Cross platform mobile development opens new possibilities

Introduction

Cross platform mobile development has exploded in popularity in recent years, and for good reason. By building mobile apps using cross platform frameworks like React Native and Flutter, developers can create iOS and Android versions from a single codebase. This opens up tremendous possibilities by reducing development and maintenance costs, reaching wider audiences, and getting products to market faster.

As mobile usage continues to grow globally, businesses need ways to efficiently reach users on both major iOS and Android platforms. Developing native apps separately for each operating system is incredibly time consuming and resource intensive. Cross platform mobile development solves this problem by allowing code reuse across platforms, often using JavaScript or other web languages developers already know. The benefits go far beyond cost savings through shared code.

The ability to release mobile apps simultaneously on iOS and Android gives startups and businesses access to billions of potential users. By targeting both platforms from the start, they can cater to user preferences for operating systems without needing to rebuild a native app for each platform. This expanded reach is critical for consumer apps aiming for massive adoption.

Some popular cross platform frameworks include React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, Ionic, and NativeScript. These tools allow flexible code sharing across iOS, Android, and sometimes even desktop and web. Thanks to abundant documentation and active communities, developers can leverage these frameworks to build high quality mobile apps efficiently.

Core Benefits of Cross Platform Mobile Development

The strategic advantages of cross platform mobile development make it an enticing choice for companies and developers aiming to maximize their efforts and investments. The core benefits driving adoption include:

Lower Costs

Cross platform development significantly reduces costs by avoiding the need for separate native iOS and Android teams and cutting duplication of efforts. Companies like Uber, eBay, and Salesforce have saved millions on development costs by building shared components once instead of reimplementing them natively on each platform. Testing costs are decreased substantially by validating apps on both platforms simultaneously, rather than performing QA separately for native iOS and Android versions.

Maintenance is also streamlined by consolidating bug fixes and feature updates into a single shared codebase. This prevents inconsistencies and extra work required to maintain feature parity across native apps. Overall, substantial savings are realized by preventing duplication across platforms.

Faster Time to Market

Developing natively on both platforms sequentially results in slower release timelines and delays from rebuilding each version. Cross platform tools enable simultaneous iOS and Android development within the same codebase. This means startups can launch MVP versions faster for validation and feedback.

Streamlining the development process also allows more frequent iterations and synchronized app updates across iOS and Android. New features can be added once and released quickly on both platforms, creating a competitive advantage. The consolidated codebase further enables rapid prototyping of new ideas across platforms. For example, Airbnb launched their mobile app on both iOS and Android at the same time using React Native.

Wider Audience Reach

Every app wants to reach the maximum number of potential users. By targeting just iOS or Android natively, companies miss out on billions of users on the other major platform. Cross platform mobile development allows apps to be released on both iOS and Android, immediately expanding the addressable audience.

Startups can gain platform flexibility to use what consumers want, not what they dictated during initial development. Avoiding the costs of rebuilding native apps also makes entering new mobile platforms or switching between them far easier. In summary, releasing cross platform apps brings the benefits of huge audience reach and reduced barriers to entry. Apps like Discord have leveraged this to reach over 100 million users across mobile platforms.

Considerations and Limitations

While cross platform mobile development offers big advantages, teams should also carefully consider a few limitations:

Performance

The most common concern is whether cross platform apps can match the smooth performance of native code. Since they add an abstraction layer, runtime speeds are often slower compared to native. Complex visuals and animations may lag or stutter due to the overhead.

Performance optimization and benchmark testing becomes necessary to achieve acceptable speeds. Some frameworks utilize ahead-of-time compilation or other techniques to reduce performance gaps compared to native apps. But in general, cross platform applications may require more performance tuning.

Platform Differences

Despite code reuse, some platform-specific capabilities still need custom native code. For example, accessing the camera or push notifications requires separate iOS and Android implementations using Swift or Java/Kotlin APIs.

Designing coherent UIs can be challenging when layout details vary between iOS and Android. Plus some frameworks offer iOS-first designs, requiring Android tweaks. Developers must remember that despite shared code, some platform-specific handling is still required.

Integration Challenges

One downside of cross platform tools is integrating with native APIs and SDKs can be tricky. Accessing native device features outside the framework requires additional custom code and platform knowledge. This fragmentation means developers need familiarity with native languages like Swift, Kotlin, and Objective-C to build custom modules.

Framework updates that change underlying native integrations can also break existing platform-specific code. While cross platform development simplifies much of the process, handling native integrations remains a challenge.

Top Cross Platform Frameworks

Skilled developers have built an impressive array of cross platform mobile development frameworks. Some top options include:

• React Native - Uses React web framework and JavaScript to build iOS and Android apps. Backed by active Facebook community. Built Instagram, Tesla, UberEats, and more.
• Flutter - Google's SDK uses Dart language but interfaces with native code. Provides excellent performance. Used by eBay, Alibaba, and BMW.
• Xamarin - Leverages C# codebase for fast development. Acquired by Microsoft. Powers apps like Slack and Storytel.
• Ionic - Focused on hybrid HTML/CSS/JavaScript apps. Offers extensive components. Used by Sworkit, Untappd, and Adobe XD.
• NativeScript - Open source framework for JavaScript/CSS/XML. Angular integration available. Used by Nike, Grocery IQ, and Cognizant.
• Appcelerator Titanium - Uses JavaScript and XML for quick cross platform development. Powers Ticketmaster and Yahoo Finance apps.

This list highlights the diversity of modern cross platform frameworks for building mobile apps. Each has strengths in certain areas, whether development speed, performance, code reuse, or ease of use.

Final Takeaways

The strategic value of reaching more users across platforms faster makes cross platform mobile development extremely appealing. For apps without advanced native needs, it can significantly accelerate development. Testing on real devices and performance tuning is still essential, however.

While weighing the limitations around UI design, integrations, and speed, many find the productivity boost outweighs the downsides. As React Native, Flutter, and other tools improve, they become viable for even more application types. Evaluate your requirements and available skills to choose the right framework for your needs.

Overall, cross platform mobile development opens exciting new possibilities in terms of audience reach, cost savings, and release agility. Businesses both large and small can benefit from targeting iOS and Android users simultaneously and efficiently. For startups especially, the flexibility unlocks critical advantages for growth and scalability.

If you're interested in exploring cross platform mobile development further, check out the many great options showcased on DevHunt. Their directory can help you evaluate frameworks like React Native and find innovative developer tools to build your next mobile app.