And then there are the hybrid apps. These are web apps that look and feel like native apps. They might have a home screen app icon, responsive design, fast performance, even be able to function offline, but they’re really web apps made to look native.

Technology Used: Hybrid apps use a mixture of web technologies and native APIs. They’re developed using: Ionic, Objective C, Swift, HTML5, and others.

Pros: Building a hybrid app is much quicker and more economical than a native app. As such, a hybrid app can be the minimum viable product – a way to prove the viability of building a native app. They also load rapidly, are ideal for usage in countries with slower internet connections, and give users a consistent user experience. Finally, because they use a single code base, there is much less code to maintain.

Cons: Hybrid apps might lack in power and speed, which are hallmarks of native apps.