I was recently checking how the Hybrid App frameworks compare to Native iOS or Android Apps. Here are my observations on few Phonegap Apps that I tried on my phone:
- The size of Phonegap Apps is big: an app that should have been less than 10MB has a 40-50MB installer.
- The Apps take longer to boot up.
- There’s noticeable drop in scrolling performance (less fluid).
- They lack significantly in giving the native feel.
And then there are these major shortcomings when it comes to Design and Development Time itself!
Hybrid Apps’ Design doesn’t match up
There are different design guidelines for Android, iPhone and Windows Apps. You will observe that many iPhone Apps have a menu at the bottom, but that doesn’t work well with Android Apps. Android has fixed ‘menu’, ‘home’ and ‘back’ buttons at the bottom and it’s inconvenient to have more options there. Then there are subtle differences in icons, fonts etc. that you should take care of.
You won’t save much (any) development time
If you’re starting fresh, I don’t think it takes any longer to make a Native app than a PhoneGap, Cordova or Xamarin App. If you already have a Web App, starting with PhoneGap might give you the impression of progressing fast initially; but fixing everything later is definitely going to be very painful.
I personally love highly optimized code. If something can make my software a bit faster, or use lesser space, within practical limits, I would do that. If you’re particular about have a beautifully designed app, that’s fast and can use your phone’s hardware in the best possible way, in my opinion you should go for the native apps.
Reference:
– Explanation of PhoneGap, ionic and Cordova – http://ionicframework.com/blog/what-is-cordova-phonegap/
– A startup moves away from PhoneGap to Native platform – http://www.fastcolabs.com/3030873/our-html5-web-app-flopped-so-we-went-native-and-havent-looked-back
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