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Back in 2014, there were 1 billion smartphone users. Now, the number is nearly 4.69 billion and is forecasted to reach 5.83 billion by 2028. For businesses, this means delivering a seamless app experience across both platforms is not just an option—it’s a must.
Developing separate native applications for multiple platforms leads to increased development time and budget costs and makes maintenance more challenging. The utilization of a mobile app development framework provides companies with an intelligent platform to extend their audience reach through a single shared codebase.
Cross-platform frameworks permit developers to create deployable applications across various systems using a single programming method. The combined advantages of shortened development duration and decreased expenditure produce homogeneous application features, together with equivalent user experience.
But here’s the challenge: Businesses face the complex decision of selecting the most suitable platform from Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, Ionic, and other solutions, considering project requirements, team capabilities, and performance targets.
This blog walks you through:
Let’s break it down and help you choose the best cross-platform development framework for your next mobile app.
Cross platform mobile app development means creating a mobile app that works on both Android and iOS devices using just one set of code. Through one unified codebase, developers can generate applications that operate successfully between the Android and iOS platforms. The process of developing a mobile application that operates across both Android and iOS platforms replaces the need to create separate Android and iOS versions.
Traditional native app development requires developers to create code that operates in Swift for iOS products while concurrently developing it in Java or Kotlin for Android technology. The process demands additional work and assumes higher expenditures, along with extended development periods.
The requirement for separate coding for different platforms does not exist when using cross-platform app development. The combination of cross-platform development frameworks, including Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, and Ionic, lets you program the code once for dual platform compatibility. The implemented frameworks enable your application to interact with Android and iOS platform features through a single application.
This makes the development process:
And the best part? Users still get a smooth, reliable experience, just like they would with native apps.
So, cross-platform development is a smart way to reach more users quickly while saving time and resources.
When you choose to build your mobile app using a cross-platform framework, you’re setting yourself up for a smarter, faster, and more efficient development process. Let’s go through the key benefits, one by one, so you can clearly see why this approach is so popular today.
One of the biggest advantages is that you only need to write your app’s code once, and it will work on both Android and iOS platforms. A single unified codebase enables your team to handle development and maintenance without needing distinct development teams for each separate app. Using these frameworks helps developers save development time while minimizing both confusion and potential errors.
Cross-platform development enables developers to speed up the entire app creation timeline because platforms do not require separate original programming. Cross-platform frameworks deliver pre-designed components and libraries along with UI elements, which accelerate the development process further. Quick app launches to market become easier because of this significant benefit when you work on strict deadlines or need to test your app in the market.
The cost of developing a mobile application across multiple systems turns out to be less expensive than building two platform-specific native applications. Your development expenses reduce due to shorter development hours, as well as a smaller team size and reduced maintenance costs. The most inexpensive solution for starting businesses to launch their mobile app is cross-platform development systems.
Using one shared codebase simplifies the process of updating your app. All cross platform development framework tasks happen within one environment through which developers fix bugs and add new features while making user interface alterations. The platform update implemented on each mobile operating system guarantees uniformity across Android and iOS versions.
A single simultaneous development for two major platforms leads to the automatic expansion of your user base. You can choose a simultaneous app launch for both Android and iOS users instead of making separate releases. App developers find this approach advantageous, especially if they want fast user adoption or high visual exposure.
The tools within cross platform frameworks enable developers to deliver uniform visual designs that extend between various devices and multiple screen sizes. Both users on Android and those on iOS will experience an identically smooth user interface without perceiving one platform version to be superior to the other. Building brand quality and usability can be achieved through this approach.
Most modern cross-platform frameworks come with a wide range of pre-built components and third-party plugins. This allows developers to use ready-made features (like camera access, notifications, or GPS) without having to build them from scratch. It makes the process easier, and developers can focus more on building great features instead of dealing with technical complexities.
Introduced: May 2017 (by Google)
Using Flutter, developers can build natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from one unified programming base through an open-source User Interface toolkit that Google developed. Google created Flutter through the Dart programming language, which delivers superior widgets combined with sleek operations and profound user interface potential.
Top Apps Built with Flutter:
Introduced: March 2015 (by Facebook)
The cross platform framework React Native enjoys wide usage as it finds support from Meta, which was once known as Facebook. Developers utilize JavaScript together with React to create their apps through this platform. The framework provides code reusability functions while receiving strong community backing and delivering performance levels almost equal to native apps.
Top Apps Built with React Native:
Introduced: May 2011 (acquired by Microsoft in 2016)
Xamarin belongs to Microsoft since its acquisition, through its framework enables developers to use C# combined with the .NET framework to create applications that function across Android, iOS, and Windows platforms. Users of this platform can achieve code reuse at a 90% rate through Visual Studio integration, which positions it as an excellent tool for enterprise-level applications.
Top Apps Built with Xamarin:
Introduced: 2013 (by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co.)
The Ionic platform serves developers as an open-source software kit that enables hybrid mobile app development. This development stack, which relies on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, best addresses applications that need a web-like design language with accelerated development processes.
Top Apps Built with Ionic:
Introduced: 2014 (by Progress Software)
NativeScript offers developers the ability to create native mobile applications through the use of JavaScript, TypeScript, and Angular. The platform gives developers straight access to built-in native application programming interfaces, allowing their products to demonstrate native-level execution rates while maintaining total programming freedom.
Top Apps Built with NativeScript:
Introduced: Officially announced in 2020 (by JetBrains)
Developers can utilize Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile to achieve code sharing for Android and iOS platforms. The framework has gained traction since it provides exceptional native project compatibility and shared business logic features without reaching full-featured status like Flutter and React Native.
Top Apps Built with Kotlin Multiplatform
Introduced: 2009 (acquired by Adobe as PhoneGap; now open-source under Apache)
The oldest hybrid mobile app development framework is Apache Cordova. Code writers can utilize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to develop applications with this cross-platform app development framework. The technology, Strange, is not as widely used in 2022 as newer platforms such as Flutter, yet it continues to support basic, lightweight applications.
Top Apps Built with Cordova
Your success depends on selecting the best cross platform framework when developing your application. Your selected app development framework determines multiple aspects, including application speed and user experience performance, as well as development timeline and the sustainability of future updates.
Your choice depends entirely on the specific goals of your application, combined with its complexity level, team capabilities, and available resources. A complete evaluation of business elements and technical specifications must take place to choose a development framework. Below are the key factors to consider:
Begin by assessing all the required functionality for your app. Your application will benefit from advanced features such as real-time chat and video streaming combined with offline functionality and image-intensive animations when working with the correct framework.
Team knowledge and experience play an essential role when choosing the right app development framework. Your organization should select React Native as it supports developers who already work with the JavaScript programming language. The UI component management and Dart language preference of developers could make Flutter a suitable alternative for their evaluation.
Platform speed and user responsiveness take priority in gaming applications, media systems, and heavy tools, so you should choose frameworks that resemble native performance.
Developer communities behind projects supply regular framework updates and a wide range of plugins through their communities to reduce development time.
Think long-term. A suitable cross platform framework should enable your business to scale up along with its growth. Scalability serves as the primary requirement for platforms because expanding features, accommodating a rising user base, or adding external platform support is essential.
Every development framework possesses a unique approach to design, just like projects do. The selection of your framework depends directly on your project type. This simple breakdown will show you how to match project types with the correct framework:
Best fit: Flutter or React Native
For startups that want to speed up their product development while validating ideas, the combination of Flutter and React Native works well. Both platforms become accessible through a unified codebase that enables you to produce apps simultaneously for Android and iOS, which reduces development costs. These frameworks give developers access to many ready-to-use components that accelerate development without sacrificing design quality.
Best fit: Angular or .NET Core
Businesses seeking powerful, secure solutions that scale require adaptable frameworks. The programming languages Angular and .NET Core exist specifically to meet this need. Angular provides an ideal solution for constructing big structured frontends, but .NET Core delivers superb capabilities in building advanced backend systems. Enterprise applications benefit from pre-installed tools that manage data with security functions reinforced for users who need enterprise-level solutions.
Best fit: React.js or Vue.js
Web-based projects, including social networks and marketplaces, benefit best from using React.js and Vue.js. Top tech companies choose React because of its flexible nature. The simple interface of Vue allows beginner developers to start working effortlessly. The speed and performance of both frameworks produce polished, user-friendly interactions.
Best fit: Flutter
Web-based projects, including social networks and marketplaces, benefit best from using React.js and Vue.js. Top tech companies choose React because of its flexible nature. The simple interface of Vue allows beginner developers to start working effortlessly. The speed and performance of both frameworks produce polished, user-friendly interactions.
There is no one-size-fits-all cross platform development framework that suits every project. Your application needs dictate which framework would be most suitable among the available options. Organizations that want superior user interface performance, together with customization options, should use Flutter. React Native provides excellent speed alongside Scalability for applications when your organization already has JavaScript development expertise. Xamarin proves its worth for developing enterprise applications.
Still unsure? Consider consulting a mobile app development expert to evaluate your project needs and suggest the best solution.
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