Cross Platform App Development Tools That Ruled 2019

Cross platform App Development

Mobile app development is no longer a simple task!! To reach out to a global user base of 8.98 billion mobile users, companies need to design apps that serve most of them, if not each of them. This gave rise to the increasing demand for cross-platform app development services as the world of mobile users is primarily divided into Android users and iOS lovers.

Categorically speaking, Google’s Android dominates the global mobile market with 75.55% users, while iOS has a 22.4% user base. There is a loyal fan base of iOS with 54.74% users, and Android falls second in position with 44.89% users in the USA. As far as developers are concerned, the iPhone app development service offers a bigger money-making deal, but no one can neglect the power of Android when they want to make their app reach a larger user base.

Making an app for a single platform is time-consuming and expensive while developing it once. Using it on multiple platforms creates a win-win situation for mobile application developers and users. It saves time and proves cost-effective, making it the in-demand thing in the world of mobile app development.

According to statistics, the number of apps on the Apple store will surpass 5 million by 2020, while those on Android number to 2.6 million by the end of 2018. This gigantic figure shows the importance of both platforms individually. However, it also suggests the importance of apps that can run on both platforms as companies cannot miss out on the crowd that uses any of the two platforms. Therefore, cross-platform development is essential for all businesses.

Advantages of cross-platform app development:

Write once, use many times.

The idea of code reusability makes hybrid apps the go-to thing in the mobile app world. It reduces the coding effort to half while still performing that is competitive to native apps.

Cost-effective solution

Code reusability makes way for a reduced budget when compared to native app development. The money spent on mobile app developers and infrastructure reduces by almost half.

UI remains consistent

Developers can rest assured about the look and feel of the app as it remains almost the same on both platforms. Therefore, they don’t need to hire mobile app design agency separately for each platform.

Ease of cloud integration

Hybrid apps can easily leverage the cloud storage platform without any hassle. In addition, plug-ins can be added to ensure compatibility on all platforms.

Few technical glitches

Mobile app developers don’t need to learn a specific language. Instead, they can do with core technologies like HTML, JavaScript and CSS.

Quick marketing solution

Cross-platform apps are accessible to the market owing to the enormous demand. They reach out to a broader customer base without losing their competence.

Top five ranking Cross-platform app development frameworks of 2019

Xamarin

One of the most preferred hybrid app development frameworks, Xamarin was launched in 2011 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2016. This open-source platform uses C# for coding and is most successful in routing out the limitations of cross-platform development.

As per Datanyze, Xamarin occupies 31% of the US hybrid app development market in 2019 and is chosen by companies like The World Bank, Story and Olo, to name a few. It offers 40+ cross-platform layouts to make stunning looking mobile apps. Arguably, it can be the best platform to develop apps for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. Moreover, most of the code can be reused to make it the most preferred platform for mobile app solutions.

The flip side is that the libraries of this framework make the app bulky, which takes almost twice the time to download. In addition, it is not a free platform which pushes the development cost to the higher end.

React Native

This popular platform was launched by Facebook in 2015 and used JavaScript for coding. This makes it a favourite of developers, with 62% of them interested in choosing it. The reason for its popularity is that it can make faster apps by cutting down long development cycles. In addition, 90% of its code can be reused, making it an in-demand cross-platform app development framework.

It has carved a niche for itself as top companies like AirBnB, Bloomberg and UberEats put their bet on it for their apps in a short period. As per the reports of Datanyze, React Native has a 4.3% market share in the US and is considered highly competitive as a newcomer. The modular architecture makes it highly efficient for quick app development. The downside is that React Native is not updated regularly, making the developers do a lot of unnecessary rework. Moreover, the load time is more when compared to other platforms.

Flutter

Another new entrant, Flutter, ranks high in cross-platform app development with its open-source nature and free available status. Finally, Dart, which follows OOPs concepts, makes way for quick app design and development. The Google SDK cuts down development time by offering a single codebase for iOS and Android. In addition, the ‘Hot reloading’ feature makes the developer see the preview of the development within seconds, making it easy to edit and test without any delay.

It is ideal for designing good looking UI layouts with its design-centric widgets, futuristic APIs and techno-savvy development tools. It also offers a quick debugging facility with Dart language. Currently, Flutter is considered top-notch for minimum viable product development. It has a massive fan following with 68,000 stars on Github is preferred by top companies like Alibaba eCommerce, Hamilton Music etc.

The disadvantage of this framework is that it has a limited set of libraries, which may not offer all functionality. As a result, developers need to code for the functions that are not available in the library.

PhoneGap or Cordova

Another promising platform offered by Adobe, PhoneGap, uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Some of its best features are access to third-party tools, a massive set of plug-ins and the feature of showing previews while coding. This helps to keep a check on the changes made and minimizes development time. In addition, with PhoneGap, developers can share the app with their team, which can give feedback, which results in the development of a flawless app. PhoneGap occupies 22.29% of the app development market with all these benefits and is preferred over native frameworks.
PhoneGap does not support native functionality, which results in the slow performance of the app. In addition, it shows low compatibility for plug-ins with hooks. As per iDatalabs, PhoneGap occupies 22.29% of the mobile app development market and is a popular choice for cross-platform apps. 36.7% of developers choose it over other frameworks.

Ionic

This one uses CSS, HTML5, SaaS and JavaScript for app development. Due to reduced code as well as code reusability, it demands low maintenance and gives high performance. It has a wide range of customizable tools, gestures. JS features to create a competitive app. It can be easily integrated with Angular JS and offers quick prototyping. The development cost is much lower than that of native apps. It has thousands of apps to its credit and is climbing the ladders of popularity with great speed.

The drawback is that Ionic lacks the security parts making the app susceptible to threats. In addition, it is not effective when it comes to in-app navigation due to its complex UI router.

Conclusion

These are the top rated hybrid app development frameworks of 2019. Mobile app developers can use any of these depending on the user requirements, time frame and development cost. Each has its pros and cons to be considered before choosing any of them.

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