A hybrid application is a software app that combines elements of both native and web applications. Hybrid apps are essentially web apps that have a native app shell. Once users download the app from an app store and install it locally, the shell connects to whatever capabilities the mobile platform provides through a browser that's embedded in the app. The browser and its plug-ins run on the back end and are invisible to the end user.

Hybrid apps are popular because they allow developers to write code for a mobile app once and still accommodate multiple platforms. Because hybrid apps add an extra layer between the source code and the target platform, they may perform slightly slower than native or web versions of the same app.