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5 Tips To Successfully Develop Cross-Platform Apps
According to an estimate from Statista, revenues from mobile applications are expected to reach $808.7 billion in 2022 which is mammoth even if we compare it to figures from a few years ago. Supporting new platforms with your software for a wider market reach within the stipulated budget and project timeline is extremely difficult. Specific skill sets and builds required for each platform push up development and maintenance costs. Fortunately, there is a convenient workaround to this issue.The rise of cross-platform apps was fueled by startups who were looking for an alternative to resource-intensive native app development solutions. But nowadays, even companies like Google, Tesla, Meta, and BMW are using cross-platform applications to serve their customers. This is an elaborate guide to cross-platform development solutions that you can use to provide an amazing user experience to your users while keeping development and maintainance costs low.
What are Cross-Platform apps?
A cross platform app is one that is designed to work on operating systems, instead of developing different versions for each operating system. This is achieved by using frameworks and tools like React Native, Xamarin, and Flutter, where the apps created can be deployed on both Android and iOS and in some cases, the web, windows and macOS as well. While cross-platform development reduces costs and time to market, it comes at the expense of quality. It's tough to create an app that works well on multiple platforms, and the application will often require an additional abstraction layer to execute, resulting in inferior performance but frameworks like Flutter aim to solve this by offering near-native performance. Cross-platform application builds often share most or all of the codebase amongst themselves. Cross-platform development tools and frameworks allow you to get your software to market swiftly. They also enable you to reach a wider audience with a smaller and more efficient development team. The choice between a native and cross-platform application can often confuse product management teams at most companies. Here are some things to consider before you make the choice:
- Budget and Development Time Constraints
- Complexity of the app
- Choice of Platforms
What is the difference between native and cross platform apps development?
Native apps are written in a language that is specific to a platform. For instance, Kotlin or Java are used to develop android applications while Swift or Objective-C are used to develop IOS applications. Native apps are limited to one specific platform that they were always built for. Cross-platform apps support multiple platforms and operating systems. Although they may at first glance seem similar, there are actually big differences between native apps and cross-platform apps. Native application development is time and resource-intensive given that the development team has to develop and maintain separate builds for each platform or operating system. But at the same time, native apps perform a lot better than cross-platform applications in general.
How do you choose the right cross-platform development framework?
Cross-platform development enables you to do more with less. In today’s market, there are hundreds of development frameworks to choose from. To make things easier for you, here’s everything you need to know about each of the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks on the market.
React Native
React Native, unlike its name suggests, is a cross-platform development framework created by Meta Platforms (better known as Facebook, inc) in 2015. It is based on the React web framework and uses the JavaScript programming language. It has a strong developer community and supports features like hot reloading and resuming, which don't always work properly but are extremely useful when they do. Meta uses React Native for the Instagram, Oculus, and Facebook mobile apps, which is a huge vote of confidence for the technology. Tesla Motors, Walmart, Airbnb, Yeti Smart Home, and Uber Eats are among the companies that use Meta.
Flutter
Google’s response to React Native launched in 2017 with a very different approach. React Native apps are not native. There's a particular JavaScript-to-native bridge involved that slows down applications massively. Flutter got rid of it entirely by translating apps directly from the language used for development, Dart, to native machine code. It gives a near-native performance with an incredible graphic engine capable of drawing almost anything onto the screen. It also supports Hot reload/restart with an excellent track record of good performance. Google uses it for its Google ads, Stadia, and Google Pay apps. Apart from that, ByteDance has used Flutter for developing 70+ applications reducing development times by up to 33%. Flutter can also be seen in action in the BMW, eBay, Reflectly, Toyota, and countless apps from Tencent. Flutter also supports higher refresh rates that are commonly available in displays these days while react native is limited to lower refresh rates to preserve performance.
Xamarin
Before being acquired by Microsoft, Xamarin was created as an independent platform in 2011. Although it is an open-source cross-platform software framework, it includes features that distinguish it from other platforms.The Xamarin platform is built on the Mono implementation of the.NET platform. The development process also includes its own.NET libraries, C# compiler, and runtime. Xamarin allows developers to reuse 90% of their code when creating apps for many platforms. Xamarin is highly suitable for companies that already have .NET and C# developers. Although Xamarin provides a great developer experience, the performance is significantly worse than native applications.
How Atidan Technologies Can Help You on Your Cross-Platform App Development Journey
Atidan specializes in creating custom mobile apps with beautiful user interfaces with a strong focus on providing a fantastic user experience. Our emphasis on the designing process promotes designing the application while keeping the end-user in mind. At Atidan, our goal is to help you realize the full potential of today's cutting-edge technologies. With a presence in over 14 countries, We have software engineers that can help you maximize your technology investments and bring new efficiencies to your business. Our team of developers, architects, and specialists bring a diverse array of technology frameworks and a rock-solid approach to ensure your application works seamlessly. With access to Atidan’s highly experienced recruiters, you can even hire exceptional pre-vetted Flutter or React native engineers for your business. With global offices in the USA, UK, India, SEA and success stories across various industries, our goal is to help you realize the full potential of today's cutting-edge technologies.
