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Have you ever given a second chance to a mobile app which did not come up to your expectations the first time? Well, only 16% of mobile app users give more than two chances to a mobile app which failed to deliver a wonderful user experience, while 79% might consider giving it more than one try. Source: Dynatrace.com

Don’t you think, leaving your app to face the fate at hands of 79% could prove disastrous for your business and might also result in losing some good customers?

Why not make it right the first time?

Are you wondering right now, that’s exactly what we want to do, but HOW is a bigger question?

That is why we are here, we at iTool Solutions will answer this HOW for you and, to begin with let us first understand the biggest dilemma of mobile app development:

Whether to go for a Native app or a Hybrid app?

Let us first understand what a Native app and Hybrid app is.

A native application is a mobile device application that is particularly developed for a mobile operating system for eg. Objective-C or Swift for iOS, Java for Android, and so on.Such an app is developed under a mature ecosystem following the technical and user experience guidelines. It gives a faster performance and feels consistent with almost all other native apps on the device. It delivers far better and intuitive user experience.

Hybrid applications are websites wrapped into a native cover. They seem like a native app but actually reside outside of the basic frame of the application. Ultimately, this is a web app built using HTML5 and JavaScript, wrapped in a native container, which displays and downloads the information sought by the user as the user navigates through the application. Simple advantage of the Hybrid application is that it is not OS dependent, hence once designed it can run on any mobile device.

More confused? Don’t be, this thorough comparison will help you choose sides!

Key comparison points for Native vs Hybrid apps include:

Parameter(s)	Native App	Hybrid App
User Experience	Very High	High/Medium
Technology	Developed in OS specific language. For eg. Objective-C or Swift for iOS, Java for Android	Developed using HTML, CSS, Javascript. Some examples of hybrid mobile frameworks include Ionic, NativeScript, React Native, Xamarin, PhoneGap etc.
Compatibility	OS Specific. Multiple OSes, multiple applications.	Develop Once, Run Everywhere.
Performance	Fastest	Medium to Comparable with Native Apps
In-App Interaction	Very High	Medium
Inherent Device/OS Feature Inclusion	Very High. Makes use of inherent device features like GPS, address book, camera, etcetera	Medium
Security	Very High	Medium/Low
Development Time	4-8 Weeks for a standard mobile app on one platform.	Faster Development Cycle. Possible to deploy a standard feature mobile app as soon as within 4 weeks.
Post Development Maintenance	Requires platform wise maintenance and updates.	Simple to maintain.
ROI	High. Primarily due to higher index of user experience & intuitiveness delivered by the native apps.	High/Medium

The most important aspect to be considered when deciding which app technology is ideal for your business is to define the objectives you want to achieve by developing this app. While defining these objectives, do keep in mind that ultimately your app will be used by the end user who could be your customer or an employee based on the type of app you are envisioning.

Keep in mind your app user’s experience because Customer experience is primitive to mobile app development today. Unless your app delivers an intuitive & wonderful user experience, it may still be thrown into the trash the next moment irrespective of the fact that it delivers most useful content for the user.

We at iTool Solutions as your technology partner guide you through this selection process, helping you select the best option suitable for your business objectives. Talk to our experts and find out which is the best app for your business: Native or Hybrid?

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Mobile First

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There are more than 5 Billion Mobile Device users in the world today (Source: GSMA Intelligence), of which 2.69 Billion are active mobile social users. (Source: TheNextWeb) Therefore, being Mobile focused is no more a good-to-have characteristic of your overall technology strategy, it is the “present”, it is the “must-have” and the “most critical” aspect to be considered in your overall strategy. If you are not prepared to adopt mobile first then be prepared to lose a large percentage of your customers.

In this article, we will explore and understand more about the Mobile First strategy, why it is critical and how to go about it.

What is Mobile First Approach?

Mobile First approach, as the name indicates, focuses on the mobile design first and then moves on to the bigger screen sizes such as desktops. The approach is more commonly used while designing a website. The days of designing responsive website are over and now it is time to start planning for mobile first websites, focusing completely on the end user experience.

Why is it critical?

Mobile needs to be at the centre of your technology landscape, simply owing to the fact that 67% of the world’s population is now using mobile devices. (Source: TheNextWeb) There has been a substantial increase in mobile web browsing and the tremendous increase in traffic routed to websites via mobile devices.

So if you want to be where your customer is then, Mobile First is the approach meant for your business.

How to move forward?

Having understood the criticality of Mobile’s inclusion in your technology landscape, the next step is to understand how to move forward and what should be your next step. Let us first dive into the details of how mobile first is different from desktop first.

Mobile first vs Desktop first

Conventionally a website design was initiated based on the assumption that user will browse it on a desktop and then it was modified to adapt to various device resolutions.This approach is widely known as graceful degradation or desktop-first. In this approach, the visual aspects and features of a website are optimised for desktops but poorly adapted to mobile devices.

The new approach which is called progressive enhancement or a mobile-first strategy works on the concept that the mobile website should form the basis of website design. A website’s content must be carefully analysed and structured to categorise it based on importance yet ensuring that the overall design remains refined. Additional layers of content are then added later for larger screen resolutions.

Benefits of mobile first design

First and foremost, a website designed on mobile first approach ranks very high on

End user experience
Ease of Navigation
Consumption of Content
Responding to Call to Action

Thereby leading to,

Visitors spending MORE time on the website.
HIGHER chances of conversion and increase in sales.
INCREASED Re-visits.

The mobile first is also easier to manage and implement from development perspective. Once a concise version is ready, making a desktop website is easier as the main functionality of the website has been defined already and only requires addition of more information for larger device resolutions.

It is partially true that most visitors can’t distinguish between a responsive, adaptive or mobile-first website. Visitor’s priority is the ability to quickly and easily find the information they need and perform requisite actions. But visitors can definitely distinguish between the experiences they get by browsing through websites built based on each of these approaches. So far, mobile first ranks highest on user experience.

Are you ready to go Mobile First? We hope the answer is YES!

Having decided to move forward with the mobile first strategy, it is time for you identify the right technology partner who can guide you through the process and help you achieve desired results without any roadblocks.

We are, ready and prepared to help you. Reach out to discuss more with experts at iTool Solutions.

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Native vs Hybrid Mobile App Development

Mobile First