As we know, there are many development paths available for developing mobile applications. Every path/platform has its advantages and functional features. It becomes difficult to decide the best path for developing your desired app. So, the developers are turning to cross-platform mobile development in 2020. For a wide range of market segments and producing digital products setting up on cross-platform mobile frameworks are trending now.
In the past, cross-platforms were not liked due to different reasons and also developers didn’t put their hands in such a type of development as the look and feel were not like native applications. But, things have changed now.
Today, cross-platform is beneficial for cost savings and help in the easy launch of mobile apps. But factors considered with it are platform risk and design flexibility. So, before going ahead you need to settle on the budgets carefully.
We know that iOS and Android are the globally recognized mobile app development platforms. Think about the life of development without these platforms. It would not be easy in the present scenario. You will be surprised by the development of these apps. But developing apps with multiple platforms is indeed possible. Many years back the native application platforms came into existence.
However, there is a disadvantage of the native app platform. Developers need to code separately for both iOS and Android. Without any doubt, it will increase the cost of development and is very time-consuming. So, comparatively developing cross-platform app framework offers more flexibility than the native framework.
Advantages of the Cross-platform App Development:
- Seamless and advanced and UI designs
- Cost-effective solutions
- Easy customization
- Code reusability
- Safe and quick applications
- Various options for app development
- Saves time and increase productivity
Different app frameworks came into existence and accepted, developers started improving their features. Developers across the world accepted these frameworks and used them to make their development process smoother. Using cross-platform doesn’t mean that it is a full replacement of native platforms. But with the feature of code reusability cross-platform development is highly accepted and used. Is it not good? It saves the time and cost of development.
There are many cross-platform frameworks available to use for the development. Each framework is different and offers varied functional power in development. Developers can choose from a wide list of cross-platform frameworks according to the requirement of the project.
Why Use Cross-platform development?
Till the end of 2019, reports say that 70% of the total population uses their mobile devices to find things on the web. No doubt, not only mobile phones but also the internet providers spreading the coverage area and improving the speed. What does it tend to the present market and industries? Desktop applications were in high use for different purposes, but the time has changed now.
According to Statista reports, more than 95% of smartphones across the world are based on either the iOS or Android operating system. So, it is natural that businesses have more interest in these two platforms for attracting clients. It is the fastest-growing sector. Moreover, according to different research and predictions, the mobile app market is going to cross $500 bn by 2020. So, why go with Android or iOS development separately, when you have the way to accommodate both just by doing the half task?
There are many benefits of using cross platform mobile development for developers. One of the best features is the code reusability it tends to less time, money, effort to put in. This helps to make the development faster and cheaper. Additionally, the launching of a single cross platform app saves on marketing as compared to multiple native apps.
Benefits:
Highly used and trustworthy cross platform development platforms comprise of JavaScript, CSS and HTML. All these have easy integration with any native OS framework. Except for this feature, all these web components take part in offering the security, stability and high performance to build an app. These elements are significant for developing any successful mobile app.
- Consistency of Look & Feel / UI Components
Cross platforms such as React Native and Flutter.Forms offer unmatched components for UI to reduce the issues of UI differences between different mobile frameworks. The cons are that in a few circumstances, the user interface will deflect from native guidelines. Don’t worry; the issue is less valuable today as compared to the past.
- Easy Integration Communication and Collaboration
It can be improved by integrating the app properly with back-end applications and databases. No matter the hosting of database or app is done on a cloud or on an on-premise server, integration is easier in cross platform. This is known as the centralization of data. Great communication and collaboration about coding are available here to assist and facilitate the exchange of codes across different frameworks.
- Lower Costs
There is less duplication of functional features between both (iOS and Android) the applications. In this manner, the cost of initial development and further updates would be less. However, don’t take code sharing as the strongest feature as it doesn’t provide more flexibility in cost-cutting. Costing of a cross-platform is higher than single native app development. But, some cross-platforms like React Native and Flutter offer a good solution. The code written for one framework can be used for other platforms too. Developing codes for native platforms need more skills as the experience of iOS and Android should not be sacrificed.
- Better Plugins Integration
Accessibility of better plugins and their integration not only helps developers to power the app with more features by leveraging the features of the operating system, devices and many other third-party services but also boost up the speed of mobile app development. Many Cross-platform frameworks are open source so they support a wide range of plugins to offer different functions. Applications can be customized by leveraging the powerful support of different plugins.
- Uniform App Experience
Normally, the main motive of cross-platform app development is to make them acceptable easily, but it is not always easy and takes more time and effort. An app that performs differently on different devices is termed as a cumbersome app. The workflow of the app should be consistent irrespective of devices. Uniformity of the functionality and performance is the biggest benefit for the users using smartphones.
- Performance
Performance issues can create a slowdown in app downloads. Performance issues consist of slow UI interactions, the load time of the app and more. Familiarity with the frameworks having less load time and offer a fast UI interaction are more profitable for the users. Developers should resolve these issues while developing the UI to improve the performance.
Conclusion
It is clear that there are few weak points associated with cross-platform frameworks, yet these frameworks are cost-savvy, time-savvy for both developers and businesses. As a career perspective, it is a great career path for professionals. Feeling amazed? Then get ready to work in cross-platform app development – earn a nice salary.
Author Bio
TWINKLE PITHWA
Twinkle is a Content Crafter at Webs Optimization Software Solution, an iOS App Development Company. Being an avid blogger she enjoys sharing her thoughts through words. When she is not working, she enjoys travel adventures and reading literary masterpieces.
