Cross-Platform App Development Vs. Native App Development
There are about 5.5 million apps available on both Appstore and Google Play with 3.3 million of these apps on Google Play Store and the remaining 2.2 million apps on Apple App Store, targeting close to 15 billion mobile phones worldwide expected to reach over 18 billion by the end of 2025.
If you want to build a mobile app, one of the most crucial decisions you’ll have to make is whether to go with native or cross-platform development. Choosing one over the other has long-term financial, time, and functionality repercussions.
We’ll look at both choices in this post and analyze the benefits and drawbacks of each.
What is Native App Development?
The phrase “native app development” refers to the development of a mobile app that is designed specifically for a single platform. The application was created using platform-specific programming languages and tools. For example, you can build native Android apps using Java or Kotlin — in tools such as Android Studio (Google’s android development software), Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, and build iOS apps using Swift or Objective-C using tools such as XCode.
Native apps are known for providing a superior user experience due to their fast performance. User experience is also enhanced as the visuals are tailored to the platform UX. However, because they must create native apps for two platforms at the same time, start-ups, entrepreneurs and companies are concerned about the high cost of native app development.
Pros of Native App Development
þ Broad Functionality: You’ll have access to all of the APIs and tools available on the platform you’re working on. There are no technical constraints on how programmers may use the new app.
þ Improved Store Support: Because it provides greater performance and speed, a native app is easier to distribute and typically ranks higher in the platform’s app store.
þ Enhanced Scalability: Because of the freedom in resource management and the variety of tools available, apps created for the native environment are also more scalable.
þ High Performance and User Friendly: High performance is achieved by direct contact between the code and the underlying resources. Furthermore, native apps offer a superior user experience that is consistent with the platform.
Cons of Native App Development
þ Time Consuming: The work done for one platform cannot be replicated for another, therefore native app development takes time. To work on the other version, a different team is required.
þ Costly: When you need to launch for both iOS and Android, building native apps might be expensive. It will need the deployment of two teams, each working on a distinct platform.
Native Mobile Applications Development tools & frameworks
Created by the tech giant Google in 2013, Android Studio, the official
Created by the tech giant Google in 2013, Android Studio, the official integrated development environment for all Android applications, always seems to the top of the list of preferred tools for developers.
Android Studio provides code editing, debugging, and testing tools all within an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. It is free to download and is supported not only by Google but also by a large and actively engaged community of Android developers.
Android Studio includes a lot of tools that help in android app development:
a) ADB (Android Debug Bridge): is a command-line tool or “bridge” of communication between Android devices and other computers that can be used during development and the overall debugging and QA process.
By connecting an Android device to the development PC and entering a series of terminal commands, a developer can make modifications as needed to both devices.
b) Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager: This is an emulator that will run your Android app on your computer so that you have a better inside into what your code looks like. It’s great for actually seeing the work you’ve done and making any adjustments as needed. This allows developers the ability to work with all types of Android devices to test responsiveness and performance on different versions, screen sizes, and resolutions.
c) Gradle: Back in 2013, Google endorsed Gradle as a build system for Android apps. Based on Apache Maven and Apache Ant, Gradle is one of the most popular development tools for creating large-scale applications involving Java.
Developers like using Gradle in conjunction with Android Studio because it’s very easy to add external libraries using a single line of code.
2. Eclipse
Before Android Studio came around, Eclipse was the main tool for Android development. As of right now, Google doesn’t support this software but some developers still use it to build Android apps as well as other apps. Eclipse is still a pretty useful tool, especially for developing cross-platform applications, and it supports a variety of programming languages.
3. Fabric
Fabric is the platform on which Twitter’s mobile app is built. It allows developers to create better mobile apps by giving them a collection of “kits” from which to choose. Everything from beta-testing to marketing and promotion tools is included in these kits.
Google purchased Fabric from Twitter in January of 2017. Uber, Spotify, Square, Groupon, Yelp, and more big-name companies have utilized Fabric in developing their mobile applications.
4. Flow Up
When working on any web or mobile project, performance is always key. FlowUp is a perfect tool for developers to check the performance of their Android app or any of their production apps. It’s a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution that you can use based on a monthly subscription. The system shows you a nice, organized dashboard of all the key stats and metrics for your application including CPU, and disk usage, memory usage, frames per second, bandwidth, and more.
5. GameMaker: Studio
GameMaker: Studio is a great option for people coding their first Android game. If you’re just starting with Java and Android and want to learn how to create a game, this is the perfect option. The platform provides you with everything you need to create a 2D game with very little programming and code. It is an extremely user-friendly application with a simple drag-and-drop interface that makes it very easy for beginner developers to start their Android development journey.
6. Genymotion
Besides AVD Manager, which comes with Android Studio, Genymotion is another great alternative emulator that lets you view more than 3000 different device scenarios so that you can test your app in many different environments.
Genymotion is popular among gaming developers because it comes with pre-installed standard Android images and graphics that are quite useful in the testing process. It also provides greater speed than testing an app on an actual Android device.
Genymotion is a cross-platform development tool and supports many different programming languages and environments besides Android and Java.
7. IntelliJ IDEA
From the developers at JetBrains, IntelliJ IDEA is designed for ultimate programmer productivity. It’s extremely fast and features a full suite of development tools right out of the box.
At $149 per year, IntelliJ IDEA certainly isn’t cheap. However, there is a free, open-source community edition available and the full extended version is free to students for one year.
8. Instabug
Instabug is used by some of the most recognizable names in the tech world, including Yahoo, PayPal, Lyft, BuzzFeed, and Mashable for beta testing and bug reporting. Instabug allows developers and mainly beta testers and user groups to share screenshots and detailed error logs with developers during the QA and debugging process.
You can sign up for a free trial of Instabug and after the free trial ends there is a custom-priced based on the number of team members, apps, and overall length of the project engagement.
9. Visual Studio with Xamarin
Visual Studio is Microsoft’s official integrated development environment and is a free tool for developers to use. It supports several different programming languages and when combined with Xamarin — a free and open-source mobile app platform for building native and high-performance apps for almost all platforms, like iOS, Android, tvOS, watchOS, macOS, and Windows apps in C#.
10. Unity 3D and Unreal Engine
Both Unity 3D and Unreal Engine are used to create cross-platform mobile games.
Unity 3D is a cross-platform game development environment used for creating complicated, graphics-intensive mobile games such as those containing virtual or augmented reality.
Unreal Engine another advanced gaming development platform is a free, open-source, cross-platform solution for creating high-level interactive games.
Unreal Engine is popular among game designers because it features the Blueprint system that limits the need for a lot of coding. Designers with minimal development or coding experience can utilize Unreal Engine to create their own advanced gaming experiences.
11. XCode
This tool was released by Apple to help developers create Swift applications. When it comes to developing apps for the Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, iOS app developers choose XCode. It’s one of the most powerful and dependable solutions on the market for ensuring consistency and speed in app development.
12. AppCode
JetBrains has released AppCode, an advanced tool. It’s compatible with different programming languages, including as Swift, Objective-C, C++, and JavaScript, which are supported by the tool. This tool may be used by iOS app developers to create apps for all Apple platforms.
The main advantage of utilizing AppCode is that it makes code development and code analysis simple and painless. The IDE and Editor tool displays various coding problems and allows developers to take corrective action as soon as possible.
13. RxSwift
When it comes to asynchronous programming, iOS developers strongly endorse this tool. RxSwift is a large package that allows programmers to create dynamic iOS apps that interact with data, respond quickly to input, and respond to future user actions.
What is Cross-Platform Development?
The phrase “cross-platform app development” refers to the development of a mobile app that is designed for several platforms. There are a lot of tools to develop cross-platform apps, such as React Native, Xamarin, and Flutter, where the apps created can be deployed on both Android and iOS.
While cross-platform development saves time and money, it comes at the expense of quality. It’s tough to create an app that works optimally on several platforms, and the program will require an additional abstraction layer to execute, resulting in inferior performance.
Cross-platform programming will appeal to startups since it saves time and money. However, you should keep in mind that customizing the program outside the framework’s limitations may be more challenging.
Pros of Cross-Platform App Development
þ Less Costly: To develop a cross-platform application, you’ll just need one team of developers instead of two. As a result, you’ll save money on development.
þ Single Code Base: As the app is created with a single cross-platform development tool, only one code base is created.
þ Faster Development: To design an app that operates on various platforms, only one development cycle is required.
Cons of Cross-Platform App Development
þ Slower Performing App: The cross-platform software is slower than its native equivalent due to the necessity for an additional abstraction layer and rendering process.
þ Limited Functionality: Developers may find it challenging to access smartphone features such as the microphone, camera, and geolocation in the same way that a native app can.
þ Limited User Experience: Native user interface components are not available in cross-platform programs. As a result, it won’t be able to provide the same UX that users have come to expect from the platform.
What to consider When choosing An approach to Build Mobile Apps?
Application’s Complexity
Cross-platform development is a fantastic choice if you’re designing an app that just displays information retrieved from the internet. But you should choose native development if your application requires a lot of processing or access to low-level APIs.
Cost
Native development delivers high-performance programs, but it might be expensive to develop. Cross-platform development is the best option if you have a restricted budget to work with. You’ll save 30% to 40% since you’ll just have to write one codebase for an app that runs on both Android and iOS.
Development Time
In some cases, you’ll want to get an MVP app up and running as quickly as possible. This is where cross-platform development comes into play. You are not required to work.
UI/UX
Native development is the way to go if you want amazing visuals and an immersive experience. When working in a native environment, developers have access to UI/UX components. The UI/UX of the app will be severely limited if you choose cross-platform.
Cross-Platform Mobile Applications Development tools & frameworks
There are several great Cross-Platform mobile and web app development frameworks available that may help in the building of innovative and cutting-edge apps.
The position of the tools or platforms listed below does not necessarily reflect the popularity of the app in that order.
Let’s talk about the five most popular cross-platform app development frameworks.
- React Native
Facebook launched React Native in 2015. React Native allows developers to create hybrid native/cross-platform apps. Developers love React Native for its speed and lightness. React creates apps that work on Android, IOS, and UWP.
Pros of React Native
· Instant previews allow for fast development times
· Hot Reloading shows changes much faster than in native app development
· Focus on UI makes interfaces created in React responsive
· Allows apps to use native features like the camera
Cons of React Native
· Not fully cross-platform, rather React Native is a hybrid solution
· No consistent release schedules
· Takes longer to debug, especially for Android devices
2. Flutter
Google created Flutter as a cross-platform framework and its first release by Google was in May 2017, Flutter is the youngest and most popular cross-platform app development framework available today. It is a free and open-source framework and is an excellent choice for building mobile apps for both iOS and Android.
Flutter has many great features. Some of these include seamless animation, SDK (Software Development Kit), and a flexible UI. Flutter supports native device features like camera, location services, and hard drive access.
Flutter uses the Dart programming language.
Pros of Flutter
· Robust creative designs
· Supports stock platform app development
Cons of Flutter
· Apps tend to be heavy
· Dart is not a very popular programming language
· New tool, does not have a large user base
3. Xamarin
Xamarin was launched in 2011 as an independent cross-platform application development framework. But later, Microsoft acquired it, making it more for enterprises.
Xamarin works across platforms with C# and .NET languages. Xamarin began as an open-source project. Xamarin aimed to solve the problem of disjointed and confusing native app development processes.
Pros of Xamarin
· Uses C#, so it integrates well with Visual Studio
· Strong user base
· Single tech stack that both developers and enterprises love
Cons of Xamarin
· Not great for graphics-heavy app development
· Limited libraries
· Expensive for enterprise users, but free for individuals and startups
4. Adobe PhoneGap
PhoneGap is an open-source framework, which was first developed in 2005 by Nitobi Software. In 2011, Adobe purchased PhoneGap. Now, PhoneGap is known as Cordova and offers cloud-based solutions to craft mobile applications directly on the platform.
Adobe Phone Gap creates hybrid apps using HTML 5, CSS, C#, C++, and JavaScript. Adobe Phone Gap has a robust back-end. Adobe Phone Gap gives developers security and flexibility.
Pros of Adobe PhoneGap
· Open-source
· Secure
· Flexible
· Native function support
Cons of Adobe PhoneGap
· Not great for hardware-intensive apps
· Coding for iOS must be done on a Macintosh
· Outdated plugins
5. Ionic
Ionic framework is a leading open-source UI toolkit that empowers developers to build high-performance mobile apps, desktop apps, and PWAs — progressive web apps.
The framework allows the use of web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is based on AngularJS.
Pros of Ionic
· Developer-focused
· Tools have native app capabilities
· Large community of developers uses Ionic
Cons of Ionic
· Unstable plugins can conflict with each other
· Debugging a challenge because of unclear error messages
6. Sencha
Enterprise users love Sencha for creating apps. Sencha creates apps for iOS, Android, and even Blackberry operating systems. Sencha uses an HTML 5-based framework to create mobile applications.
Pros of Sencha
· Customizable UI
· Large component library
· User’s robust data management and security processes
· Uses hardware acceleration to speed up performance
Cons of Sencha
· Cannot access the camera
· No push notifications are possible
· Doesn’t process heavy graphical elements well
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Thank you for reading, I hope this guide helps. Happy Coding👋🏾.
