PWA vs React Native: Which is Better for App Development

https://nimapinfotech.com/blog/pwa-vs-react-native/

Firstly, mobile technologies are on the boom. Every business is looking forward to developing their own apps for sustaining and projecting their businesses. With such technologies comes several advantages that help companies make their app building decisions better. It is always about how good your business gets. How you can implement a business idea. Secondly, mobile technologies are always on the look out for better ideas and suggestions through communities.

Whether you have a viable business idea or a thought process, you can always look forward to making an app out of your business idea. Whatever be your choice, this blog will help you make your selection of mobile technologies better so that you can reap in the benefits. Businesses who are looking to convert their ideas and suggestions into today’s apps must read forward and understand the benefits.

Here in this blog we will compare and contrast two technologies: PWA vs React Native that are increasingly popular nowadays. These are Progressive web apps (PWAs) and React Native(PWA vs React Native).

But first, we need to understand what Native app technologies are:

What are Native Apps?

Native apps are those apps that are developed using native technologies and platforms. Native apps use the platforms based technologies and are used to build apps that natively run on these devices. Examples are Swift for iOS and Java for Android. Native apps interact with the hardware and can use the hardware specific resources. Particularly, native apps use technologies that drive the device’s specific features. These features are using mobile data, using the camera, GPS, bluetooth connections, Wifi and so on. These are device specific features that the apps built using native can access. These native apps are good especially when you want to implement some device specific features as mentioned above.

However, there is one major drawback when using the native approach. These apps are device specific. Which means that these apps can be developed using only a single platform. So, if you are developing native apps for android, then the app cannot be used for iOS and vice versa. It is because the native app is coded using platform specific tools. These tools are specific to a particular platform. Hence they cannot be used for other platforms.

However, with that said, hybrid mobile apps and PWAs have changed this.

What are PWA or Progressive Web Apps?

PWAs or progressive web apps are similar to native apps except that they run in a browser. For running Progressive Web Apps, all you need is a browser whose web view can be used. These apps can use specific device functionalities if the need be. These apps are coded and developed using Web Development technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. All these technologies work in tandem with one another and can easily be used to create a mobile app that runs on a browser.

Progressive web apps can be used when there is no internet connection as the app is enabled to download and cache its data which can then be used by the user. So there is no need to have an active mobile data connection or internet connection to be present when using the app. The app size is also much smaller and compact in size when you compare it with a native app.

Progressive web apps are the world of web development and app development that enables developers to create awesome apps. These business ideas can be implemented with the use of a progressive web app.

PWA are designed to work anywhere and everywhere. These apps do not need an active internet connection for the user to use the app. These apps always cache data, of course to sync your data an internet connection will prove to be helpful.

Advantages of PWAs

• PWAs are created using web technologies so no need to be familiar with native technologies
• You only need to know HTML, CSS, JavaScript and libraries to create a PWA app
• PWAs do not require an active internet or data connection to use the app
• PWAs are smaller in size compared to native apps created using React.

Disadvantages of PWAs

• Cannot be used for high performance and multi threaded operations eg, games.
• Rules of app stores are not applicable to PWAs hence they can be used for anything and any idea

Read More: Progressive Web App (PWA) – Ideas and Importance

What is React Native?

As we all know that React is a technology that is developed by Facebook for its use in its products. React Native is a native implementation of React technology. It is a JavaScript library that enables the development of mobile apps that work natively on Android and iOS. Using this combination of native technologies, apps can be built that can be similar to native apps. Initially, Facebook engineers built this technology for use in its Facebook app. These technologies have now been made available public and are now open source. This means that there is no expensive subscriptions or licensing fees to be given when using this technology. Moreover, you can make use of this technology for an unlimited amount of time that you want to use for.

 Advantages of React Native:

• You can use native app like technologies to built native apps using react
• You can use the hardware features unlimited for you app
• Numerous libraries and tools are available that you can use right out of the box
• Exhaustive and complete documentation is available for you if you are stuck somewhere during development
• The technology is backed and supported by the Social Media Giant Facebook, so you can be assured that you will be getting constant updates and improvements to be used for this technology

Disadvantages of React Native:

• You can either use react to develop for only one platform that is either Android or iOS
• The app size can bound to increase when you implement and use native features
• The cost associated with the development of native apps can easily rise, hence this is a costly investment but it is just a one time investment
• You also need to concentrate on maintenance activities if you want to improve your app further and add newer features.

Conclusion: So you see we have discussed with you PWA vs React Native: which is better. With this you can decide to go the PWA route or the React Native route. If you are looking to hire PWA developer or Hire React Native developer then do contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] with your requirements. We have an expert developer ready to onboard your project and help you out.