Explaining the term “hybrid mobile app” and why your business may need one
Hybrid app is a sweet spot that combines the best of your web to give your users a fantastic mobile experience.
A hybrid mobile app is an app built once, from a single codebase that uses web technologies or a cross-platform framework, and shipped to both the App Store and Google Play as an installable app. Your business may need one when you want to reach iOS and Android users with one team and one budget, and your product does not depend on heavy platform-specific features.
If you have a lot of features on your website and wish they were available on all your devices, there is a solution exactly for this — hybrid mobile apps. That’s a sweet spot that combines the best of your web to give your users a fantastic mobile experience. Once you’re trying to figure it out, look no further. In this article, we’ll break down what that means and why you might want one for your business.
What is a hybrid mobile app?
In simple terms, a hybrid app is an app that works across all platforms. Its main advantage is that it is built on a single code base that simplifies the creation of mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms. This solution reduces development time and costs, while for native apps, in turn, developers have to write separate codes for different platforms.
Hybrid app vs. progressive web app
When it comes to mobile app development for business, one new term pops up — progressive mobile apps, or PWA. Hybrid apps are created with a combination of web and native technologies and offered through a native app store. This approach allows them to access device functions like a native app while being built on web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
PWAs, on the other hand, take advantage of the latest technologies to provide web applications with a high-quality, mobile app-like experience. They are accessible through browsers but offer functionality traditionally available only to native applications. In fact, the main point of contact between these two types of apps is that they are compatible with all Android and iOS smartphones.
If we talk about the differences, we can also pick out some things. Progressive applications allow you to make changes to the code base that will be immediately displayed. Hybrid applications, however, have a limited number of settings. Due to their cross-platform nature, you cannot enjoy all the benefits of a particular OS because the systems may not support such functionality.
Why is building a hybrid app a good idea for a business?
As we said earlier, a hybrid application reduces time and costs. And these are, perhaps, the main advantages that count for a business. Of course, there are many more reasons why such an app is a good idea, and we’ll explain them in more detail.
First and foremost, if you use one cross-platform framework, you can launch your product faster and start growing in the market. This is beneficial, isn’t it? When your app functions well, you attract customers, which means you are probably getting conversions. This way, you achieve multiple goals at once — save money, cut down on time, and generate income.
Defining the pros & cons of hybrid apps
It is always difficult to make a choice, especially if it matters to your business’s success and can significantly affect it in the future. Hybrid applications, like anything else, have their upsides and downsides. So, let’s have a chat about what they are so you can make the right decision for your project.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Hybrid apps can be a huge time and resource saver, as, with just one piece of code, you can run your app on both iOS and Android. | The speed and performance of hybrid applications may be slightly slower than native ones. |
| Since you don’t need to hire separate development teams, you keep your costs down. | The testing process can take longer, as a hybrid app needs to get the green light on several platforms before it can be launched. |
| These apps combine web technologies with native device functionality and provide access to the device features you need. | As hybrid apps are written in third-party languages, developers need to consider both “Software Development Kits” (SDKs) rolled out by Google and Apple when updating their software. |
| With a single code base, you can launch your app on the market faster and start attracting users. |
Some examples of hybrid apps
You may not know it, but many well-known companies have switched to hybrid apps or started with them. Probably, even your smartphone has hybrid applications that you use most often. Well, let’s take a look and find out if it’s really true.
Instagram is the most popular social network for sharing photos and videos that you can’t help but use or at least hear about. This project began with the development of a native application that was designed for mobile use only. However, that changed after Facebook, now Meta, bought this popular social network and rewrote it in React Native. On this platform, you can join a large community, communicate in just a few clicks, post images, watch videos, and much more.
Discord
Discord, a chat network popular among gamers, has been a hybrid application since its conception. The developers of this project wanted to provide their users with the possibility of fast voice, video, and text communication, which is why they decided to create a single code base. Nowadays, millions of people use this platform to communicate with friends, communities or just hang out and have fun.
One of the most popular hybrid applications is Twitter. This platform was able to overcome all the obstacles and delays and, using a hybrid approach, handle a high traffic flow and be productive at the same time. Users can use a number of short messaging tools that are available both in the app and in a browser on a mobile device or computer.
NerdWallet
With NerdWallet, users can keep track of their budget, finances, and credit in one place. It is a little-known fact that the developers of this app had several attempts with native codebases that ended in failure. After all, they chose a cross-platform framework that ensured maximum performance of the application.
Capacitor, React Native or Flutter: which hybrid route fits
The tooling has changed since this article was first written. PhoneGap, which many readers will remember as the original hybrid tool, has been retired, and its open-source core, Cordova, is now mostly found in older projects. Xamarin has been folded into .NET MAUI. In practice, a new hybrid app today is built on one of three routes, and they are different enough that the choice should be made deliberately.
Capacitor (usually with Ionic) is the closest to the classic definition of a hybrid app: your web application, written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript with any framework, runs inside a native shell and talks to the camera, storage, push notifications and other device features through plugins. It fits when you already have a web app and a web team, when the product is mostly content, forms and lists, and when you want one codebase to serve the website and both stores. Its weak spot is UI that must feel native down to the scroll physics.
React Native takes a different approach: you write JavaScript or TypeScript, but the screen is drawn with real native components, so the app feels native and performs close to it. It fits teams that already know React, products with a lot of interactive UI, and projects where sharing business logic with a web app matters. We used it for GoHeja and for most of our cross-platform work. Expo, the toolchain on top of it, has removed most of the setup pain that used to be the main complaint.
Flutter uses Dart and renders its own UI, pixel for pixel the same on both platforms. It fits products with a custom, highly branded look, heavy animation, or a team starting from scratch without a web legacy. The trade-off is a separate language and an interface that looks identical everywhere rather than native to each platform, which some products want and some do not.
A short rubric:
- Existing web app and web team: Capacitor.
- React skills, native feel, shared logic with the web: React Native.
- Custom design, animation-heavy, no web legacy: Flutter.
- Heavy use of platform APIs, AR or demanding graphics: consider native for that part and hybrid for the rest.
The bottom line
When people choose to download your app, they expect speed and ease of use, or, in short, a better experience. This is where a hybrid app can deliver the efficiency your users crave and your competitors fear. Of course, there is no one perfect fit for every business because needs differ, and so do solutions. For some, a native app is a great option, while others are considering switching to a hybrid one. More so, both have their pros and cons, and it’s up to the business owner to choose which one suits them best.
If this article has made you think about creating a hybrid app or switching to one, our team is always happy to help. At IvorySoft, we will create a custom application tailored to your requirements so that you can give feedback to your users faster and speed up the process of fixing bugs. So take your time, think about it, and decide what’s best for your business and yourself. We are here 24/7, and if you have any questions or would just like to chat, get in touch with us.
FAQ
- How much does it cost to build a hybrid mobile app?
Building a hybrid app can cost less than a native one and can range from $30,000 to $150,000, but it depends on a few things. The more complex your app is, with fancy features and so on, the more it’ll run.
Rather than a flat figure, ask for an estimate broken down by screens, integrations and platforms, since those are what drive most of the cost. A clear scope document before the quote is the best way to keep the final number close to the first one.
- Which software is used to build hybrid apps?
Some of the most common software options used to build hybrid apps include Ionic, React Native, Xamarin, and PhoneGap.
Today the active choices are Capacitor with Ionic, React Native (often with Expo) and Flutter. PhoneGap has been retired and Xamarin lives on as .NET MAUI, so new projects rarely start on either. Which one fits depends on your team's skills and how native the interface needs to feel, as the section above explains.
- What languages are hybrid apps written in?
Hybrid apps are built using popular languages for web development, namely HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This lets developers leverage their existing web skills to create mobile apps that work across different platforms.
React Native projects are mostly written in TypeScript, and Flutter uses Dart, so "hybrid" no longer means web languages only. Whichever route you take, a small amount of native Swift or Kotlin code is sometimes needed for a plugin or a platform feature.
- Hybrid app or native app: which should my business choose?
Choose hybrid when you need both platforms from one team, your product is mostly screens, forms, lists and content, and speed to market matters more than the last bit of polish. Choose native when the app depends on demanding platform features such as AR, heavy graphics, background processing or deep OS integration, or when a flagship-quality feel is the product itself. Many businesses do both: a hybrid app for the bulk of the product with native modules for the demanding parts.
- Can a hybrid app be published to the App Store and Google Play?
Yes. A hybrid app is packaged as a normal iOS and Android app and goes through the same store review as a native one, with the same requirements for privacy declarations, permissions and content. The stores do not care which framework produced the binary, only that the app works, respects their guidelines and does not behave like a thin wrapper around a website with no added value. That last point is why a hybrid app should still use device features and feel like an app, not a browser tab.
