It is no secret that technology is currently at its peak in popularity and the use thereof endorsed by billions of people across the globe.
There are numerous mobile devices that users can choose from globally and with each different mobile device brand comes a unique operating platform, and this is the crucial reason for mobile app developers to invest their time and money in cross-platform mobile app development.
Cross-platform app development enables mobile apps to effectively operate on multiple mobile operating software platforms. There are numerous cross-platform app development frameworks that developers can choose from to create their mobile applications; however, it is crucial to use the most efficient framework in the development process.
At HotShots Labs we make use of flutter app development as the cross-platform development framework to create high-quality mobile apps for our clients to ensure effective cross-platform mobile app development.
We will now provide you with insider info on the cross-platform mobile app development process in the rest of this article.
- What Is Cross-Platform Mobile App Development? 2
- Native Versus Cross-Platform App Development 3
- The Benefits of Cross Platform Development 4
- What Is Flutter’s Role in Cross Platform Mobile App Development? 5
- Conclusion 5
1. What Is Cross-Platform Mobile App Development?
Simply put, cross-platform development is the process by which mobile application coding is written by developers in a specific way to enable these mobile apps to function on diverse operating platforms such as Android and iOS.
The development process for cross-platform mobile apps is quite distinct from native app development to boost multiple platform functionalities of applications throughout the globe.
There are countless benefits relating to the development and implementation of cross-platform mobile apps, and with the constant enhancement of modern-day technology cross-platform development will be the way to go if you want your app to reach as many users as possible.
2. Native Versus Cross-Platform App Development
Native app development refers to developing code for mobile applications that is specific to operating on one operating software platform. This is the opposite of cross-platform app development which is developed to operate on multiple operating systems.
Both native and cross-platform apps have their benefits and choosing the right platform for your app development process will depend greatly on the vision you have for your mobile app and the functionality you envision for the app.
Native App Development:
- Uses: Native apps are used for specific operating software platforms
- Performance: Native apps perform exceedingly good because it is designed specifically for the chosen platform
- Cost: Native apps can be quite expensive to develop because raw coding and a lot of time is required in the development process
- Development Time: This can be a laborious development process because the code needs to be specific to an operating system of choice, and it, therefore, takes much longer to develop a native app than to develop a cross-platform app.
Cross-Platform App Development:
- Uses: Cross-platform apps are used for various operating software platforms
- Performance: Cross-platform apps performs slightly less than native apps because it designed to operate on various platforms and some features might not be as specific to the platform as native app features
- Cost: Cross-platform apps are much cheaper to develop than native apps and this is a big benefit for app developers to take into consideration
- Development Time: Native apps require hard-core coding developed from scratch whereas cross-platform apps can be developed using a cross-platform framework such as Flutter where most of the code is already designed for simplified development.
This saves a lot of time when it comes to app development and cross-platform apps, therefore, takes much less time to develop than native apps.
3. The Benefits of Cross Platform Development
There are numerous benefits when it comes to cross-platform mobile app development, and some of these include:
- Profitable
Because of the cost saving factor associated with cross-platform app development, it makes for increased profitability.
- Decreased Technical Obstacles
Cross-platform development tools and frameworks are used to develop these mobile apps reducing technical obstacles usually associated with native app development.
- Cloud Integration
Various plug-ins and extensions can be used in cross-platform apps which boosts the effectiveness and use of cloud integration.
- Code Reusability
The code for cross-platform development does not have to be recorded for each app, the codes are designed specifically to be compatible each time and makes for simplified re-use of the code.
- Enhance Marketing Time
The cross-platform app development process speed is increased which leaves ample time for marketing and implementation of the cross-platform app.
4. What Is Flutter’s Role in Cross Platform Mobile App Development?
Flutter is the most used open-source cross-platform development framework across the globe. Flutters’ popularity has increased greatly over the past three years according to stats and is a great cross-platform development tool to make use of.
Flutter app development simplifies cross-platform app development because of its integration and customization features used by various developers across the world.
Where native apps require newly developed code, Flutter provides the necessary code for use in cross-platform mobile app development. Flutter improves development timeframes and assists to build cost-effective cross-platform apps.
If you are looking to develop an effective cross-platform application, Flutter is the way to go.
5. Conclusion
While Native apps have their own set of benefits and uses, cross-platform apps seem to repeatedly make their way through to the app development sector. This is because of the major benefits that come with the cross-platform app development process as discussed above.
Beyond the major benefits associated with cross-platform apps there is also the need for apps to function across multiple platforms. According to stats from 2021 it is clear that there is a rise in the use of diverse platforms across the globe and if apps are developed to function with only one of these operating systems it will surely mean that the millions of users making use of other operating systems will not have access to these apps if developed for one operating system only.
Taking all of the above into consideration it just makes sense that you use the cross-platform mobile app development process to develop your mobile app to reach as many users as possible. Reach out to us to get your cross-platform app development process starting.
