Mobile technology is transforming how we work, shop, and stay informed. Today’s mobile technology provides powerful capabilities for many exciting applications. Even though the demand is most eminent for consumer apps, new business applications are also emerging frequently to allow employees and partners to work more efficiently. This blog post gives insights into choosing the right architecture for your first mobile application.
Mobile applications generate opportunities that are impossible for any enterprise to ignore. It has revolutionized the dynamics to inform, assist and engage its customers or employees. If you prefer to know how to reduce the app development cost without quality, then read here, But now, let’s understand the basics of mobile app architecture.
Mobile App Architecture
Mobile app architecture is techniques, patterns, and rules to develop a fully functional mobile application. These are not tailor-made codes to be commonly used for all applications. Mobile developers structure these principles to suit the industry standards and the business requirement.
Here are a few factors you need to consider at the time of building mobile app architecture:
Defining the device
It is essential to keep the device types in mind while developing a mobile application. Screen Size, CPU characteristics, Resolution, Storage space, and Memory determine the device. You need to work on your application based on these hardware capabilities.
Internet Bandwidth
Internet connectivity does have a say in the smooth functioning of your application. It is better to keep in mind the worst scenario possible and build app features like the data access mechanism and caching.
User Interface
User interface carries enough weightage in scripting the success of the mobile applications. Arrange the features aesthetically to avoid confusion. Unleash your creativity step by step in a phased manner.
App Navigation
App navigation is as crucial as UI. There are different ways of presenting app navigation, and mobile developer requires expertise to sail through the front and back end of navigation. Understand customer’s requirements and use appropriate navigate techniques. Single view, stacked navigation bar, scroll views, search-driven or gesture-based, are some ways of presenting menus structure.
Layers of Mobile Architecture
App architecture designing is a process that executes the rules in a defined flow. The flow includes three different layers. Namely,
Presentation Layer
The presentation layer presents data to a user. It’s what a user experiences when operating your app. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) designs play a significant role in building the presentation layer.
UX/UI design includes visual components like themes, fonts, colors, app navigation techniques, and other elements that dominate the front end.
Business Layer
As the name suggests, this layer focuses on how the business side is presented to end-users. Data exchange, cache, interactions, and processing forms the core part of the business layer.
Data Layer
The data layer is responsible for safety, security, and maintenance. This layer consists of data access components, server-side utilities, and service tools. Mobile developers design this layer to support the modifications as per the business requirement.
How to Choose the Right Architecture for Your Mobile App
Now that we clearly understood how architecture functions, we now chalk out in choosing the right architecture. It is quite a critical task for companies. Therefore we have highlighted the essential features of each interface.
Let’s get started!
Mobile developers use native apps either for IOS or Andriod, whereas hybrid runs on multiple operating platforms. And web apps are simply websites that run on the webserver. Let’s overview each one in detail.
Native Apps
Mobile developers use Native applications to target Android or iOS users. Be ready to build two different platforms if your business wishes to focus on the Google play store and Apple store.
Highlights
- Native apps perform better even when you plan to launch apps with complex calculations and a heavy graphics interface.
- Your application gets access to Andriod and IOS built-in features to its advantage.
- Native app runs smoothly and provides a flawless experience as mobile developers code for two platform-specific standards.
Hybrid
You may choose hybrid apps (cross-platform) if you are a bootstrapper or want to develop an app quickly. Hybrid apps share a single base code between two platforms and are relatively cheap.
Highlights
- Hybrid app developers ensure the apps reach the market quickly.
- Hybrids apps still access the device’s native features even with its base code.
- Your business gets distributed and acknowledged, and by a wider audience (Andriod & IOS users).
Web Apps
Choose web apps that are browser-based to launch simple applications. It runs on several platforms that include laptops, smartwatches, tablets, mobile or TV.
Highlights
- Web apps provide compatibility of the highest order. Luxury to run on multiple platforms under a single application.
- Users receive updates instantly across all devices.
- It is faster to market as web apps don’t need to be approved by app stores.
Conclusion
The targeted audience and their preference and the budget allocations decide which one to choose between Native, Hybrid, and Web apps.
No matter what type of architecture you choose to develop, success lies in employing the right technical skills—the expertise involved in customizing the app to suit the business needs.
It is better to consult the Mobile app development team to find the ideal architecture.