Overview

Through an Android app or an iOS app, mobile app development services can assist entrepreneurs to address target audiences worldwide. However, such native apps take more time to develop and remain costly especially for startups and SMBs. Here, evolving technology comes to a rescue with cross-platform app development frameworks. In this post, we will discuss the top cross-platform mobile app development framework and compare them to enable you to make the right choice.

Cross-platform development approach is gaining ground swiftly across the world. The following graph based on Google trends show a steady rise in interest for cross-platform app development. Still, many entrepreneurs have little to no idea about this concept. Cross-platform app development is a process to build a customized app that can run on both Android and iOS platforms smoothly. This process involves a single code for developing an app for Android OS and iOS.

Let’s go through the importance of cross-platform app development framework.

Importance of Cross-platform App Development Frameworks

The right cross-platform app development framework can offer several benefits to the organization. Firstly, it directly impacts the performance of the app across different devices and platforms. A robust cross-platform framework can ensure smooth functionality, optimized speed, and seamless user experience.

Moreover, a powerful framework with extensive built-in functionalities and third-party plugins can significantly reduce development efforts, reduces the time-to-market and overall expenses. Mobile app development companies can get the benefits like community support, documentation quality, and platform updates, for  improving app maintenance and scalability.

In a way, a cross-platform app development framework is important for achieving optimal performance, cost-effectiveness, and future-proofing in the competitive market of tailored apps. Let’s go through the top frameworks for developing customized cross-platform apps.

Best Frameworks for Building Cross-platform Applications

As per the global developer survey in 2022, Flutter was the most popular cross-platform mobile framework that as many as 46 percent of softaware developers uses. The survey has also revealed that approximately one-third of mobile developers use cross-platform framewokrs and the rest use native tools.

Let’s go through the top frameworks that can take cross-platform application development services to new heights-

1. Ionic

It is one of the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks. Based on AngularJS, this framework enables app developers to use a combination of HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and other top programming languges. Ionic facilitates developers to create highly creative user interfaces for user-friendly and feature-rich apps. Apart from developing cross-platform apps, Ionic is useful for developing PWA (Progressive Web Application) as well.

2. Flutter

Introduced and maintained by Google, Flutter has gained popularity since its release in 2017. As a reliable and rich SDK (Software Development Kit), Flutter is capable of developing Android and iOS applications. Moreover, it is a preferred and primary framework to build Google Fuschia apps. Flutter framework is capable of building apps that can easily run on multiple platfroms with dynamicity. It is one of the most ideal adnd future-ready pltform.

3. React Native

We cannot skip React Native, a Facebook-backed development framework when considering the top frameworks to build cross-platform apps. With over 57 precent StackOverflow voices and more than 9k Github competitots,  React Native has gained popularity swiftly. This frameworks offers the key benefits of JavaScript and React JS App developers can write modules in Objective-C, Swift or Java using this freamework and this framework offers several code editors for app modification.

4. Kotlin Multiplatform

This open-source technology enables mobile app developers to share code across different platforms while offering the benefits of native development. Developers can reuse as much code as they want and write native code. Moreover, companies can hire mobile app developers to write native code for their business apps and integrate the shared Kotlin code into any app project. Some of the noteworthy mobile apps based on Kotline Multiplatform (KMP) are McDonald’s, Netflix, etc.

5. Node.js

Though Node.js is a JavaScript runtime framework that acts as an open-source environment for developing scalable networking apps. Cross-platform apps based on Node.js are highly efficient and responsive in nature. Node.js is capable of handling several connections together and offers a rich library of numerous JS modules to developers. This library is uesful in developing customized web applications in a simple way.

6. Xamarin

It is a bit different framework as it does not use JS libraries and HTML like other platforms. Instead, Xamarin uses C# and .NET for developing apps for Android, iOS, and Windows. As a streamlined framework, Xamarin enables the app developers to use as many as 90 percent of the code to build an app. It delivers applications that have a nativelike look and feel with the help of APIs. Xamarin is one of the preferred option for developing a business app with excellent functionality.

Other popular frameworks are PhoneGap, Sencha Touch, and Appcelerator Titanium that are useful in building cross-platform apps.

Comparison of Frameworks

Our detailed comparison of frameworks includes pros and cons of top frameworks. However, it is advisable to get more information about these frameworks from a reputed mobile app development company. Let’s go through a detailed comparison of advantages and disadvantages of frameworks.

1. Ionic

Programming Language

JavaScript

Capabilities

• Comprehensive toolkit with a rich set of UI components
• Builds apps that closely resemble native applications
• Every UI element is reusable and customizable component
• Offers lazy loading and AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation

Limitations

• Cordova is not proper option for new app development projects
• Experiences a quick decline in the number of Ionic developers

App Examples

T-Mobile, BBC (Educational and Children’s apps)

2. Flutter

Programming Language

Dart

Capabilities

• Comprehensive set of well-documented hardware APIs
• Offers a rich set of native components
• AOT in deployment and JIT in development make Flutter apps high-performing
• Dart is a simple language to learn compared to other programming languages

Limitations

• Flutter apps are often larger in size compared to the same using other frameworks
• Flutter has a thriving but relatively smaller community than other frameworks

App Examples

Alibaba, eBay, Google Pay

3. React Native

Programming Language

JavaScript

Capabilities

• Enables developers to create dynamic UIs
• Its native rendering engine can give apps a native look and feel
• Relies on native components for ensuring consistent user experience
• Its active community of developers can offer tools and other resources

Limitations

• It offers weaker UI performance as compared to Flutter
• It is still in beta version and therefore, frequent changes are common

App Examples

MS Office, Skype, Meta’s Facebook, Oculus

4. Kotlin Multiplatform

Programming Language

Kotlin

Capabilities

• Google’s endorsement and extensive support
• Offers active utilization within Android libraries
• Native UI enables developers to make platform-specific UI implementations
• KMP offers complete accessibility to Kotlin language

Limitations

• Its setting can be complicated as it needs consideration of various aspects
• Developers have to write platform-specific UI code sepearately

App Examples

Google (for Android and iOS), Netflix

5. Node.js

Programming Language

JavaScript

Capabilities

• It can handle several concurrent connections together
• It has a rich library of many JavaScript modules
• It uses a single-threaded model to deliver smoothly performing apps
• It makes apps that reduce reaction time for slow requiests

Limitations

• Not suitable for making apps that involve CPU-Intensive Tasks
• Asynchronous programming and some immature modules can create issues

App Examples

LinkedIn, GoDaddy, Groupon

6. Xamarin

Programming Language

C#

Capabilities

• Works on a single technology stack for quicker development
• Its apps are close to native performance with nativelike UI
• Its apps are simple to maintain and update
• Offers complete development and support environment

Limitations

• Limited access to various open-source libraries
• Not suitable for developing apps with rich UI/UX

App Examples

Insightly, APX, Captio, Alaska Airlines

This list of advantages and disadvantages with examples will assist you to find the most suitable framework for your upcoming cross-platform app project.

Key Benefits of Cross- Platform App Development Frameworks

Companies can hire mobile app developers to get the benefits of tailored cross-platform apps. Some of these benefits are-

One of the most prominent benefits of cross-platform apps is cost-effectiveness. Here, developers can write code once and deploy it across platforms like iOS  and Android simultaneously. It enables the mobile app development company to get rid of allocating resources for each platform. It results in lower development costs and faster time-to-market.

Second benefit is cross-platform apps provide companies with a broader market reach. Businesses can reach a larger audience of users on different devices by targeting multiple platforms with a single codebase. It certainly increase their app’s visibility and potential user base. It also ensures a consistent user experience across platforms, which is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction.

Another key benefit is streamlined maintenance and updates. Since cross-platform apps share a common codebase, it is easy to update, fix bugs, and implement new features simultaneously. This reduces maintenance efforts and allows app developers to respond quickly to user feedback and market changes.

Finally, cross-platform development promotes faster deployment. It is easy for developers to deploy the cross-platform app to multiple app stores at once. It can save time and effort of developers. This quick deployment is beneficial for businesses looking to reduce a TTM for their apps, gaining a competitive edge.