feature native look and feel
• Easy availability of documentation – In contrast to React Native, Native app development has easy documentation availability benefits to developers. Those who are not much familiar with testing and setting up Native applications can also succeed in app development with its thorough documentation.
• Robust app development – Native apps are known to be more reliable, efficient, and robust as compared to React Native apps.
• More secure – As Native apps are developed in a proper native environment and thorough coding, these are more secure than React Native apps.
• Demands low maintenance – The development and writing two different code for iOS and Android is certainly time taking in Native app development. But, if we look at long-term benefits, Native apps demand for low maintenance and thus reduce the cost of maintenance in the future.

Cons of native app development – Though programmers greatly rely on the performance and usability of native app development, yet there are some certain drawbacks that have to be considered before choosing it for your development project.

• Two applications to be developed – This is a thing to note about native app development that you cannot use one application to run on iOS and Android both platforms. For instance, an application created on Swift cannot be run on iOS and Android both, similarly, an application created on Java cannot be run on both. So, two different native applications for two different platforms.
• Consumes a lot of effort & time – To create a great app on Native, you have to spend a lot of time and expertise. As the development is based on native languages, the development process is usually slow. Moreover, if you want native apps for iOS and Android both, you need two separate applications to be developed.

What is React Native?

A cross-platform open-source framework, React native is quite popular among the development community for creating Android and iOS applications. The best thing about developing apps on React Native is; they run over both the platforms effortlessly.

Ultimately, it saves a lot of development time for developers as they don’t need to create two apps for Android and iOS, but one app for both the platforms. There are several plus points about React Native that contribute to the popularity of React Native app development. Here, we are discussing few notable advantages of React Native –

 Pros of React Native –

• Time saving on development process – React Native saves app development time for developers by 40%.
• Single code base – In React Native, around 70 percent code is shareable across iOS and Android cross-platforms. This way, developers find an ease in developing apps using this platform.
• Fast app loading – As React Native framework saves files, developers are not required to reload the whole application while making changes or editing.
• Open-source platform – Being an open-source framework, React Native enables developers to freely access it for application development. To understand the React Native framework, developers can evaluate codes to enhance their development process.

Cons of React Native – React native has numerous advantages that have contributed to its success and today, the platform is adopted by market leaders including UberEats, Facebook and the list goes on. Along with plus points, there are certain minuses that are equally important to be explored before choosing the better one between Native and React Native development. Here are certain drawbacks of React Native –

• Limited third-party library – As React Native features minimal third-party library, developers have to depend on native libraries that is only possible by incorporating native modules. Ultimately, it increases expense, effort and time on development.
• Improper native elements – An app made on React Native cannot access the device’s native elements such as camera and voice recorder in the React Native directly. It makes development more complex.
• Does not support all APIs of Native – No doubt, React Native supports some important APIs of Native, but not all APIs. This limitation leads developers to look upon native modules for other functionalities and APIs to access.
• Design issues – Android and iOS platforms follow certain design parameters, but React Native works entirely different. The graphical features get automatically transformed here with different placement from one another. In this condition, a developer has to create separate code to match design guidelines.

Factors to consider when choosing the right platform for mobile app development

The time a business owner thinks of getting a mobile app developed for his business, the prime objective is to present the products and services to end-users in the best way. 

Besides, the mobile app can smartly address the needs of consumers by responding to maximum target audience. Therefore, if you plan to get a mobile app developed on React Native or Native platforms, you should consider following factors before finalizing the right platform –

•  Budget of your mobile app development
• Timeframe for developing the app
• UI/UX experience you expect to have in your app
• Performance
• Complexity level
•  Your business size

When to choose Native app development –

• When you look for an app with native functionalities, you should consider Native app development. For example, to develop complex apps like gaming apps, native app development will be the best option.
• When you focus on a single app development platform like iOS or Android to build your app, Native is the best choice to go with.
• When you have good resources to provide required support to various logistical requirements to run two streams of mobile development altogether with perfect sync.
• When you look for direct accessibility over the capabilities of a device, you must rely on native

When to choose React Native

•  If you plan to create a cross-platform application for certain purpose
• When you seek a solution to create an MVP or prototype quickly
• If you seek logistical advantages of a hybrid framework with single codebase to support app development process

Why is React Native better for startups

React Native has several great aspects that encourage startups to choose this platform for app development. Following are key reasons to support React Native for startups –

• Can easily work with other solutions – The great quality of React Native is that; it works brilliantly with other leading technologies like Django. This way, you can find functionalities from other technologies in your app by incorporating React Native in your mobile app.
• Remarkable development with active community support – Being a framework of Facebook, React Native is rapidly growing and improving with every passing day. The support of the active community of React Native is another great aspect of choosing this framework for your mobile app development that perfectly fits your startup environment.
• Determining native UX experience – With React Native, you can deliver your app’s MVP version in a faster way and that is quite a beneficial thing for the growth of your business. The ReactJS UI library and native environment of React Native enables developers to develop responsive UI for mobiles. It is also a way to get access over features of other devices such as GPS and maps to deliver an advanced user experience.
• Time & money saver – Usually, startups don’t have a high budget for a mobile app and for app development at a limited budget, React Native is the best option to go with. In React Native app development, a developer writes a code one time and using that, he can run the app on Android as well as on iOS platform. This way, the development process becomes faster and flawless. Writing 2 different codes for iOS and Android makes the app development quite expensive. But, it is not the case with React Native.

Companies using React Native

Although React Native is a new technology, yet the performance and great features of this platform are encouraging businesses to adopt it for their mobile app development projects. Presently, several leading tech giants of the world have already adopted React Native which include Facebook, Instagram, Bloomberg, Pinterest, and F8.

Why choose Techies Infotech for React Native app development?

In mobile app development, React Native has found a note-worthy position already as more and more businesses are inclined towards it for app development. Though the success of your cross-platform app development depends on your selection of a good React Native app development company that has a proven track record of delivering the best react native app development services in the market.

If you are looking for such a reliable platform to address your React Native app development needs for your business, then Techies Infotech can help you with the best solutions. 

Hire React Native developers from Techies Infotech and get scalable, reliable and high performance cross-platform apps ready within your budget and a stipulated time frame. To discuss your idea for a new business app on React native, contact our experts and get free consultation now!