Native app, cross-platform app or web app: which should you build?

A native app is written separately for each platform: Swift for iPhone, Kotlin for Android. A cross-platform app shares most of its code between the two, using a framework such as React Native or Flutter. A web app runs in the browser, and a PWA is a web app that can be added to the home screen and work offline to a degree.

All three can be good. They differ in what they cost to build, what the phone lets them do, and how much work they create after launch.

Check the features you need before anything else. Push notifications, the camera, location, Bluetooth, biometric login and background tasks all work in native apps. Cross-platform frameworks cover most of them, and for an odd one a developer can write a small piece of native code. A browser can do some of this, but what it can do differs between iPhone and Android and changes over time, so check the current state for your exact feature.

Store review is the other surprise. Native and cross-platform apps go through Apple's and Google's review before each release, and a rejection can cost days. Read the current guidelines early, especially if you take payments for digital goods, because the store's own payment rules may apply. A web app skips review entirely, which is a real advantage when you want to ship a fix the same afternoon.

Building is the smaller half of the bill. Apple and Google release new operating system versions every year, and your app has to keep working on them. Native means two codebases to update. Cross-platform means one, plus waiting for the framework to catch up when something big changes. A web app needs the least upkeep, because you update the server and everyone has the new version.

Whatever you pick, budget for this from the start. A reasonable habit is to plan a small amount of maintenance work every few months rather than a large repair every two years.

A few honest rules of thumb. If the app is for your own staff, a web app is often enough and you avoid the stores altogether. If customers will look for you in the App Store, you need a real app. If your product is the phone experience itself, such as a camera tool or a game, native is worth the extra cost.

Going native for a simple business app is the most common overspend we see. Building a web app when the whole idea depends on background location is the most common mistake in the other direction.