Native apps

"With GoodBarber, you create native apps"

What is a native app?

A mobile app is said to be native when it is built in a technology that is specific to the phone on which it is installed. Hybrid apps are not native apps. They are developed in technologies that are compatible with use on iOS and Android, but not specific. GoodBarber does not offer the creation of hybrid apps. In addition to native apps, GoodBarber App Builder also allows you to create Progressive Web Apps

Swift and Objective-C are programming languages developed by Apple to build native iOS apps. iOS apps built with GoodBarber are developed with Swift and Objective-C

Kotlin is a programming language for building native Android apps. Android apps created with GoodBarber are developed with Kotlin.

Speed

Native apps are faster than others. They are compiled in the technology specific to the phone on which they run, so they are interpreted immediately from a binary file installed on the phone. This is not the case for non-native apps because an interpretation layer is needed to link the app's technology to that of the phone. This slows down the execution of a non-native app compared to a native app. We've taken the performance dimension into account from the very first line of code we wrote for your native app. Everything is designed for speed of display and stability, and our development team regularly conducts advanced performance tests to maintain this high standard.

Fluidity

The user experience (UX) is better with a native app. A native app allows for a smooth and pleasant navigation. It allows for specific transitions and gestures. There are more possibilities in terms of design creation and quality UX with a native app. GoodBarber's iOS teams use Swift UI and Android teams use Compose to design the beautiful interfaces you offer in your apps. We have a fleet of 30 devices using iOS and Android operating systems, among the most widely used on the market, enabling us to carry out rigorous tests on the operation of GoodBarber applications, whatever the device used.

Exclusive features

Developing a native app gives you access to features that only native apps can offer, because they have exclusive access to all the resources of the phone on which they are installed. They have access to APIs that are dedicated to them. For example, adding widget on the home, reading of beacon, a light version of the app with App Clip, Chat Bubble for messaging apps, access to the accelerometer.

features available thanks to native technologies

Distribution on the Stores

Native apps are distributed from the Store of the phone's operating system editor.

Native iOS apps are distributed from the Apple App Store.A binary file (.ipa) is sent to the App Store and after a verification by Apple's team, the app is available for download in the Store. When you create an app with GoodBarber, you get the .ipa file and send it to the App Store. GoodBarber has chosen to produce Universal Apps, which means that the same binary file offers an iPhone version and an iPad version of the app. You don't have to do anything on your side, the design adaptations for the iPad version are generated automatically. Native Android apps created with our App Builder are distributed in the Google Play Store. The binary file (.aab) is split into several pieces so that the user downloads only the pieces needed to run the app on their Android phone. This optimizes the size of the binary file installed on the phone.

Distribution of native apps in the App Store and in the Google Play Store

The distribution of an app in a store is safe

Distributing an app from a Store is safe.The Store guarantees the signature of the developer who builds the app. In addition, the Stores have app review teams. They make sure that the apps work properly, that they respect the rules of use and that they do not have any security flaws. Stores are directly accessible from millions of phones. An app can get a lot of visibility in a Store as well as a lot of installs, because the download process is simple, fast and well-known by users.

Advanced offline

Native apps allow for high quality offline functioning. Since it is possible to store all the contents in the binary file, a native app can very well do without a network connection to function properly. In reality, and for the majority of apps, not all content is in the binary. The use of the network is therefore necessary. Nonetheless, native apps make it easy to cache content on the phone. A dedicated algorithm optimizes the caching of the application's elements to ensure optimal, fast operation, whatever the connectivity conditions. This allows developers to craft optimization strategies to ensure useful operation of the app offline, without overloading the app's binary weight.

Monetization

Memberships

Native apps are perfect for selling content as a recurring subscription, or for selling credits in games. They allow for memberships, a very simple, very fast way to buy content that is fully integrated into the phone's operating system. The user buys in one click. The transaction is managed directly by Apple (for native iOS apps) and by Google (for native Android apps). With GoodBarber, you can sell content as a subscription via Memberships.

Paid download

The distribution of a native app from a store makes it possible to charge for its download. The user has to pay to have the app installed on their phone.

Specific ads formats

Native apps allow to use exclusive advertising formats. For example, App Open Ads on Android and iOS allows to display ads at app launch or at background return. Natives Ads, on iOS and Android, allows to customize to the extreme the display of an ad on the phone, using the different design components of a native view. These ad formats, highly integrated with the OS, allow for superior performance over other non-specific formats.

Notifications

Native apps allow for a wide variety of notifications, unlike web apps. Notifications triggered by geofences or beacons are only possible with native apps, as well as push notifications containing quick actions (reply to a message) or large images. (For large images, it's possible with PWA but only with some browsers)