Mobile applications are being used all over the world. Mobile App Development has become essential for every organization whether it is a startup or a big corporate. Some organizations make a mistake by only focusing on one operating system and not multiple. It is important for every business to focus on multiple operating systems.
Rather than working on a single device, it is important that an App to be working on all android devices and Apple devices like iPad, apple watch Amazon Kindle, Blackberry, etc.
Being a business owner, you must deal with different types of customers, and these customers possess different types of devices. It is necessary that your mobile app works on all types of devices seamlessly on all the platforms.
What is a cross-platform app?
In Mobile App Development, an app that works on multiple operating systems with a single code base is known as a cross platform app. There are two types of cross-platform apps:
- 1.Native Cross-Platform App
- 2.Hybrid ‘HTML5’ Cross-Platform App
Native Cross-Platform App
Every mobile operating system comes with its own SDK (Software Development Kit) which helps you create mobile apps. These SDKs use a selected programming language which is accepted by the OS vendor. For example, the iOS operating system prefers Objective-C & Swift programming languages which are supported by Apple. When it comes to Android, developers use Java programming language which is supported by Google. Apps that are specifically developed to be used on a specific platform or a device are known as native apps. Apps that are made using APIs (Application Programming Interface) provided by native SDKs with programming languages that are not supported by the OS vendor are known as “cross-platform” native apps. A unified API is created using a programming language that is selected by a third party vendor and is placed on the top of the native SDKs provided by the individual OS vendors. With unified API’s, it is possible to support multiple operating systems with a single code base. The creation of a native application bundle for Android and iOS using a single cross-platform codebase is handled by IDE (Integrated Development Environment) which is provided by the third-party vendor. Cross-platform native apps can achieve native performance without any visible lag.
Hybrid ‘HTML5’ cross-platform Apps
Mobile applications are nothing but GUI applications. These mobile applications depend on backend web services for their business logic. In mobile app development for business process automation, 60% of the code goes into the creation and management of the GUI. With the help of WebView, developers can use standard HTML5 web technologies to design and program applications. In the end, the final application is composed of at least a native frame with HTML/JavaScript executed in a WebView, this is the reason they are called “hybrid”. Some applications require sensor input like camera, geolocation & lower-level functions like access to the file system, these actions can be performed using JavaScript-to-native Bridge provided by the hybrid application framework.
Pros of Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
Whether it is your first app or fifth, Maple Software’s expertise in cross platform mobile app development will help your business streamline operations & bring value to the demanding modern customers. Here are some of the advantages of having a cross platform app.
- 1.Code Reusability
Rather than writing new code for every platform, you can reuse the same code across all the platforms. Cross-Platform Mobile App Development eliminates repetitive tasks thus decreasing the hard work. This method is commonly used in software development as it has many benefits.
- 2.Cost Cutting
With the help of cross-platform mobile app development, companies can invest only once to get their app developed. In earlier times, companies had to spend a lot on various tools and technologies. Now with a cross-platform app, you no longer need to spend on developing apps for every individual platform which eventually cuts the cost. This is also an advantage for app developers as they can be used for working on diverse platforms.
- 3.Faster development time
When a single script is used, app development will be much faster. An increase in the development speed results in helping the product to reach the market sooner and also gives time to build a brand new application. This is beneficial for both developers, marketers, and users.
- 4.Easier Implementation
There are several skilled companies like Maple Software which are offering cross-platform solutions for all kinds of solutions. With cross-platform apps, developers can now make changes easily, for example, codes can easily be written in HTML5 and can be converted for different platforms. Utilization of resources will be improved and the development of apps for different platforms will be quicker and makes it easier to sync updates across all devices.
- 5.Consistency
Since the code being utilized is the same, cross-platform mobile app development ensures the look of the app to be the same on all platforms. Customers find an app confusing & ineffective if they use different methods to use the same app across different mobile platforms. It is very important that an app has the same look and feel on every device that it is installed on.
Cross-platform Mobile App Development has, for quite some time, been the sacred goal of structured programming.
Most of the cross-platform app development tools guarantee you of assembling your codebase once, and after that, you could run the application on just any platform.
The objective is to educate you about the diverse accessible alternatives for cross-stage application advancement in 2019.
Adobe PhoneGapPhoneGap, presently claimed by Adobe, is a cross-platform app development tool that depends on web development to make applications for both Android and iOS.
A Framework that helps the developers to build mobile applications that are capable of working well on just more than a mobile platform and hence we call it - Cross-Platform Framework.The platforms that we are talking about are iOS and Android.
Cross-platform frameworks are in demand and the reason behind these is that the developers need to write the code once and can use the same code anywhere on the other platforms.As we all know that the world is becoming smarter with the upgraded technologies and using smartphones so for developers it becomes a priority to create an app that supports several mobile platforms devices.If we talk about the market than there are many tools available in the market and today we will discuss some of these amazing tools that make the Cross-platform app development easier.Amazing Tools That Make The Cross-Platform App Development An Easy Task:Nowadays, for businesses who are looking to establish their presence on iOS and Android platform, the best choice is to establish with powerful Cross-Platform frameworks.XAMARIN:Earlier in 2011, an independent hybrid app development framework named ‘Xamarin’ was launched.In the year 2016, an independent framework is taken up by Microsoft and it becomes more believable and trustworthy in the market.Xamarian is an open-source framework that is aimed to build the gap between various native technologies.With these carry out the development faster by just making use of Xamarin plugins and NuGet package that offers access to native APIs.Recently, Xamarin got into partnership with IBM, Microsoft, and Xoriant and also offers interface development tools.Can be tested on a number of devices through cloud service.
Easily shareable code with Windows platforms and Mac OS.To build native app-like interfaces considered as one of the topmost competitive options.PHONE GAP:A framework that is used for cross-platform app development earlier known as Apache PhoneGap and later named as Adobe PhoneGap as it is owned by Adobe.PhoneGap allows the developers to take a look at the changes made to the code on the devices.
It also makes use of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.The main advantage of using PhoneGap is that it allows you to share the application with your team and you can collect the feedback from them.PhoneGap also offers some of the cloud solutions, these can be useful to build an application directly.PhoneGap is the first choice when it comes to building Hybrid apps.If developers are working with PhoneGap than they are not needed to worry about the hardware issues.PhoneGap can be used to build an app for all the major Operating System-OS out there and helps to add in more functionality by adding new plugins.APPCELERATOR: A cross-platform development tool that is utilized to develop, deploy and test the functionality of a mobile app known as Appcelerator.Appcelerator makes use of JavaScript as a universal code mechanism.
It also conveys that the same code can be used to create an app for different platforms like Android, Blackberry and iOS.For brisk development of an app with JavaScript experienced developer, the best choice is Appcelerator.Fundamental source code at any time is accessible to the user.
Also offers pre-built integration with salesforce, MongoDB, MS SQL, MS Azure, and Box.Titanium framework makes it cost-effective and cloud services to pack, examine and distribute.
Looking to develop Cross Platform Mobile Application for your business then hire today cross-platform mobile app developers or development team from AllianceTek.
Hire expert cross-platform app development team at an affordable price with complete solutions to make your dream application.
