Today, in a mobile-first world, organizations are massively embracing mobile applications (apps) to reach their users. Due to the sheer variety of devices, operating systems, and different screen sizes, creating a seamless experience is not easy for every platform. This is only a single piece of the puzzle: a challenge for a website specifically designed for a test site on mobile is a thing of the past, but the times have changed now.
This article discusses the three main types of mobile apps: web, native, and hybrid, and their selection for organizations. It also delves into advanced mobile testing techniques and how cloud-based platforms can streamline the process.
Web Apps: The Versatile Lightweight Champion
A web app is software that runs in your web browser, like Gmail or online games. They should be agile and light in weight; in essence, they would be designing normal websites to execute seamlessly on mobiles. Think of a website that would easily arrange its elements and functionalities to fit your smartphone’s screen well.
Advantages Of Web Apps
Web apps possess numerous benefits, and the following are a few of them.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
With a single code base, you can reach many devices, from Android smartphones to iPhones and tablets. This way, it saves on development resources and time for the market, considering no need to develop or maintain separate apps for each platform.
Reduced Maintenance
Updates for web applications are deployed directly on the server, and changes consequently appear by default for all users. This makes maintenance easy because the burden is eased for users without downloading and installing updates on their devices.
Rapid Development
Web development languages are more accessible to learn and program than native app development, leading to quicker development cycles and faster app delivery. Deploying a web app directly on the web allows for more flexible iteration and updates without waiting for app store approval, avoiding the time-consuming process.
Limitations Of Web Apps
Though we are not overlooking the easiness of web apps, there are also some limitations to consider. In this section, we will have a look at them.
Limited Functionality
Web applications depend on a mobile browser for functionality. It may not be able to handle some features if they are device-specific, like handling the camera, GPS, and local storage. An example may be a fitness app that cannot track your location since it is running inside a mobile browser.
Most web apps need an internet connection to function correctly, which may be a few points to deduct if the users do not trust the internet connectivity.
Performance
Native apps, with access to all device resources, are more responsive and faster than web apps. Sometimes, web apps feel slower or less fluid—especially on older or low-powered devices.
Beyond the Basics: Unlocking Web App Potential
Though web applications may appear to be a leaner option than this, there is a means of enhancing it still further,
Progressive Web Apps
A class of web applications utilizing service workers and caching mechanisms to deliver native features, such as push notifications and working offline. This puts web applications in a position to offer their users much more native-like experiences.
Hybrid App Development Frameworks
Hybrid frameworks, like React Native and Ionic, allow web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build apps with a native experience. These apps can utilize some native device capabilities with the aid of plugins and hence strike a balance between ease of web app development and some level of going native.
Native Apps: Unveiling the Powerhouse of Mobile Development
Native apps are downloadable programs built specifically for a device’s operating system. They are the most preferred choice when maximum mobile performance and functionality replete with features are concerned. These much-loved winners are specifically developed for a particular operating system, either Android or iOS.
Advantages of Native Apps
With this built-in approach, innumerable advantages can be unleashed:
Unleashing Device Potential
Native applications utilize device-specific programming languages like Java/Kotlin for Android, Swift for iOS, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to access device features like camera, GPS, microphone, local storage, and sensors, enhancing user experience through seamless image capture and GPS tracking.
Speed Demons of Mobility
Native apps are custom-built for a specific operating system to optimize device hardware and software for enhancing speed and smoothness compared to web-based apps. Instantaneous transitions between screens and seamless complex interactions ensure a seamless user experience.
Offline Access for Uninterrupted Use
Native apps offer the advantage of functioning even when internet connectivity is lost, as data can be saved within the device’s storage. This allows for offline navigation, such as using a map app for hiking or an e-book for a long flight, as it is accessible within the device’s storage capabilities.
Beyond the Surface: Unveiling the Nuances of Native App Development
While native apps support the utmost performance and functionality, there are a few things to note,
Platform-Specific Development
Because different codebases are required for Android and iOS, native app development for both platforms involves building two different applications. Native app development, hence, can prove to be slower and more resource-demanding than developing a single web app.
App Store Approval Process
To get your app at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, you need to follow the approval guidelines for the app store. This has, sometimes, been a long process that could push publish to users.
The Ideal Use Case for Native Apps
Native apps are highly efficient and responsive for complex applications like games, photo editing, and navigation, offering superior offline functionality. They are particularly useful for maps, note-taking, and productivity tools.
Native apps integrate with device features like cameras, microphones, and sensors, ensuring optimal functionality and efficiency. They are ideal for complex animations, real-time interactions, and intensive graphics.
Hybrid Apps: The Balancing Act of Convenience and Capability
Hybrid apps are a mix of web and native apps, offering single-code-based development for multiple platforms. They balance convenience and capability- the perfect fusion of the strengths of web and native apps. This is a web app encapsulated inside a native app shell. Therefore, it offers one single codebase that can reach users on both Android and iOS devices.
Advantages Of Hybrid Apps
There is an overwhelming amalgamation of advantages that Hybrid apps provide:
Cross-platform compatibility with a Single Codebase
Hybrid apps utilize web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for core functionality, allowing developers to write a single codebase and maintain the same GPS functionality on Android and iOS platforms, reducing time, resources, and costs compared to native apps. This eliminates double the expenses for creating an Android and iOS app.
Faster Development Compared to Native Apps
In Hybrid apps, development can be much faster compared to Native apps. It takes advantage of web technologies and frameworks with which the developers need not learn about the peculiarities specific to the platform languages of each of the OSs. This is because they can leverage the already available code.
Access to Native Features
Hybrid apps access some device features through plugins, bridging the gap between web app code and native features. These plugins allow access to camera, GPS, and local storage through the hybrid app despite not being native applications.
Limitations Of Hybrid Apps
There are also some limitations of the hybrid approach to consider; here are some of them,
Performance Balancing Act
Generally, native apps perform better than hybrid apps. This is because the hybrids rely on a web view component to render the web content inside the container of the native application. Such an abstraction layer sometimes causes slow response times and less fluid interactions, which disappoints most users.
Limited Access to Native Features
Hybrid apps have a limitation in accessing native features, which is limited by the availability and capability of plugins. The performance and functionality of a plugin may be less than native features, such as in a photo-editing application where the app can access the camera but may have limited filter and editing capabilities compared to a native application.
Advanced Mobile Testing Techniques: Choosing the Right Tools for Advanced Mobile Testing
After we have told you about all three kinds of apps and talked about their advantages and disadvantages, it’s crucial to conduct active testing to ensure a bug-free and user-friendly experience for your target audience. Here are a couple of advanced mobile testing techniques:
Automated Testing: Streamlining Repetitive Tasks
Automation testing allows for the automation of tasks like logins, navigation, and regression testing, freeing testers to focus on more complex scenarios and user experience evaluations.
Common open-source options include Selenium, which supports various languages and offers various libraries and plugins.
Appium, an open-source tool for automation in native and hybrid mobile applications, works mainly in mobiles using automation frameworks, WebDriver protocols, or custom scripts. Cypress, a modern and easy-to-learn tool for testing web applications, offers features like time travel debugging and auto screenshot capture, making it an enjoyable tool for testing web applications.
Visual Testing: Ensuring Pixel-Perfect Consistency
Automated visual testing tools like Applitools and Percy generate screenshots across multiple devices and platforms to identify visual differences, such as misaligned elements, upgrades, incorrect font use, and layout issues.
This can significantly impact a user’s experience, allowing for the detection of bugs before they reach actual users, such as a slightly crooked login button on some Android versions.
Performance Testing: Optimizing for Peak Loads
Performance testing tools like LoadStorm and JMeter help identify performance bottlenecks in applications. They simulate real-world conditions by generating heavy loads and measuring response times, resource consumption, and stability. Early identification of bottlenecks allows app performance optimization, improving load times, smooth transitions, and making it more interactive.
These advanced mobile testing techniques ensure high-quality, error-free app delivery on all platforms. By using open-source tools, teams can deliver cost-effective, high-quality mobile applications. Enforcing these techniques in testing scenarios ensures high-quality, error-free app delivery.
Cloud-based Testing Platforms: Streamlining the Process
Cloud-based testing platforms like LambdaTest help you perform mobile app testing by providing a mobile device lab with a wide range of real devices. LambdaTest is an AI-powered test execution platform that lets you conduct mobile and web browser online tests at scale with over 3000+ browsers and OS combinations.
This support provides on-demand access to the latest devices and configurations to future-proof your strategy for mobile testing.
Another impressive feature of cloud testing has to do with scalability. LambdaTest happily scales up to your testing requirements and can handle any tests you throw at it. But what sets it apart is its speed. Run tests on multiple devices simultaneously, gaining huge acceleration throughout the testing process.
This considerably shortens the time taken to test, allowing you to locate those bugs and squash them in record time. Finally, the platforms’ cloud-based nature works nicely with well-known testing frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Cypress. This means you do not need to switch from your favorite tools – just do it in the cloud and enjoy smooth and efficient work.
Conclusion
To conclude, the choice of mobile app development depends on the target audience, feature needs, and resource constraints. Web apps offer cross-platform functionality, native apps provide full device features but require separate development on each platform, and hybrid applications balance performance and feature access.
Advanced mobile testing techniques like automated, visual, and performance testing can enhance user experience. In contrast, cloud-based testing platforms offer real-time access, scalability, parallel testing, and integration with popular frameworks.