Android Native vs Electron
How does Android Native compare to Electron?
See the pros and cons of each framework, target platforms and more.
Android Native
Electron
About
Maintainer
GoogleInitial Release
September 23, 2008
Maintainer
OpenJS FoundationInitial Release
15 July 2013
Community
Languages
- Java
- Kotlin
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- HTML
- CSS
Target Platforms
- ✓ Android
- ✓ Android Auto
- ✓ Android TV
- iOS
- Linux
- macOS
- tvOS
- watchOS
- ✓ Wear Os
- Windows
- Android
- Android Auto
- Android TV
- iOS
- ✓ Linux
- ✓ macOS
- tvOS
- watchOS
- Wear Os
- ✓ Windows
✅Strengths
- Official SDK
Native Android apps are built using the official Android development tools, which provide access to the latest features and functionality of the Android platform.
- Performance
Native Android apps perform better than hybrid apps as they have direct access to device hardware and the underlying operating system.
- User Interface
Developers can use built-in UI elements to create a consistent interface that follows the Android design guidelines.
- User Experience
Native Android apps offer a familiar user experience for Android users.
- Ecosystem
Developers can build apps for other Android-based systems like Smartphones, Wear OS, Android TV and Android Auto.
- Large Community
Android has a very large and active developer community, which means there is plenty of documentation, tutorials, and examples available to help developers build apps for Android.
- Cross-platform
Electron allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms. This saves development time and effort.
- Web Technologies
Developers can use web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build desktop apps with Electron, which they may already be familiar with. This can make development faster and more comfortable.
- Native APIs
Electron provides a bridge between the web technologies and the native APIs of the operating systems. This means that developers can access native functionality like the menu bar, tray and much more.
- Large Community
Electron has a large and active developer community, which means there is plenty of documentation, tutorials, and examples available to help developers build desktop apps.
🛑Weaknesses
- Cross-platform
Developers have to build separate apps using a different framework to target other platforms like iOS, Windows and macOS.
- Performance
Apps built with Electron may not perform as well as those built natively due to the overhead introduced by the webview.
- App Size
Electron apps have Chromium and Node.js bundled with them which can make the resulting binary quite large.
- Limited Platforms
Electron can only target desktop environments like Windows, macOS and Linux.
