Why React Native Is A Leading Choice For App Development Over Hybrid Apps

Why React Native Is A Leading Choice For App Development Over Hybrid Apps
react native app
While developing mobile apps, most businesses wish for high-performing apps that are built faster and at minimal costs. But, the availability of numerous outstanding technologies causes dilemmas when choosing the right app development framework. Also, it becomes difficult to maintain a balance between opting for top-quality app development and affordable costs. In this regard, the two most popular approaches are ‘Hybrid app development’ and ‘React Native app development’. And, the decision on whether to go for hybrid apps or React Native apps is the most popular topic of debate.
Several businesses go for hybrid mobile app creation thinking that it meets their requirement. No doubt it offers advantages like:
  • Faster development in a cost-efficient manner.
  • Wider reach at once.
  • Offline support.
  • Ease of integration with the cloud.
But, before investing in hybrid apps, businesses must also look at the drawbacks associated with them.

Drawbacks Of Hybrid Apps

Unsatisfactory Performance:

These apps crash several times. Also, these introduce an extra layer between the targeted mobile platform and the source code which ultimately deteriorates their performance.

Unappealing User Interface:

The first impression is the best impression. Hybrid apps visible on the app store do not entice the user because they have a very dull look and appear like web apps on the android and iOS platforms. Owing to lesser clarity, users tend to avoid downloading such apps.

Below-average User-experience:

The UX of the modern-day apps is impeccable and highly captivating. But a hybrid mobile app fails to match this raised bar of UX in the apps. They have sluggish graphics, limited animation, keyboard malfunction, and the absence of platform-specific features that contribute to poor user experience. This could be the probable reason why Facebook switched from HTML5 to React Native.

Debugging Issues:

As discussed previously, the additional layer between the platform and the code of hybrid apps makes the debugging process lengthy and complex. The developers have to rely on the framework to make modifications to the targeted OS. Also, since the developers may not have a thorough knowledge of the target platform, detecting issues in these apps becomes highly time-consuming.

Limitations while upgrading to Latest Features:

To stay competitive, it is essential for modern-day apps to embed new features and upcoming software capabilities. But in hybrid mobile apps, this process is extremely difficult and troublesome.
With such disadvantages, it can become highly impossible to develop attractive, engaging, and robust apps while maintaining cost-effectiveness. At this time, the usage of React Native for app development comes into the picture.
Let’s take a look at how React Native apps fare better than Hybrid apps!

Key Benefits offered by React Native App Development

react native app development services

Native-like Functionality and Appearance:

The platform components used in React Native applications are similar to those in native Android or iOS apps. So, the cross-platform apps created in React Native have a native-like look and feel and perform better as compared to Hybrid apps. Hybrid apps are like a web view with a native container wrapped around them. They are not smooth and fast. On any operative device, hybrid apps run and behave like web apps.

Code-reusability for Time and Cost-efficient Development:

The benefits of React Native as a cross-platform app development framework are known to all. This framework allows the sharing of a single code-base across multiple platforms, so it is possible to create top-grade apps in half the time when compared with native apps, thereby being more cost-effective. Hybrid apps, on the other hand, use age-old frameworks that require more time for development.

‘Ready-made’ Components and Third-party plugins:

React Native has a reusable component-specific structure. So, the developers do not need to write code for these components from scratch. Comparatively, hybrid apps have a WebView component that is getting outdated gradually. Also, React Native offers a host of amazing third-party libraries with pragmatic interfaces and flexible customization options.

ReactJS’s Programming Model:

React Native is nothing but a JavaScript framework at its core and makes use of the programming model of ReactJS. As a result, the React Native developers utilize the same conceptual framework used by React developers.

Attractive and Efficient User Interface:

React Native is much more exclusive and versatile as compared to other JavaScript frameworks like Angular and React. Due to the asynchronous JavaScript connections, the resulting user interface of React Native becomes highly responsive and native-like. It has a smooth feel with faster loading times and looks much better visually as compared to hybrid apps.

A rich Open-source Ecosystem and Vibrant Community Support:

This framework is open-source and has a rich open-source ecosystem for knowledge sharing and external integration. It is backed by a strong community and talented developers worldwide contributing to its progress. Big players like Facebook, GitHub, Callstack, Software Mansion, Microsoft, Infinite Red, etc. support this framework.

Used by several Industry Giants:

Above all, this cross-platform framework supports big leaders like Instagram, Facebook, Tesla, Walmart, Bloomberg, etc. It is being adopted for varied applications by diverse industries and this fact speaks for the popularity of React Native.

Other Technical Merits:

The below-mentioned features simplify the coding efforts and also make the testing of React Native apps easier.
  • It has a modular architecture that helps to divide the code functions into free and interchangeable modules; thereby speeding up the development process.
  • The ‘Hot-reload’ feature is another great feature of this framework. Any modification in the code immediately reflects in the apps, even while the apps are running. It reduces the wait times and allows the implementation of any feedback with ease.
  • The declarative coding style in React Native makes the processes of reading and understanding the code much easier. It enables even new developers with basic knowledge of JavaScript to grasp the coding of this framework.
  • It allows for easy migration

Concluding Note:

With this, we come to the end of this blog. We understood how apps developed in React Native have unparalleled quality and performance as compared to hybrid apps. React Native development has undoubtedly overshadowed hybrid app development. The apps built in React Native are stable and reliable. Also, it is a cost-effective technology for cross-platform mobile app creation. Needless to say, this technology is already popular, and React Native app development services have immense potential to develop profitable applications. So, if you were thinking of hiring a hybrid app company, for your next project, it’s high time to reconsider your decision.

List of Top Local Databases used for React Native App Development in 2022!

List of Top Local Databases used for React Native App Development in 2022!
react native developers
React Native has become the most talked-about technology in the last couple of years. Its popularity as a cross-platform framework due to cost efficiency has made React Native Development the most preferred development technology in the tech world. Due to the ever-growing demand, developers are expected to build highly performant apps. One of the challenging decisions while architecting React Native apps is to select the right database for the project. The good news is, that the React Native framework comes with some really good choices available for data storage. So, in this blog, we will shed light on top React Native databases for 2022. Let’s explore them in detail. But before that, let’s quickly run through the significant factors that should be considered while choosing the apt database for React Native projects.

Variables to be considered while choosing the Apt Database for Your Project

Data and App Complexity
Complex data sets in the applications can cause severe app performance issues. So, databases that can store complex data should be chosen. Apps that have lower complexity can use simple databases so that such apps can be easily synced with the server. But complicated apps with multiple-user collaboration requirements require a complex database for ensuring seamless syncing.
Memory Handling:
Inadequate database memory management can lead to the crashing of apps. Hence, it should be ensured that memory management is done efficiently through processes like compaction, garbage collection, etc.
Line of Codes:
If a higher number of code lines are used in a project for CRUD-like operations, then an advanced database should not be the choice as the coding gets more cumbersome. This code complication deteriorates the performance of the app significantly.
Data Conflicts:
The possibility of data conflicts increases when more collaboration-related features are added to the app and data is being used concurrently. So, it is always good to select a database that handles data conflicts and concurrency and shares the conflict handling policies on the website or at least on repository pages.

Top Databases for React Native in 2022!

mobile app development
Realm
Realm is an object-oriented database that enables the creation of real-time and offline applications that run on both- wearable devices as well as smartphones. It is one of the top React Native databases amongst all the available ones. This database is highly preferred when the end goal of the project is building high-performance apps that can deal with a huge data flow. The database benefits both platforms- iOS and Android. It doesn’t depend on key-value stores as it has its own database engine. Realm allows the React Native app developers to frequently undergo tables, mapping classes, fields, foreign keys, etc.
Key Advantages of Realm:
  • Makes use of multiple encryption standards to ensure good security for diverse mobile platforms
  • Realm Synchronization service works locally in the background for recording user interactions and service requests and sends the data to the server after the device goes online.
  • Redux offline can be used to fulfill offline-first architecture requirements.
Firebase
For React Native development, Firebase supports real-time NoSQL DB. This database is known for its offline data modifications and data synchronization capabilities. Besides, it can handle M (model) and C (controller) of the MVC that is needed while building React Native applications.
Key Advantages of Firebase:
  • This database allows real-time data syncing for all the clients simultaneously.
  • Firebase offers a cross-platform API that can be easily set up with minimum effort.
  • Firebase database can be directly accessed with a mobile device and so, the application servers are not needed.
  • Firebase supports the creation of real-time apps with offline persistence capabilities.
SQlite
SQLite is a relational database management system developed for offering local storage to React Native applications. ‘Lite’ in SQLite depicts the lightweight nature of this database. Also, this database is very easy to set up. It can be directly integrated with mobile applications for accessing the database. For data encryption, SQLite can be used with an extension called SQLite Encryption Extension (SEE).
Key Advantages of SQLite:
  • This database can support offline persistence, simply by using a react-native-SQLite-storage plugin for data management within the mobile app.
  • SQLite is ACID-compliant and employs most of the SQL standards with just a few omissions. It comes with a file-based library architecture and some tools for easily and efficiently handling all data types.
PouchDB
This is a JavaScript database developed using a storage mechanism and CouchDB protocols. It stores the data in JSON format. This open-source database enables the React Native developers to read, create, delete, update, and query the objects using a singleJS API. Furthermore, PouchDB is compatible with MongoDB, CouchDB, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.
Key Advantages of PouchDB:
  • It allows data syncing using a supported server for running the apps online as well as offline.
  • Ensures speedier execution of queries.
  • Also, as PouchDB remains inside a browser, it is not necessary to run queries over the network resulting in faster execution of queries.
Vasern
This is an open-source, lightweight, and fast database used for React Native-based application development for both- Android and iOS. It is developed with a robust server-side language-Golang, created by Google. Vasern’s API can also be utilized for syncing across app clients, local storage, and for cloud storage.
Key Advantages of Vasern:
  • Vasern ensures good performance of apps and speedier operations
  • Provides end-to-end database syncing
  • Support basic data types like string, double, int, double, reference, DateTime, etc.
  • Provides support to languages that use UTF – 8 coding.
Watermelon DB
This database is built on top of SQLite. It can scale a myriad number of records without impacting the application speed. This database is perfectly optimized for complex apps built with React Native that ensures real-world performance.
Key Advantages of Watermelon DB:
  • It is a fast, multi-threaded, relational, and highly cached database
  • It supports an offline first system for syncing with your own backend.
  • It allows static typing with flow
BerkeleyDB
This is a high-performing backend and allows the developers to handle data in several ways. It comes with an API that is compatible with numerous languages and several platforms like Android and iOS.
Key Advantages of BerkeleyDB:
  • Simple to use
  • Provides support for industrial-strength transactions
  • Ensures concurrent access for multiple users
AsyncStorage
This is a local storage database and comes in-built with React Native. It enables developers to persist data between reboots of the apps. It acts as an outstanding solution for saving the data that the app required, even when the app is being closed by the users.

Concluding Views:

Apart from the local databases mentioned here, there are several other databases available for the React Native app developers to utilize in their projects. But, the choice of a database ultimately depends on the project requirement, its scope, and end goals. For instance, Firebase suits perfectly when one has to develop real-time apps. Realm is great for almost every possible requirement, but comparatively, SQLite doesn’t provide the same level of performance, scalability, and security. Rather SQLite is good to go with when one needs to leverage the abilities of a relational database. So, the one that suits your requirements is the best choice for you.
Here we come to an end! We hope this write-up was insightful.