There might be a variety of reasons you are looking at comparing web development and native development. You could be looking at learning a new technology or deciding what technology to use in your latest project. Unfortunately this article will not tell you which is "better" or "worse". However I do hope you can take away which one is best for your use case.
What is the difference?
First, I think it is important to discuss what web and native development are. Web development like the name refers to anything that is viewed on a browser...kind of.
web development from a high level can be a web page or progressive web app (PWA). native development for the most part is something developed for one specific platform such as an app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
In addition to web and native development there is another layer of hybrid development which is the idea of building once to deploy multiple places. Popular solutions include React Native and Flutter.
Web Development
Web development for the most part consists of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. There are tons of libraries to choose from for design alone there are many including Tailwind CSS, BootStrap and Materialize. When we talk about functionality there are plenty libraries such as React, Vue and Angular.
Pros
Documentation
Documentation and resources are endless. With the libraries and frameworks mentioned above the development process can be shorted and when roadblocks come, they can be dealt with quickly.
Reachability
One of the biggest pros to web development is the audience you can reach with a web app. Anyone with a device and internet connection can interact with your content. With this being said there is a lot of content out there so standing out might be difficult.
Quick to Market
Another enticing reason a developer or team might pick a web App is ease and speed of delivery. When you take into consideration the multiple hosting options and how quickly you can register a domain the actual launching process of the application is smooth and quick. You can have it running in minutes and make updates just as fast.
Cost
Web apps on average cost less to develop and deploy. You also do not have to worry about creating and paying for a developer account with Apple or Google. With web apps you will have to acquire a domain and pay hosting.
Cons
Limited Access to Hardware
There are limitations to accessing features of your device such as file system, camera and GPS.
User Time
On average users spend less time on websites than apps. Having an app on the user's phone might encourage them to visit more (seeing the logo on their phone everyday) vs relying on the user to search your website. If a web app is what you choose but the user will visit often consider a PWA (progressive web app) so that the user is able to download it for easier access.
Security
Security is up to the development team with both web and native apps however native applications offer additional security.
Native Development
Native development is when you develop an app for a specific operating system. For iOS typically Swift and for android its typically Kotlin although there are other languages to write native applications in.
Pros
Depending on the functionality of your app you will see an increased performance
Access to Hardware
Implementing features that utilize file system, GPS camera etc. that come with native development offer more full device access than solutions web development offers.
Offline use
There are options to implement offline capabilities. Maybe the apps content doesn't rely heavily on changing data, or the user can download information for later.
Cons
Reachability
To allow users on different platforms to use your app every part of the process is doubled. You have to consider learning multiple programming languages, developing two apps, UX guidelines for each App Store and the developer accounts and costs along with that.
Submission Process
Submitting your application to the App Store or Google Play Store can be costly and timely. Depending on their guidelines you might have to make multiple revisions to your code and resubmit
Updates
Not only do updates take longer to implement because you are going through the respective app stores, but you also rely heavily on the user updating your application. There are many reasons a user might not update an app; they might not know there is an update, they might not have auto updates on, they might not have room on their device to update or their device could not be eligible for the update. This can be an issue when an update is addressing bug fixes or glitches.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are use cases for both web applications and native applications. Every website does not need to be converted to a native app and every App does not need a web version. When choosing how you want to deliver your project it is important to take into consideration what you will be delivering and the limitations you will face with each option. This will help you make the best decision for your project.
Thank you for reading
