Mobile App Dev - Native vs Hybrid

I attended a GR Dev Night last night with a few of my colleagues.  The event featured a panel of experts in their respective area of expertise on mobile app development.  Specifically app development using cross-platform tools. 

Mobile applications can be written natively, meaning using the language and tools intended for that operating system { iOS, Android, Microsoft, Blackberry, etc. } or using a cross-platform tool that allows you to write for multiple operating systems, in the language you are more comfortable in.

Here are a few of the cross-platform tools the panel discussed last night:

 

Xamarin:   https://xamarin.com/

 

Appcelerator:   http://www.appcelerator.com/

PhoneGap:   http://phonegap.com/

I personally would prefer to just write my mobile applications natively.  While it has it's challenges and learning curve, the performance and operability are not sacrificed to appease the masses.  If you're an Apple guy, write for iOS.  If you're a fan of Google, write for Android. 

But if you're writing an app for a client and they want to have their app exposed to everyone, then one of the cross-platform tools listed above is probably a better alternative.