How Hybrid Application Development Tools Help Deliver Great UX Design

There are a ton of benefits to choosing a hybrid application development tool like Ionic to build your next mobile app: Use of familiar web languages, a stable platform based on open web standards, and one shared codebase across any platform or device.

But the most common objection to hybrid app design is: “What about the user experience?!” The implication being that a “hybrid app,” despite all its benefits, will deliver a sub-par mobile app user experience.

Well, in this article I’m going to argue that, not only does hybrid development deliver a native-like experience, it can actually help you deliver a better mobile app UX than native.

Get our free guide

Grab our free Hybrid vs. Native guide to see how you can build cross-platform mobile apps with the web.

Defining the Hybrid Development Approach

Before we get too far, let’s level-set with a brief definition of hybrid:

Hybrid development is a way of building mobile apps using open web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

The term hybrid refers to the fact that the apps you build use web technology, but still have access to all of the native device features.

From a user’s perspective, hybrid apps look and feel identical to a traditional native app, and can be accessed and downloaded in the same way as a native app is via any platform’s app store.

How do they work? Hybrid apps run in a full-screen browser called a web view, which is invisible to the user and feels just like a native app. Through customizable plugins, the app can access the native features of specific mobile devices (such as the camera, GPS, or touch ID), without the core code being tied to that device. This means that hybrid-built apps can run on any platform or device, all from a single codebase, while still delivering a completely native experience.

With that definition in place, let’s explore the top three reasons that hybrid can deliver a better mobile app UX than native.

Why Hybrid App Design?

1. More time to focus on features

With a hybrid approach, you can build apps for multiple platforms using a single codebase. This reduces the overhead of building and maintaining separate codebases for each target platform (desktop web, iOS, Android, Progressive Web App, etc.), leaving more time to focus on shipping features and improving app quality.

You can see this concept delivered in a real-world example via Sanvello, a mental health app serving millions of users. It’s frequently cited as one of the top App Store apps, with user reviews of around 4.8 out of 5. You can read the full case study, but note what Dale Beerman, Sanvello co-founder, had to say:

“Ionic allowed us to get up to speed quickly, so we could constantly improve the app based on our users’ feedback...There’s no way we could have launched both iOS and Android as quickly as we did if we went native.”

Dale Beerman, Co-Founder of Sanvello

2. Seamless experiences across platforms

What makes a good user experience? Solid performance and design are often must-haves. But users have also have come to expect a seamless app experience as they move from device to device - or from mobile to desktop. This is easy to get with a hybrid cross-platform approach.

You can easily deliver the same set of features and experiences across desktop and mobile, all from a single codebase. Plus, when you use a hybrid application development tool like Ionic, the look and feel of your app will automatically adhere to the unique design patterns of whatever device your users are on at the time, whether it’s Android, iOS, or Windows.

3. Real-time app updates

A hidden gem of the hybrid app design is the ability to update your app on the fly, without having to submit a new version to the app stores or ask users to update their app.

How is this possible? Well, app store policies require that any changes to native code must go through the app stores. However, it is permissible to make changes to the parts of your app that are considered web assets. And, since 90 percent of hybrid apps exist at the web layer, that means that with a service like Ionic Appflow you can change most of your app by pushing changes directly. That includes new features and critical bug fixes, which can be sent in real-time.

The ability to send live updates is a significant benefit cited by real-world users. Here’s Josh Rachner, Digital Practice Lead, SenseCorp, talking about the importance of being able to get new versions into the hands of users:

“Ionic allows you to very rapidly develop features and functionality within a native mobile app container and push those out on a user’s device very, very quickly. We’re doing daily builds and could get versions out in an hour or less. That is a real win.”

Josh Rachner, Digital Practice Lead at SenseCorp

Similarly, Mike Sigle at Napa Group shares the importance of real-time updates for his team, which manages an app used in premium wine auctions. The nature of their business requires that they make any new updates within a tight two-week window:

“The amount of risk goes down exponentially compared to deploying the app on the app store, waiting for it to get reviewed, realizing there’s a bug and taking two or three more days before you can get a fix uploaded. That deployment speed is a huge asset for us.”

Mike Sigle, SVP of Product Development at Napa Group

So, with a hybrid approach, you can make sure that your users always get the best experience, with real-time bug fixes and seamless updates.

4. Speed and performance

Performance is absolutely critical to delivering a great mobile app UX. So how does hybrid stack up when it comes to load times, scrolling, and other moments where speed is critical? The best way to answer that is to find out for yourself, by checking out the many successful consumer apps built using hybrid technology—From award-winning apps like Sanvello and Sworkit to highly popular apps like Shipt and Untappd. Our take? Unless you’re building a highly-graphic intensive app, such as a 3D game, a hybrid app design will deliver the speed and performance you need to make your users happy.

Want more proof? Schedule a Strategy Session with our team and we can help you set up a custom proof of concept (POC) to make sure Ionic can deliver on your requirements.

Where to Go From Here?

You may be convinced, now, that a hybrid app development approach can deliver great UX across platforms, but perhaps still have a few more questions about this type of development.

There are a lot of misconceptions floating around out there about how hybrid development stacks up against native. And, despite these questions being a few years old, and hybrid technology having evolved to provide better performance and experiences across the board—the inquiries around this debate still persist.

That’s why we put together a handy little guide we call, Why Hybrid: Real-World Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Hybrid App Development. This article was just a little taste of why companies looking to tackle digital transformation should consider hybrid development as a way to deliver great UX across platforms.

That said, we know there are still a few more questions that might need answering before you decide which development approach is right for your company. So, be sure to check out our robust Why Hybrid guide to feel confident in tackling your app dev projects with a hybrid-web approach.

If you’re ready to dive int hybrid app development, connect with an Ionic App Strategist!

About Ionic

Ionic is the leading cross-platform developer solution with 5 million developers worldwide. It powers 15% of apps in the app store, not including thousands of apps built internally at enterprises for every line-of-business need. Ionic is unique in that it takes a web-first approach, leveraging HTML, CSS, and Javascript to build high-quality iOS, Android, desktop, and Progressive Web Apps.

Ionic is a leader in enterprise app development. Thousands of enterprise customers use Ionic to build mission-critical apps for their customers, both external and internal.