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An Informative Guide to Mobile App Architecture

By Santosh Kumar | October 31, 2020 | App Development,Mobile App Development

Mobile architecture is a set of patterns, rules, and techniques on the process to develop a unique mobile application. It enables to build well-structured and logical apps that stand by industry standards and industry standards.

When learning about the process of mobile app development, you will come to know about the various aspects acting as influencers, such as type of device, type of mobile platform, potential mobile gadget characteristics, Internet speed, and more. A team of experts define the layers of mobile architecture developed based on user requirements.

On seeking the service from Tectra Technologies, our team will prepare the mobile app architecture best suited to your requirements and breaking it down into smaller logical chunks to start coding. Your mobile app’s scalability, productivity, user-friendliness and other critical factors depend primarily upon the development architecture. However, you should first know about the details of mobile app architecture which will help you understand our work process better.

Layers of mobile app architecture design

Each mobile application has a layered pattern. The most known is the three-layer architecture that comprises of the presentation layer, data layer and business layer.

1. Presentation layer

It is the layer which represents and delivers data to the user. As the name suggests, it is what the user sees while handling the app. To build a unique presentation layer, software developers focus particularly on UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) designs. These designs cover visual elements, such as colors, themes, fonts, peripherals your app can connect, app navigation intuitiveness, and others.

2. Business layer

The layer is responsible for operation processing and data exchange. In the business layer, the app showcases different tasks like data caching, data validation, exception management, logging, etc. Not only this, this layer develops business rules, regulates workflow, and carries out complex business procedures.

Based on the range of operations your app needs to perform and the resources available on a user’s device, the business layer can be established on the backend server.

3. Data layer

This layer takes care of data maintenance and safety. It involves elements, like service tools, data access components, and utilities. While developing the data layer, the app developers need to remember that it can extend based on the changing user requirements over time. Another significant thing they should consider is choosing the right technology for data validation and access. It ensures that it is protected against invalid data inputs and functions.

Choosing the right architecture for a mobile app

A right mobile architecture design is planned, keeping in mind a few crucial parameters, such as your target audience, features, functionalities, platforms, time, money, and the skills of the chosen app development team.

These three main app types describe the app architecture in the best way possible:

  • Native apps
  • Hybrid apps
  • Mobile web apps

Native apps

Native mobile apps are the type saved and run locally on a mobile device. It is similar to the built-in apps like webmail or browsers and can utilize all the APIs and features of the device. You can find a comprehensive range of these apps on the app stores.

Developed for a particular mobile platform using definite frameworks and programming languages, native apps are fast, user-friendly, smooth, and work offline. Suppose you are getting an Android app build, the developers’ team will use Android Studio and Java. In case you want to run the app on an iOS platform, you will need to develop a new app from scratch with tools of iOS, such as AppCode and Swift.

Despite all its benefits, a native app demands a considerable investment of money and time into development, needs regular upgrades, and is less flexible. The biggest loophole is that you will have to build a new app to run it on more than one mobile app platforms.

Hybrid apps

Hybrid apps are next-level application types as they act as a solution to native apps. The solutions include the use of web technologies for the development process. Hybrid apps run within native apps, presenting their web-based content in a native app wrapper. The content can be uploaded on the app or accessed through a web server. So, such apps are web-based but own access to the device hardware, merging web and native screens.

In comparison to native apps, hybrid mobile apps are more affordable and faster to develop. They can use native APIs like camera, contacts, and so on. They come with one codebase for iOS and Android apps, allowing you to have one app for multiple mobile platforms. Moreover, these are low-maintenance when compared to native apps.

Considering the downsides, hybrid apps have connection limitations, slower than native apps, and fail to work offline. You might find it challenging to have all the native functionalities as all the device features cannot be incorporated in the app. It requires several code modifications, resulting in not-so-impressive user experience.

Mobile web apps

The third type of mobile app architecture is mobile web apps. These are based on web technology and can be accessed with a URL in a web browser. For better usability, developers create icons of some mobile web applications placed on the home screen for quick launch. However, it is not installed into a device, instead bookmarked on the home screen.

Mobile web apps are developed using tools and technologies, like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. They are automatically updated from the web – no vendor approval or submission process required. The app type is highly compatible with any application platform as you run these in a browser; thus, results in grabbing the attention of a wider audience.

Mobile web applications are easy to use, cheaper to maintain in comparison to the other two mobile app types. Any change required in the content or design needs to be done once and it gets implemented on all mobile platforms.

However, these apps lack access to native device features like camera, GPS, etc. There can be some issues with screen sizes, and so, mobile app developers need to implement plenty of adjustments. They work online but with minimum functionality, which imparts negative user experience.

In a Nutshell

The smooth development fo a mobile application is mostly dependent on its architecture. So, it is essential to consider the features you desire to have in your app, platform to deploy it, and other similar parameters to ensure a suitable architecture is structured.

The decision of the type of mobile architecture relies on several factors, like the type of mobile platforms, type of end-users, and available resources on the device. On connecting with Tectra Technologies for mobile app development, you will have a consultation meeting with the team that will list all your requirements to create the best mobile architecture for the desired end-product.

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