Hybrid Mobile app development - Xamarin or Telerik AppBuilder
What is Hybrid App development?
Do you ever realize the difference between hybrid app and native app when you download, install and use any app from app store? Visually and aesthetically, it is difficult to separate mobile apps in two baskets – Hybrid and Native.
Native apps are developed considering specific platform like iOS, Android etc. Web apps are primarily apps that run on browsers. Hybrid app is combination of web app and native app. Hybrid apps are developed using web technologies like JavaScripts, HTML and CSS by mobile application development companies. In addition to web technologies, it also contains some native code to make it portable and compatible with all mobile devices.
Hybrid app is a good choice for mobile application development companies as it requires developing one application that is portable and compatible with all mobile device platforms like iOS, Android and Windows. This reduces overall time and cost of mobile app development making it more lucrative option over Native app development.
Ionic, Xamarin, Telerik AppBuilder, React Native are some of the platforms to use for Hybrid app development. Xamarin has been taken over by Microsoft recently. Telerik AppBuilder is in market since long.
Xamarin Hybrid App development
Xamarin is a .NET based mobile app development platform recently acquired by Microsoft. It is claimed that no other platform enables businesses to all device platforms like iOS, Android, Mac and Windows with greater reusability, scalability and compatibility than Xamarin.
Mobile application development companies use same data structures, language and APIs for different platforms. Complete app is written using C# and code is shared between platforms. C# is the language covering features of Java, Swift and Objective C making it suitable programming language to create native apps with cross-platform compatibility.
Reasons to use Xamarin
- There are 20,000+ NuGet .Net libraries and Xamarin components available
- User friendly IDE, Xamarin Studio for Visual Studio, Windows, or Mac
- Multi-platform testing on 1000+ real devices online
- Efficient error handling and reporting
- Add data synchronization with external devices through integration
Telerik AppBuilder
Telerik AppBuilder is another popular hybrid mobile app development platform that allows developing, testing, debugging, building and publishing cross-platform mobile applications with Apache Cordova or NativeScript. Mobile application companies can enjoy developing mobile apps using Telerik AppBuilder extension for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Reasons to use Telerik AppBuilder
- Using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, mobile developers can write once and build native-running hybrid mobile apps.
- jQuery Mobile and Kendo UI Mobile for AppBuilder mobile projects
- Realistic simulation, powerful debugging and real-time device updates
- Easy app publishing using “publish to app store” wizards
- Integrated cloud backend services for managing and storing app data
- Enjoy your favorite Visual Studio features, such as:
- Advanced code editing features such as built-in code snippets and IntelliSense.
- JavaScript and CSS minifying and obfuscation.
- Work offline mode capability
- TFS, SVN and other source control system integration
Comparative analysis of Xamarin and Telerik AppBuilder
| Xamarin | Telerik AppBuilder | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform requirements | Visual Studio , Xamarin Studio | Telerik AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio |
| Development cost | Low | High |
| Deployment cost | Low | Moderate |
| Development time | Less | More |
| Portability | Yes | No |
| Development speed | High (still depend on the native browser) | Slow |
| Maintenance cost | Low | High |
| Skills needed to reach Android and iOS | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Mobile Development Framework | Objective-C, iOS SDK, Java, Android SDK |
| Performance | High | Low |
| Graphical performance | High | Moderate |
| Cross-Platform | Yes | No |
| Distribution | App Store/Market | App Store/Market |
| Universal Windows Platform | Supported | Not Supported |
| Source | Open Source | Paid |
| App performance | Moderate | Fast |
| Better Previews | Better UI | Moderate UI |
| Example | Instragram |
| Device Access and features | ||
|---|---|---|
| Xamarin | Telerik AppBuilder | |
| Camera | Yes | Yes |
| Push Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Contacts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline access | Yes | Yes |
| File upload | Yes | Yes |
| Geolocation | Yes | Yes |
Conclusion:
Hybrid and Native app have its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Mobile application development companies should consider customer’s requirement and decide the approach. Telerik AppBuilder and Xamarin also offer unique advantages and disadvantages and we discussed based on various parameters. Consider customer requirements and map them both platforms and decide the best platform.