Mobile applications can be broadly categorized into three categories i.e, Native app, Web app and Hybrid App.

Native App: Native app are developed specifically for one platform, which is coded with a specific programming language (like Objective C for iOS, Java for Android) and installed directly onto the device and can take full advantage of all the device features — they can use the camera, the GPS, the accelerometer, the compass, the phone book etc. Native apps can use the device’s notification system and can work offline. Native apps are installed through an application store (such as Google Play or Apple’s App Store).Native mobile apps provide fast performance and a high degree of reliability. Example of native app: Temple Run, Candy Crush etc.

Web App: Web applications are mobile web portals that are designed, customized and hosted specifically for mobiles. They are accessed through the mobile device’s web browser using a URL. Web apps became really popular when HTML5 came around and people realized that they can obtain native-like functionality in the browser. Mobile web applications cannot use device functionality. Example of web app: google.com, m.snapdeal.com, m.yahoo.com etc.

Hybrid App: Hybrid Apps are Web apps embedded in a native app, run on the device, and are written with web technologies (HTML5, CSS and JavaScript). Hybrid apps run inside a native container, and leverage the device’s browser engine (but not the browser) to render the HTML and process the JavaScript locally. A web-to-native abstraction layer enables access to device capabilities that are not accessible in Mobile Web applications, such as the accelerometer, camera and local storage. An hybrid app is NOT tied to any platform or any particular mobile device. So, it can run on any device once built. Write Once Run Anywhere (WORA) type of app. Example of hybrid app: Flipkart, Facebook, Twitter etc.