Challenges In Developing Hybrid Mobile App

Smartphones have become the lifeline of the business. Developing a mobile app is a significant element of digital promotion strategy in the current scenario. Whether you perform as an in-house developer for a company or act as a freelance developer, you must be aware of the popularity of hybrid apps in the market. Because of their agility and superior performance, hybrid apps are the prime choice of clients.

So, it is good news for the developers that their skills in hybrid app development are in demand and will continue to remain in fashion for a good number of years. However, there is bad news too which comes in the form of challenges; developers can face while developing hybrid apps. It is critical to follow what not to do before committing to an assignment. This is a general principle of risk management.

This article intends to throw light on some significant issues that surface up when you develop a hybrid app. We prescribe you to put the best foot forward to avoid any mishap while keeping the challenges in mind.

• Speed:

  The hybrid apps perform inconsistently on various platforms including Android and iOS because of difference in the web view components on the specific platforms. The overall result is that their performance speed is reduced. The hybrid apps also take more time while loading. The issues like instability, slowdowns are familiar with hybrid apps.

• Interactions:

  Hybrid apps suffer the limitation of providing fluid animations and complex graphics with rich media. This is the reason probably the apps that intend to offer elated experience to users like gaming apps are not built on hybrid frameworks.

• UI/UX :

  Creating hybrid apps that can engage the user is quite challenging. Because of platforms variability, developers often find it difficult to generate a user interface that remains consistent with the platforms thereby affecting the overall user experience. Since every platform has distinct designs and versions, it is somewhat harsh for users to feel at home with hybrid apps.

• Offline Support:

  Hybrid apps lack in supporting offline modes which result in app inaccessibility in the areas with poor network receptions or no network. Since most of the usage of web code which is internet dependent, offline availability suffers. Whereas, the segment developed in native code can be accessed in offline mode.

• Performance:

  Hybrid apps face criticism when it comes to performance. The variety of bugs that can hamper the functioning of hybrid apps on different operating systems may lead to offending you with poor feedback and fewer number of downloads. The performance gets worse from wrong in the case of lower-end phones. And one can’t deny the fact that there are millions of people out there using low-end phones.

• HTML5 Support:

  Another challenge is the limited HTML5 support for hybrid mobile applications. For example, unavailability of datalist elements and source elements in the test object hierarchy.

• Testing:

  Hybrid apps pose issues while testing phase. They need to be tested on different versions of operating systems. Moreover, screen resolution is another parameter that requires separate testing endeavors. Again, UI elements vary across devices and OS, so hybrid apps require testing for user experience on all the platforms. Additionally, compatibility of hybrid apps with third-party apps is also needed to be checked. Sometime, interference may crash your hybrid app.

• Latest Upgrades:

  Because of constant competition, Apple and Android keep on launching new versions with add-on features. A hybrid app user may have to wait until he can enjoy the latest features by drawing support from plugins.

• Susceptibility of Removal:

  It sounds unfortunate, but Apple has raised the standards for the apps that may malfunction after app review approval. The Apple may put such apps to the sword that contain more than the recommended percentage of functionality in the WebView. Threat indeed for Hybrid apps!

Conclusion

The above piece of writing may force you to rethink about your decision. However, at the same time, one can’t ignore the fact that hybrid apps come with inherent advantages. A sensible developer is one who weighs the benefits against the cost and knows how to minimize the impact of shortcomings that characterize hybrid app development.