Does React Native or Native suit your iOS app development project?
Have you ever felt confused about which platform to use for creating your ios app development project? React Native or Native?
According to Statista, in the third quarter of 2018, Apple’s App Store remained the second-largest app store with almost 2 million available apps (while there are about 2.1 million apps are currently available on Google Play Store). In fact, IOS users are increasing day by day, thus the demand for IOS applications is rising significantly in order to satisfy its users. For years, the native platform has been chosen as the first choice for developing on a specific operating system (OS) due to the ability to optimise performance, particularly on iOS.
However, please never miss the largest market of mobile applications on Google Play. This leads to the demand of developing an application on both platforms at the same time and is also where React Native comes in. Designed by Facebook, React Native framework allows developers to create applications on iOS and Android without designing brand new UI/UX for each platform.
- Read more: Native Apps and Hybrid Apps
Types of iOS app development
Choosing the platforms, tools and frameworks is the first thing that all developers must consider before starting any software development product. In this article, we would like to discuss two ways of building an application for mobile application development:
- Native – build two separate applications for each platform
- React Native – build one application that works on both platforms
Native app development
The native framework is developed for a certain platform with specific tools. These days, the two most popular platforms among others are iOS and Android. If Java is the most popular language for Android, Swift is for iOS. Hence, to build an application that is available on both the Apple Store and Google Play Store, forming at least two development teams is required.
React Native app development
React native is an open source framework that transfers the concepts from web development into mobile development. Furthermore, JavaScript is often chosen to be the developing language for these applications. The final product still works well as a native-developed application. With the cross-platform framework, the same code-base can be used for iOS and Android. Thus, there is no need to develop two different applications.
Comparison between React Native and Native
Third Party Libraries and APIs availability
React Native features smart support from third-party libraries which keep on duplicating each year due to mind-boggling feedback from its community. Although React Native supports an endless number of 3rd party APIs, there are still a few necessities which are required to be met in terms of supporting APIs through local modules.
For native iOS app – these third parties can be installed by manually connecting them to Xcode. With Swift, this is no longer a challenge. Apple’s Cocoapods permit engineers to effortlessly oversee and keep up with upgraded 3rd party libraries and APIs. In case any bundle requires an upgrade, the designer will be informed instantly expanding the maintainability of your Swift project.
Enterprise Compatibility
Building the enterprise-ready app with React Native could be a challenging perspective for ios app developers to take after as there are numerous performance issues and restrictions of React Native which will allure a risk-level in a project. Nevertheless, once these aspects are detected, developers can hopefully taste victory.
On the other hands, Swift syntax on the Native platform is clear and concise which makes it a better fit for enterprise built ventures. This language requires less code – this makes it an ideal choice for cloud-based advancement and deployment. Moreover, Swift gives numerous highlights to iOS developers such as error handling system, memory management, optional types and protocol-oriented architecture.
App Maintainability
React Native has a problem with the compatibility of third-party libraries and frequent release cycles, as the code becomes old and libraries cannot match the update.
In terms of maintainability, Swift is a statically-typed language that is less demanding to examine and keep up. Also, developers can depend on XCode which supports the tracking of mistakes when building their mobile app. For instance, a transportation company-Lyft has re-engineered their mobile application using Swift reducing over 70% subsequent errors whilst keeping the same execution and usefulness in their app.
How to build a React Native & Native App
For React Native, developers need JavaScript or a slightly different take on JavaScript which blends JavaScript and HTML type syntax called JSX. The instruments for React Native are generally a content editor and the Chrome debugger and a couple of other tools for developing and testing. And the API’s – there is a large set of things to memorize. Furthermore, the API’s are generally OS based.
- Read more: Does Swift Really Change iOS Development?
On the other hands, the popular language for Native iOS is Swift. Moreover, developers should use each platform’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment), Xcode or Android studio, and learn how that IDE and their debugger and construct framework works. Additionally, these are pure native touch-based platforms and developers have to learn these in their own right. Lastly, the frameworks – there is likely the same amount of effort that is required to React Native or Native iOS. Nevertheless, React Native does not support every single API that is accessible on iOS.
Conclusion
React Native or Native – which approach should be used while developing an iOS application? Well, it depends on your project requirements and complexity. If you start in the field of iOS application development or complex application requirements then Swift is the best option to be considered. However, if the developer needs to deliver a simpler iOS application in a short time then React Native will be a good approach.
Developing React Native & Native mobile app with Savvycom
As an experienced developer in building mobile apps based on various frameworks, especially with React Native & Native, Savvycom is confident to be a trustable vendor in building your apps. Let’s take a look at some of our products!
Savvycom has developed a lot of applications to suit the organisation’s demand. We have developed a solution for a nail salon that can improve customers experience and building a better business for salon owners. Keep track of your customers’ scheduled dates, manage promotions, track revenue, and more! This application helps the retailers to keep a track on what the customers are liking and ignoring. Furthermore, Naillapp tracks on the customer’s traffic pattern at a particular time or the real time. Also, there are a number of online appointment systems that are easy to set up and maintain at a low cost. In order to develop this application, Savvycom has used React Native approach with JavaScript language. With the React Native, the same code base can be used for iOS and Android platform.
MULBERRY LANE WEB PORTAL – A SALE AND MARKETING CHANNEL FOR REAL ESTATE COMPANY
For Native, our developers have used Swift to design and build Mulberry Lane. We developed this application on both iOS and Android platform. This project includes a mobile app and a website portal. On the mobile, it is integrated with a web portal that supports Sale department to launch marketing campaigns and offers users with a totally new experience in searching apartments. After a few months, Mulberry Lane site received excellent feedback from users, especially the residents who live in Mulberry Lane. Another good sign was that Capitaland’s sales department also reported a significant rise in revenue at the end of 2014.
For further enquiries related to iOS app development, please do not hesitate to contact Savvycom at:
- Phone: +84 24 3202 9222
- Hotline: +84326752886
- Email: [email protected]
- Official Website: https://savvycomsoftware.com/
Head Office: 12th floor, Viet A Tower, Duy Tan Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
We would love to give you a free consultation and suggestions to achieve your goals.
