Native apps VS progressive apps, how to choose the best one for your technology initiative?

Statistical information on the consumption of content using mobile devices by users affirms what was already evident: twice as much content is consumed on these devices than on desktop computers. This raises a scenario which proposes to companies to improve user engagement and user experience by developing applications directly for mobile devices.

In that sense, obviating web applications, the options to overcome this challenge are clear: develop a native app or a progressive app. Now, recommending one over the other requires a thorough analysis of the needs of your business and its market, but so you can have a better idea about what type of application is the best option to develop in your company, we have created this comparative article in which we will describe the characteristics of native apps and progressive apps, from the perspective of both programmers and users.

Native apps

Grosso modo, a native app is a technological solution designed and developed specifically for a particular operating system such as iOS or Android, to cite references. These are developed through focused or native languages of the platform on which the application will run, this allows to achieve optimal performance and full access to the functionality of the devices, taking better advantage of the hardware available and the characteristics of the operating system that supports them.

Progressive apps

As with native apps, progressive apps offer an optimal and fully usable user experience. The difference between these two types of application is that progressive apps are a hybrid between web apps and native apps, producing a combination of the best of both environments.

In this way, progressive apps manage to deliver state-of-the-art user interfaces, with automatically adaptive designs and with better speed than native apps. In addition, these apps work offline and do not require prior installation on users' devices.

Native Apps vs Progressive Apps

In this parallelism, both users and developer teams have their own view or feeling about the impact of native apps or progressive apps at an interdependent level. Accordingly, it is possible to highlight the advantages or strengths of one over the other if we take into consideration the perspective of each of these roles within the app lifecycle.

From the user's perception

Download and installation: Native apps require an app store and installation of their packages on devices, while progressive apps do not require the above.

Performance and capacity: Progressive apps load much faster but native apps are more robust as they rely on the underlying operating system of the device hosting it.

Functionality: Progressive apps depend on the existence of various APIs that allow them to run certain sub-processes to provide the same functionalities that native apps are able to deliver out of the box.

From the developer's perception

Programming language:

Native applications are written in the most appropriate programming languages according to the operating system on which they will be installed. Progressive applications are programmed to run in web browsers.

Project cost:

A native application requires different versions for each operating system, therefore the same must be applied for its updates. Progressive applications run in browsers regardless of the operating system of the user's device.

Deployment and distribution

To distribute a native application it is necessary to have its different versions according to the operating systems of its users while to deploy a progressive web application only a web browser and a URL are needed.

Native or progressive, which type of app to choose?

According to the above, both native and progressive apps have certain features that can be considered as advantages or disadvantages in their contexts. So, if you are looking to determine which type of app is better for your company, these are our recommendations:

Native application when:

• You need to use specific native device features to run your app.

• You want to increase your company's credibility on a larger scale.

• You need to collect better information from your target audience in a natural way.

Progressive web application when:

• You need a simple app for your user.

• You don't have the time or capital to develop a native app.

• You want to improve the SEO (search engine optimization) of your business website.

Now, if you still have questions or queries that require a better understanding of your business, it is necessary to analyze your situation with good business and technological judgment, using the most appropriate criteria to assess the feasibility of each scenario according to your current business. Visit our website and schedule a technology consulting appointment to discover the most profitable path for your company