The cross-platform vs native debate misses the point. The real question isn't "which technology?"—it's "what are we optimising for?"
The Wrong Questions
"Is React Native good enough?"
"Is Flutter ready for production?"
"Should we use Swift or Kotlin?"
The Right Questions
"What's our timeline to market?"
"What's our development budget?"
"How much native functionality do we need?"
"What's our team's existing expertise?"
"How important is performance for our use case?"
When Cross-Platform Wins
You're testing market fit. Building two native apps to validate an idea is expensive. Cross-platform gets you to users faster.
Your app is content-focused. News apps, social feeds, e-commerce—these don't need deep OS integration.
Your team knows JavaScript/Dart. Learning Swift AND Kotlin takes time. Leverage existing skills.
Time matters more than perfection. First-mover advantage sometimes outweighs pixel-perfect native experience.
When Native Wins
Performance is your product. Games, video editing, AR apps—these need every bit of hardware optimization.
Deep OS integration is essential. HealthKit, background processing, hardware accessories—some features require native access.
You're building for longevity. Native apps age better with OS updates. Cross-platform frameworks have migration costs.
You have the resources. If you can afford two teams, two codebases can mean two better apps.
The Hybrid Approach
Many successful apps use cross-platform for most features and native modules for performance-critical sections. You don't have to choose one path entirely.
The Honest Answer
There is no universally correct choice. There's only the right choice for your constraints, today.
At Logic Leap, we help teams choose the right approach for their specific situation—not the one that's trendy this year. Facing this decision? Let's work through it together.
What drove your last platform decision?
Top comments (0)