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Through an Android app or an iOS app, mobile app development services can assist entrepreneurs to address target audiences worldwide. However, such native apps take more time to develop and remain costly especially for startups and SMBs. Here, evolving technology comes to a rescue with cross-platform app development frameworks. In this post, we will discuss the top cross-platform mobile app development framework and compare them to enable you to make the right choice.
Cross-platform development approach is gaining ground swiftly across the world. The following graph based on Google trends show a steady rise in interest for cross-platform app development . Still, many entrepreneurs have little to no idea about this concept. Cross-platform app development is a process to build a customized app that can run on both Android and iOS platforms smoothly. This process involves a single code for developing an app for Android OS and iOS.
Image Source : jetbrains
Let’s go through the importance of cross-platform app development framework.
The right cross-platform app development framework can offer several benefits to the organization. Firstly, it directly impacts the performance of the app across different devices and platforms. A robust cross-platform framework can ensure smooth functionality, optimized speed, and seamless user experience.
Moreover, a powerful framework with extensive built-in functionalities and third-party plugins can significantly reduce development efforts, reduces the time-to-market and overall expenses. Mobile app development companies can get the benefits like community support, documentation quality, and platform updates, for improving app maintenance and scalability.
In a way, a cross-platform app development framework is important for achieving optimal performance, cost-effectiveness, and future-proofing in the competitive market of tailored apps. Let’s go through the top frameworks for developing customized cross-platform apps.
Image Source : statista
As per the global developer survey in 2022, Flutter was the most popular cross-platform mobile framework that as many as 46 percent of softaware developers uses. The survey has also revealed that approximately one-third of mobile developers use cross-platform framewokrs and the rest use native tools.
Let’s go through the top frameworks that can take cross-platform application development services to new heights-
It is one of the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks. Based on AngularJS, this framework enables app developers to use a combination of HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and other top programming languges. Ionic facilitates developers to create highly creative user interfaces for user-friendly and feature-rich apps. Apart from developing cross-platform apps, Ionic is useful for developing PWA (Progressive Web Application) as well.
Introduced and maintained by Google, Flutter has gained popularity since its release in 2017. As a reliable and rich SDK (Software Development Kit), Flutter is capable of developing Android and iOS applications. Moreover, it is a preferred and primary framework to build Google Fuschia apps. Flutter framework is capable of building apps that can easily run on multiple platfroms with dynamicity. It is one of the most ideal adnd future-ready pltform.
We cannot skip React Native, a Facebook-backed development framework when considering the top frameworks to build cross-platform apps. With over 57 precent StackOverflow voices and more than 9k Github competitots, React Native has gained popularity swiftly. This frameworks offers the key benefits of JavaScript and React JS App developers can write modules in Objective-C, Swift or Java using this freamework and this framework offers several code editors for app modification.
This open-source technology enables mobile app developers to share code across different platforms while offering the benefits of native development. Developers can reuse as much code as they want and write native code. Moreover, companies can hire mobile app developers to write native code for their business apps and integrate the shared Kotlin code into any app project. Some of the noteworthy mobile apps based on Kotline Multiplatform (KMP) are McDonald’s, Netflix, etc.
Though Node.js is a JavaScript runtime framework that acts as an open-source environment for developing scalable networking apps. Cross-platform apps based on Node.js are highly efficient and responsive in nature. Node.js is capable of handling several connections together and offers a rich library of numerous JS modules to developers. This library is uesful in developing customized web applications in a simple way.
It is a bit different framework as it does not use JS libraries and HTML like other platforms. Instead, Xamarin uses C# and .NET for developing apps for Android, iOS, and Windows. As a streamlined framework, Xamarin enables the app developers to use as many as 90 percent of the code to build an app. It delivers applications that have a nativelike look and feel with the help of APIs. Xamarin is one of the preferred option for developing a business app with excellent functionality.
Other popular frameworks are PhoneGap, Sencha Touch, and Appcelerator Titanium that are useful in building cross-platform apps.
Our detailed comparison of frameworks includes pros and cons of top frameworks. However, it is advisable to get more information about these frameworks from a reputed mobile app development company. Let’s go through a detailed comparison of advantages and disadvantages of frameworks.
Programming Language
JavaScript
Capabilities
Comprehensive toolkit with a rich set of UI components
Builds apps that closely resemble native applications
Every UI element is reusable and customizable component
Offers lazy loading and AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation
Limitations
Cordova is not proper option for new app development projects
Experiences a quick decline in the number of Ionic developers
App Examples
T-Mobile, BBC (Educational and Children’s apps)
Programming Language
Dart
Capabilities
Comprehensive set of well-documented hardware APIs
Offers a rich set of native components
AOT in deployment and JIT in development make Flutter apps high-performing
Dart is a simple language to learn compared to other programming languages
Limitations
Flutter apps are often larger in size compared to the same using other frameworks
Flutter has a thriving but relatively smaller community than other frameworks
App Examples
Alibaba, eBay, Google Pay
Programming Language
JavaScript
Capabilities
Enables developers to create dynamic UIs
Its native rendering engine can give apps a native look and feel
Relies on native components for ensuring consistent user experience
Its active community of developers can offer tools and other resources
Limitations
It offers weaker UI performance as compared to Flutter
It is still in beta version and therefore, frequent changes are common
App Examples
MS Office, Skype, Meta’s Facebook, Oculus
Programming Language
Kotlin
Capabilities
Google’s endorsement and extensive support
Offers active utilization within Android libraries
Native UI enables developers to make platform-specific UI implementations
KMP offers complete accessibility to Kotlin language
Limitations
Its setting can be complicated as it needs consideration of various aspects
Developers have to write platform-specific UI code sepearately
App Examples
Google (for Android and iOS), Netflix
Programming Language
JavaScript
Capabilities
It can handle several concurrent connections together
It has a rich library of many JavaScript modules
It uses a single-threaded model to deliver smoothly performing apps
It makes apps that reduce reaction time for slow requiests
Limitations
Not suitable for making apps that involve CPU-Intensive Tasks
Asynchronous programming and some immature modules can create issues
App Examples
LinkedIn, GoDaddy, Groupon
Programming Language
C#
Capabilities
Works on a single technology stack for quicker development
Its apps are close to native performance with nativelike UI
Its apps are simple to maintain and update
Offers complete development and support environment
Limitations
Limited access to various open-source libraries
Not suitable for developing apps with rich UI/UX
App Examples
Insightly, APX, Captio, Alaska Airlines
This list of advantages and disadvantages with examples will assist you to find the most suitable framework for your upcoming cross-platform app project.
Companies can hire mobile app developers to get the benefits of tailored cross-platform apps. Some of these benefits are-
One of the most prominent benefits of cross-platform apps is cost-effectiveness. Here, developers can write code once and deploy it across platforms like iOS and Android simultaneously. It enables the mobile app development company to get rid of allocating resources for each platform. It results in lower development costs and faster time-to-market.
Second benefit is cross-platform apps provide companies with a broader market reach. Businesses can reach a larger audience of users on different devices by targeting multiple platforms with a single codebase. It certainly increase their app's visibility and potential user base. It also ensures a consistent user experience across platforms, which is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction.
Another key benefit is streamlined maintenance and updates. Since cross-platform apps share a common codebase, it is easy to update, fix bugs, and implement new features simultaneously. This reduces maintenance efforts and allows app developers to respond quickly to user feedback and market changes.
Finally, cross-platform development promotes faster deployment. It is easy for developers to deploy the cross-platform app to multiple app stores at once. It can save time and effort of developers. This quick deployment is beneficial for businesses looking to reduce a TTM for their apps, gaining a competitive edge.
It is difficult to find the best mobile app development software for your cross-platform business app. However, it is better to shortlist 6 platforms given here to choose the right one. You can consult a reputed mobile app development company to get guidance and an advantage of a user-friendly app with desired features. Hope this comparison of the top cross-platform app development frameworks will remain useful for making a decision.
As a leading software development company, we offer the best mobile app development services to our esteemed global clientele. Our in-house teams of experienced developers are well-versed in using cutting-edge tools of different cross-platform development frameworks. We ensure that you get the best mobile app that can seamlessly run across Android OS and iOS-powered devices.Want to know more about our services? Contact us with your app requirements and we will help you select the right cross-platform app development framework.
Cross-platform app development frameworks enable developers to create mobile applications that can run on multiple operating systems like iOS and Android using a single codebase.
Some of the highly popular cross-platform app development frameworks are React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, Ionic, PhoneGap (Apache Cordova), and Unity.
Yes, modern cross-platform frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin provide developers with access to native device features through plugins and APIs.
Cross-platform frameworks offer benefits such as reduced development time and cost, simplified maintenance, and easier deployment to multiple app stores.
Flutter is known for its high-performance capabilities, making it an excellent choice for building performance-intensive apps.
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