It’s undeniable that we live in an era where smartphones reign supreme, and apps are the lifeblood of convenience. Knowing that, businesses face a crucial dilemma: how do you reach the widest audience without breaking the bank or burning out your developers?
That is where cross-platform app development comes into the picture as the sorcerer’s stone of modern software creation. Imagine bringing your app to life on both iOS and Android, saving time, money, and a whole lot of headaches.
But what exactly is cross-platform app development and how should you go about it to achieve the optimal benefits for your business?
Table of Contents
Meaning of Cross-Platform App Development
Cross-platform app development refers to the process of creating software applications that are compatible with multiple mobile operating systems, primarily iOS and Android. Instead of writing different codebases for each platform, developers can write a single codebase that works across all targeted platforms.
This approach leverages tools and frameworks that compile code into native applications, ensuring performance and user experience remain top-notch.
Native vs. Cross-Platform App Development
Before we get too carried away with cross-platform app development, it’s important to understand how it stacks up against the opposite: native app development.
Native App Development
Native app development involves creating applications specifically for one platform. This approach typically offers superior performance because the app is optimized for the specific operating system, ensuring a smoother and more responsive experience. Additionally, native apps often provide a better user experience due to adherence to platform-specific design guidelines.
However, this method requires separate codebases for each platform, leading to longer development times and higher costs.
Cross-Platform App Development
On the other hand, cross-platform app development, as we already mentioned, utilizes a single codebase for multiple platforms, simplifying development and maintenance. This approach is generally more cost-effective since you’re developing once and deploying everywhere.
While there have historically been performance trade-offs with cross-platform apps, modern frameworks are closing this gap, making performance comparable to native apps in many cases.
Benefits of Cross-Platform Mobile Development
While native and hybrid app development may still be suitable for certain projects, cross-platform frameworks are increasingly favored to deliver high-quality, native-like experiences across multiple platforms.
Now, let’s dive into why cross-platform mobile development is the bee’s knees for many developers and businesses.
- Cost efficiency
- Increased development speed
- Faster time to market
- Wider reach
- Simplified maintenance
- Consistent user experience
- Facilitated business growth
Cost Efficiency
Developing a single codebase reduces the overall cost compared to maintaining separate codebases for iOS and Android. In traditional native app development, you must invest in two distinct teams — one for iOS and another one for Android development — each working on their respective codebases.
This not only doubles the manpower required but also the associated costs, from salaries and project management to testing and deployment.
By opting for cross-platform development, you streamline your resources, allowing a single team to work on a unified code base. This leads to substantial savings in both time and money.
Increased Development Speed
One of the standout advantages of cross-platform development is the ability to accelerate development speed. Quyen Do, Head of the Technical Promotion Office at GEM, provides an example of a successful cross-platform business app from their own project.
Their team built a barcode management system for warehouse data that also provided predictive insights for managers. Among the available frameworks, React Native was chosen because the project's top priority was development speed.
The result was an easy-to-use app that supports both iOS and Android camera interfaces while maintaining a unified UI across all platforms.
Faster Time to Market
With a single codebase, the development process is streamlined, resulting in quicker deployment across multiple platforms.
The experts from Mallow Technologies point out that opting for cross-platform development, specifically Flutter, accelerated their time to market and ensured consistency across iOS and Android platforms. The single codebase significantly streamlined the development and deployment process, allowing the team to rapidly introduce new app features and adapt to platform changes.
Wider Reach
By targeting both iOS and Android users simultaneously, you can maximize your audience reach with a single effort. In the US, iPhone holds a 58.81% market share, while Android has 40.81%, splitting users almost evenly between the two dominant platforms and making it essential for you to be present on both.
Cross-platform development allows you to launch your app on both platforms at the same time, ensuring no potential users are left waiting.
This broader reach enables you to engage with a larger user base without the additional cost and time associated with developing separate native apps for each platform.
Simplified Maintenance
Maintaining one codebase means fewer headaches when it comes to updates and bug fixes. Imagine only needing one toolbox for all your home repairs. Dan Ilies, Head of Mobile Development at Wolfpack Digital, points out that updating and maintaining a cross-platform app is generally easier than native app development.
Syncing releases and publishing updates around the same time on both platforms can be more straightforward, reducing the complexity and time involved in maintaining multiple codebases.
Consistent User Experience
Ensuring a consistent look and feel across different platforms can enhance brand identity and user satisfaction.
The experts from Mallow Technologies offer another example, explaining that by leveraging Flutter's ability to deliver consistent user experiences across iOS and Android, their development team was able to accelerate progress while maintaining high-quality standards. This approach allowed them to focus on core features and deliver a consistent, feature-rich application efficiently.
Facilitated Business Growth
Cross-platform development can be a catalyst for business growth, especially in markets that require seamless user experiences across multiple devices. Serge Motin, General Manager of Start Mobile, illustrates this with an example of a marketplace app for European wine producers.
Motin claims that "the app connects wine producers with buyers across Europe, offering features like product listings, secure transactions, and real-time inventory management."
"By leveraging cross-platform development, the app ensures a seamless experience on both iOS and Android, thereby facilitating business growth and efficient operations for producers and buyers alike," he explains.
Popular Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
Several powerful mobile app development software options have emerged to support cross-platform development, each with its unique strengths and quirks. Here are some of the most popular ones.
- React Native: Developed by Facebook, React Native allows you to build high-performance apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase. It’s backed by a large developer community, ensuring continuous support and updates.
- Flutter: Created by Google, Flutter provides a rich set of widgets that ensure a native look and feel.
- .NET MAUI: Microsoft replaced Xamarin with .NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI), a newer and more advanced cross-platform framework. .NET MAUI promises better performance, increased productivity, and a more streamlined developer experience than Xamarin.
- Ionic: Ionic leverages web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it a great choice if you have a team experienced in web development.
- Apache Cordova: Apache Cordova, formerly known as PhoneGap, is an older player in the game which lets you convert web apps into mobile apps using standard web technologies.
How To Choose the Right Cross-Platform App Development Framework
Selecting the right framework is like choosing the right pair of shoes for a marathon — it needs to fit well and support your journey. Here’s a brief guide on how to make the right choice backed up with insights from some of our Agency Directory industry experts.
- Determine your project’s needs
- Leverage your team’s expertise
- Choose a framework with strong community support
- Ensure seamless integration with your tools
- Plan for long-term maintenance
- Prioritize development speed
- Focus on performance
Determine Your Project’s Needs
Start by assessing what your project truly requires. Are you prioritizing high performance or rapid development? Your decision should align with the framework’s strengths, as Ilies suggests, weighing the pros and cons of each option based on your specific goals.
For instance, as Ilies explains, “React Native can offer a more native feel on the UI side, while Flutter provides better performance and great official documentation.”
Leverage Your Team’s Expertise
Capitalize on the skills your development team already possesses. Maria Sidorevich, Lead of the Mobile Development Department at dev.family, notes, "React Native is easier to pick up for developers already familiar with JavaScript and React. It offers fast development cycles with hot reloading, a large ecosystem, and a vast library of third-party packages."
This, for example, makes it an excellent choice for teams already skilled in JavaScript, allowing for a smoother and quicker development process.
Choose a Framework With Strong Community Support
A strong community and good support can make all the difference. Popular frameworks often come with extensive resources and active forums, much like moving into a neighborhood with friendly neighbors and lots of amenities.
Sidorevich highlights the importance of community support, noting that React Native's large, active community and rich ecosystem of plugins and libraries can accelerate development and troubleshooting, making it easier for teams to overcome challenges.
Ensure Seamless Integration With Your Tools
Ensure the framework you choose can easily integrate with the tools and services you plan to use. It’s akin to checking if your new gadget is compatible with your existing tech ecosystem.
Aditya Sharma, Chief Technology Officer at Plaxonic Technologies, points out that “.NET MAUI delivers near-native performance and seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem,” making it an ideal choice for businesses already invested in Microsoft technologies.
Plan for Long-Term Maintenance
Consider the long-term maintenance and updates. Choosing a framework regularly updated with a clear roadmap is important. This ensures your app remains relevant and functional as technologies evolve, reducing the risk of obsolescence.
Motin emphasizes the importance of using continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to manage updates and maintenance. “We also maintain a shared codebase, implement automated testing for different environments, and conduct regular reviews to ensure consistency and quality across all platforms,” he concludes.
Prioritize Development Speed
Development speed is a key consideration, especially if you’re working with tight deadlines. As Sharma emphasizes, “React Native offers advantages in development speed, a shorter learning curve, and strong community support.”
He then adds that “it uses JavaScript, a widely used language for many developers,” which can accelerate development and reduce time to market.
Focus on Performance
If top-notch performance is key and let’s face it, it should be, choose a framework designed for efficiency and customization. According to Sharma, “Flutter provides better performance and extensive UI customization options,” making it ideal for businesses that need visually appealing, high-performance apps.
Similarly, .NET MAUI offers strong performance with seamless integration, proving to be a robust choice for businesses seeking both efficiency and power.
Choosing the right framework can be daunting, but a cross-platform app development agency can guide you through the process, ensuring the selected framework aligns with your project’s needs and your development team’s expertise.
Cross-Platform App Development FAQs
Is cross-platform development suitable for all types of apps?
Cross-platform development is ideal for most business apps, social media apps, and content-based apps.
How does cross-platform development handle platform-specific features?
Most cross-platform frameworks provide plugins or modules to access platform-specific features.
Can I use cross-platform development for existing apps?
You can migrate existing apps to a cross-platform framework with careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth transition.
