Native app is software written for one phone platform — Swift on iOS, Kotlin on Android — then installed from that platform’s app store — Google Play on Android. The camera, the lock screen, and background work are first-class, because the code speaks that system’s language. You maintain that platform’s rules, updates, and review on purpose.
A cross-platform app is the close pair: one codebase, often React Native or Flutter, that still installs on both phones. A web app stays in the browser, and a PWA on the home screen is still the web. An MVP is often one of those two; native is the bet when one platform’s hardware is the product. A deep link opens one screen inside the app, not the icon’s home view.
A real-life example of a native app
A Decatur locksmith wants the app to open a customer’s smart lock from the phone, even in a basement with a weak signal. A brochure site cannot hold the door, and a browser tab cannot either. Two codebases — one iPhone, one Android — cost more, and they earn it only if the lock is the business.
Choose native when the hardware is the feature. Read native, cross-platform, or web and web app vs mobile app.