Cross platform mobile development unlocks major benefits
Introduction
Developing native mobile apps tailored specifically for each operating system like iOS and Android has been the traditional approach. But this comes with steep costs of hiring specialized native teams and constantly rewriting the app's codebase across different languages. Cross platform mobile development has emerged as an innovative solution that allows code reuse across iOS, Android, and other platforms.
Powered by frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin, cross platform development helps tackle the key pain points of fragmented native workflows - reducing costs, accelerating releases, and simplifying maintenance. In this post, we'll explore the major benefits of cross platform mobile development in depth.
Reduced Development Costs
The most immediate benefit of cross platform development is significantly lower costs compared to native app development. Building the same mobile app natively for both iOS and Android essentially doubles the development effort and budget required. Cross platform tools slash costs through code reuse and consolidated teams.
Code Reuse Saves Time
With React Native, the business logic only needs to be written once in JavaScript instead of rebuilt from scratch in Swift for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android. This avoids the context switching and duplicated effort of coding in multiple native languages. Sophisticated features like chat, analytics, and payments can be developed once and deployed across platforms.
For example, a fully native mobile chat feature would need to be built separately for iOS and Android. With React Native, the chat UI and logic can be reused, preventing weeks of redundant work.
Consolidated Teams Reduce Headcount
Cross platform development allows the same team to build apps for both iOS and Android users. Top companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Walmart have leveraged this to reduce specialized native teams and streamline workflows under consolidated mobile teams.
For instance, Walmart previously required over 20 engineers across their iOS, Android, and web teams to add new features. By switching to React Native, they were able to scale down to just 8 engineers that could work across all platforms.
Faster Time to Market
Cross platform apps ship new features and updates simultaneously on iOS, Android, and other platforms. There's no more staggered iOS and Android release cycles.
Unified Releases
Popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Discord leverage React Native to ship updates concurrently on iOS and Android. New features roll out to their entire combined user base at once, unlocking faster feedback loops.
Streamlined Feedback
With a cross platform codebase, user data can be aggregated from across iOS and Android to identify the most desired features and pain points. Product teams can use this unified feedback to prioritize capabilities that delight everyone, not just one platform's users.
Simpler Maintenance
Cross platform mobile apps have major long-term maintenance advantages over native apps. Updates propagate everywhere at once instead of managing separate codebases.
According to Expo, React Native apps see a 70% reduction in maintenance overhead compared to native apps. Critical bug fixes can be live in hours, not days.
Unified Codebase
The entire codebase exists in a single React Native repository instead of fragmented across native iOS and Android projects. Code changes compile to both platforms without any extra work integrating platform SDKs.
Simultaneous Updates
Fixes and improvements can be pushed to iOS and Android simultaneously with a cross platform app. No more waiting for app store approvals. User pain points can be resolved consistently across platforms.
Conclusion
Cross platform mobile development with React Native and other frameworks unlocks huge productivity gains through code reuse, faster iterations, and simplified maintenance. As mobile apps become increasingly complex, cross platform development represents the optimal strategy for most companies over fragmented native approaches. Check out React Native on DevHunt to unlock cross platform benefits for your next mobile project.