Craft Cross Platform Mobile Apps with Ease

Introduction

Cross platform mobile app development has become increasingly popular as businesses seek to build mobile apps faster and maximize code reuse. Instead of building native iOS and Android apps separately, cross platform frameworks allow you to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms. Some of the most popular options include React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin. But how do you choose the right framework for your needs? In this post, we'll compare the leading cross platform mobile development frameworks and guide you through the key considerations when selecting one.

The benefits of cross platform mobile apps are clear - you can develop iOS and Android versions simultaneously with a unified codebase. This means faster time to market, lower development costs, and easier maintenance long term. For many apps, especially ones focused on UI workflows, cross platform frameworks can provide native-like performance and UX with greater productivity.

However, it's important to evaluate each framework based on your specific app requirements and your team's skills. The optimal choice depends on the app features, performance needs, importance of accessing native APIs, available developer skillsets, and more. With some forethought, you can build excellent cross platform mobile apps that feel right at home on iOS and Android.

Overview of Top Cross Platform Frameworks

React Native

• Developed by Facebook, uses React and JavaScript
• Good for relatively simple apps with lots of UI components
• Large open source community provides many reusable modules
• More performant than alternatives for certain use cases due to JavaScript runtime
• Integrates well with native code when needed

Flutter

• Developed by Google, uses Dart programming language
• Fully cross platform UI rendering engine
• Supports advanced UI designs and animations
• Offers great developer experience with features like fast hot reload
• Gaining popularity for building high performance, complex apps

Xamarin

• Developed by Microsoft, uses C# language
• Can access full spectrum of native APIs
• Supports code sharing across platforms
• Steep learning curve for developers new to C#/.NET
• Often used for enterprise applications due to .NET ecosystem

Key Differences Between Frameworks

When comparing React Native vs Flutter vs Xamarin, some of the key differences include:

• Programming language and tools used - JavaScript/React vs Dart/Flutter vs C#/Visual Studio
• Rendering approach - React Native bridges to native vs Flutter's own engine
• Performance tradeoffs depending on app complexity and use cases
• Ease of access to device capabilities and native APIs
• Availability of prebuilt components/modules
• Developer experience and ability to reuse code
• App size and startup time differences

For example, React Native and Xamarin use a JavaScript and .NET runtime respectively while Flutter compiles to native code. This impacts start up time. Flutter's own rendering engine gives it an advantage for advanced UIs. React Native offers perhaps the easiest reuse of existing JavaScript code. Evaluating these differences in light of your specific needs will point you towards the best framework.

When to Use Each Framework

• React Native for apps needing native look and feel with JavaScript
• Flutter for advanced UI needs like animations and gestures
• Xamarin for complex enterprise apps using .NET ecosystem

For instance, Walmart used React Native for their shopping app to leverage existing JavaScript code. Toppr Learning built their tutoring app in Flutter to allow customized animations. And Alaska Airlines built their airline app with Xamarin to reuse existing .NET business logic.

Evaluate tradeoffs between performance, developer experience, app capabilities etc. Consider your team's existing skills and code reuse opportunities. Prototype if possible when selecting between frameworks.

Developing Cross Platform Apps

Code Sharing Strategies

• Identify and isolate shared business logic code
• Use dependency injection for platform-specific implementations
• Extract UI components into reusable widgets
• Utilize state management libraries like Redux
• Leverage community modules/components where possible

For example, extract the logic for making API calls into a shared networking service. Build UI buttons as reusable components. Manage shared state with Redux instead of component state.

Accessing Native Features

• Use bridge or interface to invoke native code when needed
• Check for plugin or module before dropping to native code
• Focus native code on platform-specific optimizations
• Add native functionality gradually instead of upfront
• Document native dependencies for easier porting

For instance, access camera and photos via a React Native or Flutter plugin instead of custom native code. Target native code at performance bottlenecks.

Testing and Debugging

• Unit test and component test shared code
• UI integration testing on emulators and real devices
• Enable hot reload to accelerate dev iterations
• Debug across languages by exposing logging
• Profile across platforms to find optimization opportunities

For example, use Jest for JavaScript testing in React Native. Enable Flutter's hot reload to speed up testing. Capture tracing logs to help debug native crashes.

Key Considerations When Choosing

Some important factors when selecting a cross platform mobile framework:

• Available skill sets of your developers
• Performance requirements - UI complexity, animations etc
• Need to reuse existing business logic code
• Importance of native look, feel and device access
• Timelines and resources available
• Long term app roadmap and maintainability
• Ease of finding developers for future work

For example, if design is crucial Flutter may be preferable, while React Native is great for reuse of JavaScript code. Factor in team experience, hiring ability and other constraints.

Conclusion

Cross platform mobile app frameworks like React Native, Flutter and Xamarin allow you to maximize code reuse while still tapping into native capabilities when needed. Each has pros and cons to weigh based on your app objectives, team skills, performance needs and business goals. With the right framework choice and development strategies, you can build high quality mobile apps efficiently across platforms. Evaluate your options carefully and leverage the key strengths of your chosen framework.

Interested in trying a cross platform approach for your next mobile app? Check out DevHunt to discover developer tools and frameworks to build your apps.