The development of mobile apps is a fast-growing and challenging industry, thanks to the diverse platforms in the market. In a bid to ease the process of mobile app development and reach out to many users across several platforms, businesses now prefer to use cross platform as it saves time and money. There are certain aspects you ought to know before you hire an expert to build the perfect cross-platform app.
We often hear controversy and speculation about which side will take the main part of the mobile app development market: Native or Cross-platform.
Native development involves technologies focusing on a specific platform. For instance, the Java programming language aims at developing applications for Android. Along with that, the brainchild of Apple – Swift for iOS.
For Cross-platform development, technologies that aim at multiple platforms. Among them, two of the most prominent are identified as React Native (based on js) from Facebook. Along with that, Flutter (based on Dart) from Google.
Let us walk you through the journey of choosing cross-platform development for your mobile app development project.
Choosing Technology
Choosing the right cross platform app development services mainly boils down to the needs of your app. Let’s take a closer look at questions that arise in this quest of choosing technologies.
How to Choose the Right Framework?
In terms of cross-platform space, the big approaches are React Native, Xamarian and Flutter. However, good traction has recently been shown by Flutter and its adoption is slowly increasing. Flutter and Dart are two of the fastest-growing technologies worldwide. This technology stack is easy to learn for remote app developers especially when it comes to cross-platform app development.
Is there a Support Landscape of the Language and Platform You’re Considering?
Before taking any major decisions while choosing cross platform development for your mobile application, it is vital to take a look at support landscapes such as stack overflow, Github, etc. It’s always a good sign if there is an active support landscape of your desired landscape. Especially if it’s new tech to the mobile app development team, a dedicated community turns out to be quite supportive.
How does the Release Process Work?
You will need to be sure that there’s good documentation around the process of releasing, debugging and building cross platform mobile apps for all targeted platforms. Not all build systems have the same design. You can always rely on cross-platform app development guides to collect information on how the entire process works.
Long Term Support
When considering a fresh perspective or a new technology, prospecting is always a part of the decision. Naturally, nobody wants to spend money and resources on a tech that is on its way out or will be dead soon. Therefore, it is important to consider the track records of its long-term support.
What is your Feature Set?
The path to the most fitted feature set is paved, once the concept of what exactly you want your app to perform is clear. For instance, you plan on using features like video editing, camera, maps, AR, VR, animations, audio, etc, then make sure what that means to your cross-platform solution. You can always hire the best from the top cross-platform app development companies to assist you in choosing the best feature set and develop your mobile app efficiently.
Do you need to add native support?
Adding native support comes in the frame when the updates to cross-platform are not covering an area you need to develop. This triviality of endeavor might be a deciding factor for you and your dedicated app development team. The workflow will not be impacted much if the app is written in the proper IDE.
Does your choice support MVP Development?
It’s no secret that apps get re-written several times but that’s not always the case. Right now the MVP for your project is alright, but maybe an ideal app is far more advanced. You’ll need to consider the roadmap of the application, whether or not the required speed is outweighing the tech debt you are paying on the next feature.
How well do Platform Developers regard Tech?
In the app development business, people move around a lot. Therefore, it is essential to understand if or not the respective platform developers regard the tech. Here, the key factor is the more popularity the tech holds to the app developers, the easier it gets to find talent.
Required Tools
The most important part of having a great cross-platform app development framework is having great tools to support it. You will have to rely on robust tools throughout the cross platform app development process whether it is building, debugging, developing or testing.
Stable and Testable IDE
An Integrated Development Environment(IDE) is a software for building apps that combines common developer tools into a single Graphical User Interface(GUI). Your team of hired developers will be spending most of their time on this app. Thus it should be stable and testable. Typically, there are a multitude of plugins available yet it’s worth checking out the plugin extension options for the IDE.
Open-Source Software Libraries
One of the most essential assets to any tech is OSS(Open Source Software) libraries. The application of open-source software in different library activities is a viable solution to get rid of the problems related to the application of commercial software. A huge advantage of OSS is if there’s active and thriving community support from the maintainer it indicates positive platform long time support.
Performance
Basically, the performance of an app indicates how the app is functioning. And more importantly how responsive the cross platform app is to the end-user. This is crucial because your mobile application is the storefront of your brand across various platforms. Here are a few questions that might help you figure out the performance of your cross-platform application.
Are the Transition and Animation Smooth?
A common bottleneck in cross-platform applications is transitions and animations. Some of the factors usually taken for granted are scrolling smoothly and transitioning quickly across the app. Eventually, this could end up making the app slow. The overall app performance gets compromised in the process. You can consider leading mobile app development companies to ensure smooth transition and animation across your application.
Does the Performance Impact the App and its User?
User expectations are only increasing. Especially, when an app experiences performance issues or is unavailable, you run the risk of losing customers. By proactively resolving these issues, you’ll be able to provide a flawless experience your users expect from your application.
Conclusion
As the world becomes increasingly digital, businesses, be it startups or enterprises, must ensure that their cross-platform mobile solutions continue to evolve in terms of scalability and extensibility. Users expect their mobile apps to continuously offer new features and services, as well as be available on any device, any place. Conclusively, cross platform app development is the best bet for your mobile app development project. Now more than ever when the era of digitalization is at our doorstep.
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