At Vog App Developers, we not only pride ourselves in building high quality mobile apps but native language apps specifically. So what are native apps and are they better than the alternative? Let us explain.
A native app is specifically built to run on a singular operating system, like iOS or Android. On the other hand, a cross platform app is built with the flexibility to run on multiple operating systems without any further optimization.
While developing cross platform mobile apps can lower costs, Apple and Google have designed their operating systems (iOS and Android) to perform better with specific languages. For Apple this is Swift5 and for Google, Kotlin. Developing with an operating system’s optimized language can lead to better performance and utilization of hardware and software features, as well as ensuring long term viability..
Better Device Usage
Coding in native languages enables your app to fully take advantage of your end user’s device. For example, iOS devices, such as the new iPhone 12, have a myriad of accessibility features, such as increased visibility for those with poor eyesight, or increased haptic engine usage for blind individuals, which are only available when you code your app natively. By doing a bit of extra work on your app, you can not only make it more welcoming for users with disabilities, but you can also make it easier for them to purchase your products or services in your app.
App Store Approval
Another benefit of native apps is reflected in the administration portion of getting your app to end users. Apple frequently rejects apps that are submitted for hosting on the App Store due to UI issues and bugs, many of which are caused due to the cross platform development process. Apple also rejects apps that are not optimized for their latest devices, which is a hard task to do when you are trying to build a “one size fits all” type of app. If you want to prevent getting rejected by a strict reviewer, the best solution is spending the time and money to get the development process right the first time.
Long Term Savings and Optimization
Possibly the most important consideration when deciding between native and cross platform languages is the long term viability of your app. As you probably know, Apple releases a new version of iOS annually. If you’ve ever updated your phone and had one or more of your apps break, it could be because it was developed in a language that was no longer compatible with the new IOS release. Apple prioritizes Swift5 when making updates and often provides a developer guide to the new update and how companies using Swift can ensure their apps will work with the new system. This means that developers using cross platform languages can be left scrambling to understand what the update broke and to fix the issues. Not only can this redevelopment be expensive, but it can lead to a loss of users if certain features are no longer supported, or their experience was disrupted. Additionally building in these languages ensures that other quality Canadian App Developers will easily be able to take over your development.
The bottom line is that the hardware and firmware of devices is designed to run best with the preferred language, and companies that spend a bit more up front can save themselves headaches and costly rework in the future.
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Thinking about creating native mobile applications for your business but don’t know where to begin? Contact Vog, a trusted Canadian App Developer for more information
