In today’s digital world, businesses need to have a strong mobile presence to engage customers wherever they are. Developing mobile apps across multiple platforms like iOS, Android, and the web allows companies to reach the widest possible user base. Here’s why building cross-platform apps is effective for business growth.
What is Cross-platform app development?
Cross-platform app development is an approach to developing software applications that are compatible with multiple mobile operating systems (OSes) or platforms. These apps are platform-agnostic, meaning they can be used regardless of the OS powering the mobile device.
Cross-platform app development is different from native development, where a mobile app is created to run only on a specific mobile OS. With native development, developers have to write separate codebases for each OS they want to target. This can be time-consuming and expensive, especially for complex apps.
Cross-platform app development frameworks allow developers to write shareable and reusable code for the purpose of developing these apps. This approach has several benefits, such as:
- Reduced development time and cost: Cross-platform development can significantly reduce the time and cost of developing mobile apps, as developers only need to write a single codebase for all platforms they want to target.
- Faster time to market: With cross-platform development, developers can release their apps to multiple platforms simultaneously, which can help them reach a wider audience faster.
- Easier maintenance: Cross-platform development makes it easier to maintain mobile apps, as developers only need to update a single codebase instead of multiple codebases.
Some popular cross-platform app development frameworks include:
- Flutter
- React Native
- Xamarin
- NativeScript
- Cordova
Cross-platform app development is a good option for businesses that want to develop mobile apps for multiple platforms without having to spend a lot of time and money. It is also a good option for businesses that want to release their apps to market quickly.
However, cross-platform development is not without its drawbacks. Cross-platform apps may not perform as well as native apps on all platforms. Additionally, cross-platform apps may not have access to all of the features and APIs that are available on native platforms.
React Native
React Native is a JavaScript framework for building native mobile applications for iOS and Android. It is based on React, Facebook’s JavaScript library for building user interfaces. React Native uses the same design principles as React, such as component-based development and declarative programming. This makes it easy for web developers to learn and use React Native to build mobile apps.
React Native uses a native bridge to communicate with the underlying native platform. This means that React Native apps are as fast and responsive as native apps. Additionally, React Native apps have access to all of the native features and APIs that are available on iOS and Android.
Some popular apps that are built with React Native include:
- Airbnb
- Discord
- Tesla
If you are a web developer who is interested in building mobile apps, React Native is a great option to consider. It is a powerful and flexible framework that can be used to build native apps for iOS and Android.
Flutter
Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop cross-platform applications from a single codebase for any web browser, mobile, desktop platform, and even embedded devices. First described in 2015, Flutter was released in May 2017.
Flutter uses a reactive programming language called Dart, making development faster and easier than traditional methods. Flutter apps are compiled to native machine code, which means they are as fast and responsive as native apps.
Wider Audience Reach
By creating apps that work seamlessly on iOS, Android, web and other platforms, developers can expand the target audience dramatically. Users are spread across different devices and OS, so a single-platform app limits visibility. Cross-platform apps let you tap into all major mobile and web markets simultaneously.
According to Statista, Android users account for over 70% of the global market, while over 25% use iOS. Ignoring either one leads to missing a huge chunk of potential users. A cross-platform approach removes the need to choose one platform.
Lower Development Costs
Developing the same app natively for iOS and Android requires completely separate codebases and teams. Cross-platform tools like React Native app development services and Flutter allow developers to write one base code and deploy across platforms.
This significantly lowers costs compared to building native apps. You save on development time and resources needed for testing, maintenance and updates too. Teams can focus expertise in one codebase instead of spreading across platforms.
Faster Time-to-Market
The ability to develop iOS, Android and web apps simultaneously speeds up time-to-market. Developers don’t have to start from scratch for each OS and lose productivity switching between platforms.
Cross-platform code can be written once and deployed across the desired platforms quickly. This allows startups to launch MVP versions faster to validate ideas before investing more. Established businesses can get new features and updates out quicker to engage users.
Consistency Across Devices
Apps built using native tools often end up looking and functioning quite differently on iOS vs Android. This leads to inconsistencies in UI, UX and features.
With cross-platform frameworks, developers can maintain UI, design language, features and user experience across all target platforms. Users get familiarity and cohesion regardless of their device OS.
Easier Maintenance and Updates
Updating and maintaining a single shared codebase is much easier than separate native code for multiple platforms. Cross-platform apps allow pushing updates and new features across devices simultaneously.
Native app stacks require rebuilding and resubmission for each platform separately. Bugs and issues also get replicated if not fixed properly everywhere. Cross-platform code reduces overhead for react native app developers significantly.
Access to Native Features
Modern cross-platform tools provide access to native features and APIs for each OS. This includes camera, GPS, storage, biometrics etc. Performance is optimized by compiling to native binaries.
So apps don’t suffer shortcomings compared to native, and can take advantage of each platform’s capabilities. Developers get a unified framework while users get native-quality experiences.
Scalability for Growth
If your app gains sudden popularity, cross-platform code makes it easier to scale across platforms and meet demand. The unified codebase can be deployed to new platforms without extensive rewrites.
As business needs change, cross-platform apps can expand to new OS and form factors like foldables, watches, TVs etc. This scalability helps future-proof apps for sustainable growth.
Drawbacks to Consider
While cross-platform apps provide many advantages, some drawbacks need consideration as well:
– Performance limitations for graphic/CPU intensive apps like games
– Limited access to some exclusive native features
– UI customization may be harder for each native platform
– Need to compromise on some platform-specific patterns
Testing on all target devices is crucial to assess effectiveness. For simple apps, cross-platform delivers significant savings in cost and time. But complex apps may benefit from selective native development.
Conclusion
Cross-platform app development leverages unified code to publish across iOS, Android, web and more. For most apps, the pros like wider reach, lower costs, and quicker time-to-market outweigh the cons. Efficient maintenance, consistency, and scalability provide long-term gains as well. Evaluating project needs and testing rigorously helps realize the benefits of cross-platform effectively.
