Cross-Platform App Development – A Comprehensive Guide

What is Cross-Platform App Development?

Cross-platform mobile app development allows developers to create mobile applications that can be deployed on multiple operating systems and posses compatibility. The application is developed in a single universal language, allowing easy exporting to any platform.

Thus, opting for cross-app development leads to a faster process and mitigates the need to write the code twice. Due to the increasing demand for apps, many mobile app development companies have started providing cross platform app development services to assist startups and small companies.

What are Cross-Platform Apps?

Cross platform apps have the characteristics of multi-functionality because of the single code base, will help to develop the apps more straightforwardly, promptly, and feasible to develop.

The core benefit of cross platform mobile development is they can reach a huge target audience with their uniform UI and functionalities, which is similar to native experience. They are the ideal choice for startups and mid-level companies due to their rapid development, cost-effectiveness, and comparatively less time to market.

Due to the core benefit of multiple-platform functionality, cross-platform applications are becoming increasingly popular. This allows startups and other businesses to save costs to a greater extent and reduce the overall development time.

Cross-platform apps have enough compatibility with more than one operating system, such as iOS and Android. This enables the developers to build a wide range of applications with the help of cross-platform mobile app development which can run on different platforms with a single code system.

Why is Cross Platform App Development important in 2024?

Developing web applications to cater to a large audience is essential, which can help the developers create the application with a single codebase. This reduces the development costs and helps to develop an app that reaches a broader audience for your app. Mobile app development frameworks enables a consistent user experience across different platforms, ensuring maintenance and updates are more easily and effortless.

Difference Between Native and Cross-Platform App Development

The debate has always been about determining between native and cross-platform mobile app development for the developers. Both frameworks have their pros and cons. However, they are unique in their ways. Native apps are quite different from cross platform mobile app . Given are few points that help differentiate the two:

What are the Challenges Faced in Cross-Platform App Development?

a) Leads to a risk of compatibility due to differences in operating systems and devices

The development of cross-platform can pose a few challenges. Earlier cross platform app development was used to develop simple mobile games and applications. With growing times, cross-platform development has become more powerful, adaptable, and flexible with the help of emerging technologies and advancements.

b) Allows restricted access to device hardware features

The cross-platform framework enables it to operate differently on multiple devices. It can lead to problematic use of the features in each device. This is majorly due to the tools needing direct access to the hardware of those devices.

c) Chances of performance issues compared to native apps

Due to frequent performance backlashes, inconsistent communication between the native and non-native gadget components causes performance issues.

d) Challenging to keep up with the updates to operating systems and devices

It becomes challenging for the developers to keep cross-compliance of apps across devices and operating systems. Due to performance glitches, it leads to poor user experience. In such cases, cross-platform apps are not always a good option due to relative security concerns.

Benefits of Cross-Platform App Development

a) Maximizes reach to a larger audience

A cross-platform app can be deployed on various devices and platforms, practically doubling your target audience. cross platform app development allows you to target audiences simultaneously on both Android and iOS phones. This can save you time and money in targeting more audiences with fewer efforts.

b) Cuts your expenses & saves money

cross platform app development allows a single application to be deployed on multiple platforms. This reduces the expenses of developing a separate platform and paying for various tools and technologies. On the other hand, the written code can be reused, and adopting agile methodologies can reduce the expenses even more.

c) Ensures consistency across different platforms

Cross-platform application is developed commonly for all platforms. It becomes more straightforward for users to discover similar UI and UI elements for diverse platforms. This uniformity can help retain customers even if they change devices or operating systems. Moreover, UI/UX plays a vital part in customer retention and engagement.

d) Speeds up your development process

Cross-platform application development is faster as compared to other app development processes. It saves developers time and effort by 50% as they have to code only once. Due to this, it is possible to develop a feature-rich cross-platform application in less time.

e) Rapid prototyping

As developing a cross-platform app is quick, prototyping becomes simple, faster, and more effective. Quick prototyping can speed up development, following a predetermined plan. Developing an idea into an application can be done correctly with this approach.

f) Code reusability

One of the notable benefits of cross-platform application development is the code written is reusable. This can save time and mitigate the need to rewrite the code every time for different platforms. Efficiency can be increased by reusing code across platforms, saving time and cost.

g) Allows cloud integration

Cross-platform apps highlight the benefit of compatibility with multiple plugins. The plugins for cloud integration are highly compatible, scalable, and functional. Using a single source code allows easy integration of plugins and cloud functionalities.

h) Simple to maintain & easy to deploy changes

As a single app, it is developed for various platforms since it is comparatively more straightforward, easy to maintain, and simple to deploy, even in the case of modifications in the code. It is easy to make changes or updates that can be applied to all platforms and devices. Additionally, if there are any bugs or errors, then the common code can make it easier to correct.

i) Reduced time-to-market

cross platform app development makes the development process deployment and maintenance faster, reducing the time to market the product. The app has a broader chance of reaching the audience more quickly. This ends up benefiting your business and making your services available faster.

Best cross platform app development Frameworks you must know in 2024

Cross-platform app development frameworks give users a platform to develop mobile applications compatible with more than one operating system. This saves time, cost, and mainly the developer’s efforts. There are many cross-platform app development frameworks in the market, but only a few are worth your efforts. Each of the app development frameworks has its own unique features as well as drawbacks.

Further Reading → 8 common cross-platform tools for mobile app developers.

Let’s have a look at those who are leading in the list of cross-platform app development frameworks and some of the leading cross-platform apps developed with these frameworks,

1. Xamarin:

As an independent cross-platform development framework, Xamarin was founded in 2011 but later on, it was acquired by Microsoft in 2016. It solves the problem of separated native technology stacks, because of which mobile app development was difficult and expensive. Xamarin works seamlessly on an array of platforms such as Android and iOS. It uses a single tech stack for speedier development.

It shares more than 75% of your codes across platforms. Xamarin is expensive for enterprises however it is free of cost for individual firms and startups. If your apps demand heavy graphics, Xamarin is not recommended because it uses a different method for visually laying screens. Furthermore, it offers only limited access to some of the important libraries. Creating UI is time-consuming for Xamarin.

Apps Made with Xamarin Cross-Platform App Framework

• Fox Sports
• Alaska Airlines
• HCL
• American Cancer Society
• BBC Good Food

2. React Native:

React Native is the milestone that Facebook launched in 2015, and it created a boom in the market for hybrid frameworks. After a few years of introduction into the market, React native paced up and became the most popular and trendy framework for developers. It shares up to 80% codebase across all platforms after checking the application’s complexity. It helps in reviewing results instantly by offering ready-to-apply elements and reducing turnaround time considerably.

It renders a highly responsive interface by focusing on UI only up to a great extent. It also provides a high-quality native-like user interface by providing an accelerometer and camera. However, react-native lacks consistency when the updates are to be released. It increases the duration of debugging process for the Android system. This framework is not built in conjunction with iOS or Android.

Apps Made with React Native Cross-Platform App Framework

• Instagram
• Bloomberg
• Pinterest
• Skype
• Tesla

3. Flutter:

Flutter is an open-source and free cross-platform framework that helps create native interfaces for both – Android and iOS. It is a cross-platform framework maintained by Google. Flutter ranks amongst the top 3 most loved frameworks. The feature of hot reloading helps the developers to see changes within the codes in a fraction of seconds rather than minutes.

Flutter is considered an ideal framework for MVP Development. Flutter is based on Dart, which is quite easy to learn for the developers. However, Flutter does not support Apple TV and Android TV. As compared to native development, flutter lacks in ready to implement functionalities.

Apps Made with Flutter Cross-Platform App Framework

• Alibaba
• Google
• Google Ads
• Tencent

4. Adobe PhoneGap:

A couple of years back, PhoneGap was termed, Apache Cordova. It is owned and sourced by Adobe. It uses HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript and is a single cross-platform app development framework. Adobe PhoneGap allows the user to share the app with the team so that they can submit feedback. It offers cloud-based solutions too for the users.

It is better than its competitors because it has features such as third-party tools and a large number of plugins. However, it lacks performance and UI widgets, so it is not advisable to use them for high-performance applications and hardware-intensive apps such as gaming. This framework is dependent on iOS SDKs and thus downloading these SDKs requires Mac.

Apps Made with PhoneGap Cross-Platform App Framework

• Wikipedia
• TripCase
• FanReact

5. Ionic:

Ionic is considered an open-source cross-platform application framework and is licensed under MIT. For all translation purposes, it uses HTML5. It inherits a few design elements from both – iOS and Android. It enables the users to build native-like hybrid apps and progressive web applications whenever needed. Ionic is specially designed for mobile operating systems as it is based on the SAAS UI framework.

Robust applications can be made with the help of numerous UI components. Ionic helps in knowing the whole mobile DevOps lifecycle. For Ionic, the developer needs to have more knowledge of AngularJS which can be a hindrance. It is complex to design in-app navigation because it is not easy to use a UI router.

Apps Made with Ionic Cross-Platform App Framework

• IBM
• ING
• SAP
• NASA

Trends of Cross Platform App Development

a) The exponential increase for the cross platform app development framework market is ready to surpass US$546.7 billion by 2033, Persistence Market Research.

b) The demand forecast will also remain high for the React Native cross platform app development framework. The target segment will thrive at a CAGR of 16.7% from 2023 to 2033.

c) The leading cross-platforms winning this segment are React Native, Cordova, PhoneGap, Flutter, Xamarin, Native Script, Vue.js, and Angular.

d) The demand for cross platform app development will likely reach US$ 104.7 billion by 2033.