Developing a mobile app for your business, product, or service is one of the most effective ways to stay on top of the mind of your customers. Especially, the development solution adopted to build a mobile app can change the fate of your business. But, one of the major mobile app development trends that will surely rule the market in the upcoming years is –Hybrid mobile app development.

A report by Statista shows innumerable framework options for developers to build a hybrid app.However, Flutter and React Native top the hybrid app development framework list in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

As per the report mentioned above, 42% of the global developers go with React Native as their preferred hybrid app development option in 2019 and 2020, while Flutter seconds the race with a penetration rate of 30% among global developers in 2019. Later on, it touches the threshold of 39% global developers by 2020.

Though we cannot deny that many modern developers are moving towards Unity, Corona, Xamarin, and more, why still do these two frameworks top the list?

Let’s find out.

This blog post focuses on two major frameworks: flutter and React Native, discusses its advantages, limitations, and applications, talks about how the hybrid development approach benefits in the future, discusses its use cases and chooses the best hybrid framework.

So, without further delay, let’s discuss a few important points essential to pick the best hybrid technology.

Some Important Statistics for Cross-platform Mobile App Developers

So, before we proceed further and hire a mobile app developer to build a futuristic and cost-effective solution for business, let’s look at a few stats from a market perspective to get a clear view for decision.

• 70% of the online traffic is generated through Android and iOS applications –Flutter Community  
• 87% of the global mobile users spend their time online on mobile applications-ComScore
• Mobile application downloads are expected to cross the figure of 258 billion by the year 2022 –Statista

Native v/s Hybrid – Comparison of the Development Approach

Native mobile app development services are designed and coded specifically for a dedicated operating system using a specific programming language. E.g., Kotlin is a native Android and Swift for iOS.

Majority of the time, business and enterprises preferer native development of its robust and reliable development approach. However, the reliability and robustness come at the price of increased app development costs by at least 30%. On the contrary, the code used to build an Android application cannot be reused to build iOS ones.

So, what’s the way out to bring an app solution that targets multiple platforms in a cost-effective approach?

Welcome to the world of hybrid mobile app development. Its unique combination of web and native app development services targets multiple platforms. It uses two app development approaches, popularly known as cross-platform or hybrid development. Though these hybrid apps cannot be compared in terms of speed and performance with native apps, they are built faster and is cost-effective.

Let me put it this way – what’s the cost to build a Native v/s Hybrid app?

Well, native app development can sum up somewhere between $10K – $350K depending upon your app scope, features, and functionality. On the contrary, hybrid app development may range around $5K – $200K.

Advantages of choosing Hybrid over Native apps

• Reusability of code
• Economic and cost-effective
• Quick product-to-market time.

How does Hybrid Mobile app development create value for the business?

As mentioned above, the cost-effectiveness of hybrid app development is making business inclined towards it. So let’s deep dive and find out how a hybrid app creates value for the business.

1. MORE USERS WITH A SINGLE APP

A well-built hybrid app will integrate all the features and functionalities you might see in a native Android or iOS app. It gives you the ability to target a larger customer base with the benefit of two operating systems. This is the major competitive edge as the native technology limits you from reaching other platforms.

2. EASE OF MAINTENANCE

While native app development seems to be a bit expensive in maintenance, choosing a hybrid solution can make it easy to edit, update and expand software at a lower cost.

For instance: There’s no need to constantly update your hybrid app each time a newer update is released. This “2 in 1” technology saves ample time, resources, and budget with fewer update requirements.

3. ENGAGE USERS EFFECTIVELY

Hybrid apps aren’t confined to Android or iOS app store rules. E.g., With a hybrid solution, you can engage users with push notifications and give companies much-needed control over their applications.

4. SINGLE CODEBASE

When you switch to a hybrid development approach, you just need to manage a single codebase. This results in a decrease in the number of developers, resources, budget, and timeline. In addition, it means hybrid app solutions can quickly come forward to market and thus save the company’s resources.

Top-Notch Hybrid Apps that have shifted business interest towards a hybrid solution in 2022– USE CASE

1. GMAIL

Gmail is a popular and robust email service tool that has redefined today’s cross-platform market. Powered by HTML, this hybrid application has a limited range of usability. With the further enhancement in HTML5. Gmail boosted its user experience with more advanced features and functionalities. In addition, the adoption of the mobile version has enhanced its user base with seamless performance.

Highlight features:

• Allow users to store messages and data up to 15GB.
• Supports multiple accounts
• Organized inbox with better and personalized categorization, social and promotional message.
• Auto-spam blocks before it reaches users’ inboxes.

2. TWITTER

Twitter – Another social networking site is one of the best hybrid apps. What’s special about this app? It solves all the downsides of the cross-platform app especially related to performance issues. Its fast loading speed and smoother performance have changed the user’s perspective for a hybrid app, of course, positively. As a result, it has boosted demand for business in recent years. 

Highlight Features:

• Regular update to news and feeds.
• Allow users to tweet thoughts and share globally.
• Allow users to keep their eyes on viral stories. 
• An appealing user experience through premium video experience straight from a mobile device.

3. UBER 

Uber – A taxi booking service with an intuitive user interface that allows users to book a taxi in a hassle-free way. This user-friendly hybrid app comes with the ability to perform faster on multiple devices with numerous dynamic features. It comes with no surprise that Uber has revolutionized the global taxi industry.

Highlight Features:

• Access to users’ locations to help drivers spot customers for easy pickup.
• Leverage vehicle detail, users’ itinerary, and estimated time.
• Allow multi-payment modes.
• Integration with Google Maps to track drivers’ location.

How to Select the best Hybrid mobile app development frameworks?

Before we come down to the best hybrid mobile app frameworks- Flutter and React Native, you should be aware of some key considerations to keep in mind while selecting the hybrid app technologies.

Flutter & React Native – Top Hybrid Technologies to Rule Developer’s Mind in 2022

1. Flutter

GitHub–Stars: 127k

Fork: 18.3k

Contributors: 899

Average Flutter Developer Salary/Year:  $87,927

Backed by Google, Flutter has gained massive popularity globally to build hybrid apps. However, its fame is not just due to Google’s backing. It has brought many possibilities and allows developers to create highly productive apps using a single codebase. Of course, for Android and iOS.

Flutter 2.0 – The latest update

Compared to Flutter 1.0, Flutter 2.0 is a more versatile framework to build portable, strong, faster, and interactive app for multiple OS, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Moreover, supporting multiple browsers, Flutter 2.0 can be integrated with the latest applications like smart TV, appliances, cars to make the world more integrated.

What’s new in Flutter 2.0?

1. The stable version of “Flutter for Web” for enhanced performance.
2. Acknowledgment of Web performance
3. Sound Null safety to help developers identify between null and non-null types.
4. Flutter for Desktop supporting keyboard shortcuts and interactive scrollbars.
5. Supports Web app features and widgets.
6. Flutter for Foldable device.
7. Google Mobile Ads SDK for Flutter
8. Platform Adaptive apps

Let’s have a look at some Flutter features that made it famous.

Let’s have a look at some Pros and Cons of Flutter.

Pros: 

1. Hot reload for immediate results.
2. Separates UI from Native controls
3. Faster development and quick turnaround time.
4. Rendering capabilities with easy customization.

Cons:

1. Flutter applications hold more memory.
2. Flutter apps are heavy in size and are quite large.
3. There are no specific guidelines for flutter app development.

Top Applications made using Flutter are:

• Google Ads
• Alibaba
• KlasterMe
• Reflect 

How much does it cost to build a flutter mobile app?

Well, it depends on your multiple aspects, including project scope, requirements, hardware requirements, development team size, features and functionalities, and so on. However, to get an exact idea, you can outsource your project to a leading flutter mobile app development company with in-depth experience building futuristic and integrated Flutter apps.

If you outsource your app in India, an average hourly rate can be around $10 – $30, while in western countries like the USA, Canada, it can be about $80 – $150.

2. React Native

GitHub – Stars: 97.2k

Fork: 21.1k

Contributors: 2203

Average React Native Developer Salary/Year:  $1,00,839

React Native is capable of rendering impressive mobile apps for Android and iOS. Using React Native, mobile app developers don’t need to code from scratch to build apps. Instead, it makes use of building blocks to build cost-effective mobile apps.

Latest React Native version – 0.62 – 0.63

1. React Native integrated with Flipper makes it easy to check what’s happening inside the native log.
2. Redesigning of LogBox has changed how an app informs us about errors and logs.
3. Pressable component for better compatibility with increasing platform options.

Let’s look at some React Native Features that made it famous.

Let’s have a look at some Pros and Cons of React Native.

Pros:

1. Ability to develop apps on multiple platforms
2. Comparatively faster app development compared to other frameworks
3. Reusability of the code
4. Hot Reload feature

Cons:

1. Lack of custom modules
2. Facing compatibility issues
3. Steep learning curve
4. Limitation of Debugging
5. Much higher dependency on a React Native developer.

Top Application made using React Native 

• Instagram
• Walmart
• Wix
• SoundCloud Pulse
• Gyroscope

How much does it cost to build React Native mobile app?

Well, it depends on your multiple aspects, including project scope, requirements, hardware requirements, development team size, features and functionalities, and so on. However, to get an exact idea, you can outsource your project to a leading React Native mobile app development company with in-depth experience building futuristic and integrated Flutter apps.

If you outsource your app in India, an average hourly rate can be around $10 – $30, while in western countries like the USA, Canada, it can be about $80 – $150.

WRAPPING UP:

So, these are some handpicked best hybrid app frameworks for your app development project. Each of these frameworks has its strength and weakness, so pick the one that suits your business needs.