In the following article, we will discuss what cross-platform development is, what benefits it brings, and what frameworks you can use for it. Let’s dive in!
Cross-platform application development is about building a single application that can run on various operating systems, instead of developing different app versions for each platform.
The driving force for cross-platform application development is to produce software that works well in more than one specific digital environment, with the main purpose of selling it to a wider customer base.
Let’s review the benefits associated with cross-platform application development.
When you work on cross-platform app development, you can launch your software quickly on various platforms. The source code is written once for all platforms. This means you don’t need to hire a separate software development team for each platform, as it’s possible to launch and update the software by using a variety of cross-platform development tools.
The number of smartphone users worldwide is predicted to hit 3.5 billion by the end of 2020. 87% of smartphone users spend their mobile time on apps. The mobile app market will generate up to $581.9 billion in revenue by the end of 2020.
Source: Statista.com
It requires the deployment of a single script instead of writing separate scripts for each platform. This significantly speeds up development time and cuts time to market, which benefits everyone, from the dev team all the way to marketing.
Cross-platform application development offers you an opportunity to reach a larger audience. How so? Think about it – if your app is compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems like the web, iOS, and Android, it can be used by a larger number of users. It’s a great way to maximize your exposure – with less effort and time.
Since cross-platform applications are Internet-based, updates are nice and easy. Users don’t have to download separate updates, which would require the maintenance and support of multiple app versions. The app is updated automatically for all customers to ensure they always have the most current version of the app, which positively impacts its performance.
All of the above-mentioned advantages entail significant cost savings. With the development speed cross-platform development brings, your time-to-market for each platform is shorter than if you had to create each app from scratch. This means you can get your software to generate revenue much sooner. You don’t need to maintain a software development team for each platform you launch your app to, which will bring significant savings over time.
Cross-Platform applications are often the best choice for our partners. In case the company wants to deliver the product quickly on a reasonable budget, this technology gives the best results. There is also a growing awareness of customers who ask for such solutions themselves. This is particularly popular in the first phase of launching a digital service. COO, ASPER BROTHERS Let's Talk
That said, you might be wondering whether there are any disadvantages you should be aware of. As explained by Techopedia, cross-platform development can make programs less efficient in that you will need to maintain file storage for all the systems the software supports. This could also mean that you would be limited by various technologies’ constraints when choosing the right software environment. All in all, these drawbacks do not make cross-platform development any less popular, with the advantages outweighing the solution’s limitations.
Hopefully, we’ve managed to persuade you that cross-platform application development is an approach worth considering. Now it’s time to look at some of the frameworks you can use while building your apps, starting with Flutter.
Flutter is considered the perfect framework for developing high-performance web apps. Brought to life by Google in 2018, it’s an advanced, open-source software development kit (SDK). Since it is one of the descendants of the above-mentioned tech giant, it’s pretty much guaranteed that Flutter will be continuously developed, and its community of supporters will grow.
Using Flutter as your cross-platform app development framework can bring benefits like:
React Native is a cross-platform app development framework most frequently chosen by developers, as indicated by the graphic below. It was launched in 2015 by Facebook. It’s a mobile framework based on JavaScript, which enables building natively-rendered mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Here are the main benefits of using React Native as your cross-platform app development framework:
React Native is not without reason so popular. It is a great tool that will work in most cases. / source: statista.com
Next to native app development, PWA is also a popular cross-platform development method. Let’s look at three popular progressive web app frameworks below.
Angular is an open-source, cross-platform framework owned and controlled by Google. It utilizes TypeScript and HTML for the creation of single-page web applications. It is one of the most popular, powerful, and efficient JavaScript frameworks.
What are the benefits of using Angular?
The front-end of the digital version of Forbes Magazine is based on Angular Framework. / Source: Forbes.com
Vue is a popular JavaScript framework used by developers for creating simple-paged web applications and User Interfaces. It is also referred to as Vue.js. Developers can utilize Vue’s high decoupling capability to create progressive web applications. Vue is used in thousands of companies all over the world. Companies like Alibaba, Gitlab, and Xiaomi use Vue for their web development projects.
Here are a few benefits of using this cross-platform app development framework:
React.js, also referred to as React, is an open-source, JavaScript front-end framework that lets you build interfaces quickly and efficiently. It is not mistaken with the above-mentioned React Native, a native mobile app development framework.
Created by Facebook for internal use (such as powering the platform’s News Feed and Instagram functionalities), React became open-sourced in 2013. According to Stack Overflow’s 2020 annual survey, it is the second most loved web framework among the developer community.
React.js is one of the most appreciated technologies, according to recent research on developers. /source: insights.stackoverflow.com
What makes React this popular? Let’s take a look at the top benefits:
Cross-platform app development has become an important alternative to traditional, native development. There are many reasons behind its rising popularity. Firstly, it allows you to launch your app on various platforms simultaneously. This means you can reach a wider audience than in the case of developing an app for a single platform. Secondly, it offers a quicker time-to-market, as the code doesn’t need to be written from scratch separately for web, iOS, and Android. Finally, this translates to significant savings in the development and maintenance phase, as you only need one development team to cover all platforms.
You will see two types of cross-platform app development services in your search online – native and PWA. The first approach includes the popular React Native and Flutter, while the latter lets you create your app with React.js, Vue, and Angular, among others. When deciding on the right approach, we recommend that you refer to the article above to make an educated business decision.
Good luck with your app development project!
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