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Understanding Native, WebView, and Hybrid Templates for Android Apps

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Let’s start with some statistics:

  • 75% of users have mobile devices as their primary way to get online. 
  • 80% of searches conducted on mobile devices result in a sale. 
  • 90% of mobile users spend more time in apps than on the web. 

The best way to reach mobile users is through apps. By engaging with mobile users you’re taking advantage of mobile traffic. This increases your visibility and opens up huge revenue opportunities for your business. 

What does this mean for a developer? That you can create apps for your clients so they can reach and engage with their users. 

What does this mean for a business? That you can take advantage of mobile traffic through apps. You can build apps for just about any niche and monetize them. 

There are different types of mobile apps: web apps, native apps, and hybrid apps. The app you choose to create will depend on the goals you want to achieve as a business and what audience you want to engage with. 

But developing mobile apps for either system is an involved process. It takes time and a lot of money to build an app. That's where app templates come in. Using an app template saves time and money. App templates are available at affordable prices and can save a lot of development work.

In this post I'll introduce you to a wide variety of premium Android mobile templates you can find in the CodeCanyon marketplace. You can customize these templates to create the kind of app you have in mind. 

Introduction to Mobile App Templates

There are two major mobile operating systems: iOS and Android. In this post, I'll focus on premium Android app templates that are available on CodeCanyon.

  • Android is an open-source operating system developed and supported by Google. It commands an 88% share of the world market of mobile devices. It’s used by many device manufacturers. 
  • Android apps are available through Google Play Store. 
  • Android apps are developed using Java. 
  • Android apps only work in Android devices.

What is an App Template?

An app template is a pre-built application with a lot of the core functionality already implemented for you. It allows you to easily customize and add to the template's code to create the kind of app you want. 

Types of App Templates

WebView Apps

Web apps or responsive web apps are essentially webpages that can be read on mobile devices. They can be accessed through mobile web browsers without needing to install anything. To give a web app the look and feel of mobile apps, including the ability to add the app to the Google Play Store so it can be installed a mobile device for easy access, you will need a WebView template. An advantage of a web app, is that it will generally work on any mobile device, so you don't need to code separate Android and iOS 

Native Apps

Native Android apps run on an Android device and are written in Java. They have complete access to all the hardware and functionality of a device from the cameras, local storage, microphone, photos, contacts, location, etc. To use a native app, it must be first downloaded and installed from the Google Play Store. 

Hybrid Apps

Hybrid apps combine some of the best features of native and web apps. Hybrid apps are written with JavaScript and CSS, using the familiar web technologies, but also have much of the performance and direct access to device hardware that native apps provide. Hybrid apps are shared on the Google Play Store and must be installed on the device to be used.They are available via app stores and are installed on your device. Hybrid apps also make it much easier to develop cross-platform, so you can create apps for both iOS and Android with the same codebase.

Ionic and React Native are the leading platforms for hybrid mobile apps.

Why Do You Need App Templates? 

Developing an app is a costly and time-consuming process. Not every business has the deep pockets to foot the bill for such a lengthy and involved process that includes discovery, design, development, testing and deployment, and marketing. 

  • app templates are affordable—much of the code is already written for you 
  • the templates come with all features you need to create your own mobile app
  • the heavy lifting has been done so you can focus on creating the app you want by customizing and adding elements that will make your app unique
  • the templates come with documentation—all you need to do is follow the instructions

Things to Consider When Choosing Mobile Android Templates:

Ease of use: Using the template should not be rocket science. It has to be so simple that someone with no coding expertise can easily learn and use it. Documentation should be clear. 

Design: Simplicity is key. Design should be intuitive, uncluttered, and consistent from screen to screen. 

Cost: What license are you getting? Do you need an extended license? Is it a one-time payment or will you pay annual renewal fees? (CodeCanyon app templates only require a one-time payment.) Compare the prices of other templates and see what fits your budget.

Customization: The template should be easy to customize, so that the finished app can reflect your unique style and branding. Customization should not take a lot of time. 

Social share ability: Make it easy for users to spread the word about your app by sharing it with others through social media.

Push notifications: Once downloaded how do you get users to spend time on your app? Push notifications allow you to send well-timed messages to users. 

Monetization: Look for built in monetization options like in-app purchases, Admob for in-app advertising revenue, and the ability to take payments through different payment gateways.

Ratings and reviews: What are people are saying about the product? This can be a good indicator of the quality of the app template and also the trustworthiness of the provider. 

Downloads: The number of downloads of a particular app template is proof of its popularity among users. It shows they trust the provider. 

Security and frequent updates: Bugs make your app vulnerable to attacks. Regular updates are an indicator of trustworthiness of the provider. Your choice of an app template should factor this in. 

Support: Once you buy the app template you may run into some issues. Make sure that the seller offers support. While reading ratings and reviews be sure to check what other users say about the quality of support from the provider. 

Web App, Native App, or Hybrid App: Which One Should You Choose? 

The app template you choose to create will depend on goals you want to achieve as a business and what audience you want to engage with. Ultimately, what you should aim for is providing great user experience. 

If you have an existing web app or web site and just want to quickly convert it to a mobile app that can be downloaded and installed on user devices, a Webview app template is the easiest and fastest way.

If you are comfortable with web technologies like JavaScript and CSS and need to create a new app from scratch, a hybrid app template might be a good choice. A hybrid app template will still let you deliver an almost-native experience to app users, but without the complexities and specialized tooling of native app development. 

If you are an Android app developer looking to jump-start your next app project, a native app template is a great option. It will give you a complete project, with a great-looking, consistent UI, and lots of bells and whistles built in. Starting with a native app template can save tens or even hundreds of hours of development time.  

Mobile Android Templates Available on Code Canyon

There are a wide variety of premium Android mobile templates you can find in the CodeCanyon marketplace. The categories below should help make your choice easy. 

Most of the templates come integrated with Admob for monetization of your app. 

WebView Templates 

If you have an existing website that you want to optimize for mobile users, consider turning it into a WebView app. To turn your website into mobile app you will need a Webview template. These templates use the Webview component built-in to the mobile device to display content. 

The following bestselling WebView Templates for Android available on Code Canyon will be your best bet when you decide to turn your website into a web app. 

Native and Hybrid Templates

Native app templates provide the best experience for users. These apps are fast, powerful, and look just the way your users expect.

eCommerce Store Android Templates 

eCommerce store apps generate a lot of customer engagement. If you have a brick and mortar store these app allow you to create your mobile app store and start selling your merchandise to a larger audience. If you already have an online store website, these apps allow you to convert your online store into a mobile app store. 

Android App Templates for Business

These template will help you create apps for specific niches.

Social Network App Templates

Online communities are an integral part of our daily lives. These templates will allow you to build online communities. 

Music and Video App Templates

Using the following music and video app templates will make it easy for to create creating  your own video and audio apps. 

Android Game Templates

Here’s the best thing about using game templates: the most tedious aspects of game development have been taken care of so you can focus on unique aspects of your game! 

These well-thought-out, feature-rich Android game templates will help kickstart the development of your next game.

Android Templates With Map Integration

These app templates come integrated with map functionality that will allow users to find their destination and get around easily. 

Android Templates With Admob Integration 

An app should be able to generate revenue. These templates come with Google AdMob app monetization platform already built-in so the app can start making money  from the time it launches.  

Android Photo App Templates

These templates are perfect for creating photo apps. Whether you want to create a photo app for photo editing, creating collages, or adding artistic flourishes to photographs, there is an app template here for you.  

Multi-Purpose Android Templates

With these multi-purpose Android templates you create all kinds of apps using the same template for different clients and different projects. You don’t need to buy a new app template every time you have a new project. 

Hybrid App Templates

The best thing about hybrid apps is that you can create apps for multiple platforms with the same codebase. And you don't need to know all the ins and outs of developing for any particular platform like iOS or Android. To learn more about hybrid apps, check out some of our other posts!

Conclusion

I hope this overview of mobile Android App templates available on Code Canyon have given you some ideas for your next app.

If you want to explore more Android apps and templates, then check out some of our other posts on CodeCanyon app templates!


2019-07-23T17:11:59.163Z2019-07-23T17:11:59.163ZLorca Lokassa Sa

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