Cross Platform Mobile Application Development

In today’s mobile-driven world, businesses must cater to both iOS and Android users to reach a broad
audience. Cross-platform mobile application development has emerged as a powerful solution to
this challenge, enabling developers to create apps that work seamlessly across multiple platforms
using a single codebase. This approach not only saves time and resources but also ensures consistent
user experiences across devices.
With the rise of efficient frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin, cross-platform
development is becoming increasingly popular for businesses looking to expand their reach without
compromising on quality.
Overview
• The last few decades were completely for the evolution of technology in various fields, 90s
mobile phones were considered a luxury, but now they have turned to our basic need because
as the evolution of technology turned almost everything digital from managing payments to
taking doctor’s appointment, all you need today is a smartphone, and you can do everything
with ease. Apart from the growth of technology, even the pandemic itself shifted a lot of the
workforce on smartphones as everyone is going through online study and work from home,
smartphones are the key for communication.
• All these facts and figures are enough to prove the power and need of smartphones, so it’s not
about smartphones only, the main heroes of this blockbuster story are Mobile Applications.
• Today we have a mobile phone app for everything whether you want to order food or submit
assignments, apps are the core of smartphones so is mobile app development.
• Today smartphones either have an android operating system or iPhone Operating System,
Android is an open-source operating system for mobiles which have more than 80 percent
market share while IOS is an operating system for mobile, developed and owned by Apple
Inc. and have around 15 percent market share.
Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development
• Android and IOS are the two main operating system platforms for mobiles and application
development are different for both platforms as they are completely different operating
systems.
• Those developers who develop applications for the Android operating system are called
Android Developers. Those developers who develop applications for iPhone operating system
are called IOS Developers.
• Those developers who develop applications for the Windows operating systems are called
windows Developers. Due to this variation in an operating system, the problem of
compatibility arose for developers and this problem is sorted with the concept of Cross-
Platform Mobile Application Development or Hybrid Mobile Application Development.
• If you designed and developed an app for android then you have to again develop the same
app according to the IOS platform, this mess and extra effort are reduced with the help of
cross-platform development.
• The mobile application development where the developed application is compatible with
more than one operating system, this process is termed as the Cross-Platform Mobile
Application Development or Hybrid Mobile Application Development.
 • The main languages for android application development are Java and Kotlin, while swift is
the main language for iPhone application development. You need to know the advantages of
cross-platform development and how it increases the efficiency and productivity of app
development.
The Need for Cross-Platform Mobile Development
With Android and iOS being the two primary operating systems for mobile devices, developers are
often required to create separate apps for each platform. This can be time-consuming and costly.
Cross-platform mobile development addresses this challenge by allowing developers to create a single
app that works seamlessly on multiple platforms. This approach saves time and resources, making it
easier for businesses to reach a broader audience without compromising on quality or user experience.
As mobile usage continues to grow, the demand for cross-platform solutions will only increase. This
emphasizes cross-platform mobile development as a crucial strategy for modern app development.
Native vs. Cross-Platform Development
When it comes to mobile app development, businesses often face a crucial decision: Should they opt
for native development or cross-platform development?

Aspect Native Development Cross-Platform Development

Separate codebases for each Single codebase shared across multiple

Codebase
platform (iOS, Android) platforms

JavaScript (React Native), Dart

Development Swift, Objective-C (iOS), Java,
(Flutter), C# (Xamarin),
Languages Kotlin (Android)
HTML/CSS/JS (Ionic)

Generally good performance, though

Optimal performance; fully
Performance slightly lower than native in some
utilizes platform-specific features
cases

Access to Native Full access to all native APIs and Limited access; may require platform-
Features device-specific features specific code or plugins

Development Longer development time due to Shorter development time; code can be
Time separate coding for each platform reused across platforms

Higher development cost due to Lower development cost; single

Cost
separate teams or extended time team/codebase for multiple platforms
Aspect Native Development Cross-Platform Development

User Experience Superior, as the app is tailored to Consistent, but may not fully match
(UX) each platform’s design guidelines platform-specific UX nuances

More complex; updates and fixes Easier maintenance; single codebase

Maintenance
must be applied to each codebase means updates apply to all platforms

Best for high-performance apps Ideal for apps that need to run on
Suitability requiring extensive native multiple platforms with shared
features features

Instagram (iOS, Android Facebook, Airbnb, Uber (initially used

Examples
separate) React Native for some features)

Popular Cross-Platform Development Frameworks

Several frameworks have emerged as leading options for cross-platform mobile app development.
• React Native: Developed by Facebook, React Native allows developers to use JavaScript and
React to build mobile apps. It offers near-native performance and a vast community of
developers, making it a popular choice for cross-platform development.
• Flutter: Created by Google, Flutter uses the Dart programming language and offers a rich set
of pre-designed widgets for building highly responsive apps. Flutter is known for its fast
development cycles and expressive UI designs, making it a favorite among developers.
• Xamarin: Xamarin, a Microsoft framework, enables app development with C# and .NET
technologies. It offers strong integration with Visual Studio and provides access to native
APIs, making it a solid choice for enterprise-level applications.
• Ionic: Ionic is an open-source framework that uses web technologies such as HTML, CSS,
and JavaScript to create cross-platform applications. It is well-suited for developers familiar
with web development and offers a large library of UI components.

Advantages of Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development

The main advantages of Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development are mentioned below as
follows.
1. Code Reusability- The code written once works for all the platforms, so you don’t have to
write different code for another platform. Just write the code once, and you are ready to go.
2. Production Cost- While developing the same app for different platforms, different
technologies are required which increases the overall production cost of the application, so
you just need a single technology to get your app completely developed in Cross-Platform
Mobile Application Development.
 3. Faster Development- As the lines of code are going to be reduced and the many processes
will be replaced by single-core process all this will result in more efficient and faster app
development.
4. Uniform Design- One of the best advantages of Cross-Platform Mobile Application
Development is that while developing the same app for different platforms, many times
developers have to compromise with some design or functionality because the same
component is not available for a different platform, this issue is resolved by Cross-Platform
Mobile Application Development and the app remains same for all the users from different
platforms.
5. Maintenance- As we have a single code base then you don’t have to maintain more than a
single code base which helps in maintaining code and debugging. This makes the entire
maintenance process smooth and easy.
Disadvantages of Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development
1. Features –While a new feature is introduced to IOS or Android it takes more than expected
time for the same feature to provide functionality for Cross-Platform Mobile Applications
because only those features which can be compatible with all platforms will be introduced.
2. Design –While Designing any Cross-Platform Mobile Application, the developer has to
consider exceptions to both the platforms which becomes a constraint for the developer’s
creativity and makes designing a difficult task.
3. Performance –Cross-Platform Mobile Applications possess less performance than native
apps because of integration issues many a time they need third party apps for providing
functionalities.
Future Aspect
The Community of Cross-Platform Developers is getting bigger and better day by day which means
the future of Hybrid Development is really very bright and if drawbacks of this technology will be
removed in the future then a huge shift from android development or iPhone development to Hybrid
Development will be observed. So we can finally conclude that, Cross-Platform Mobile Application
Development could be considered as the future of mobile app development because it is welcomed by
the community of developers and Hybrid is a creative and amazing field which every developer
should explore at least once and if you are new to development then Cross-Platform Mobile
Application Development is the best thing to start your development journey with.
Conclusion
As mobile usage continues to surge, cross-platform mobile application development offers a
strategic advantage for businesses aiming to deliver robust, cost-effective, and widely accessible apps.
By leveraging the right frameworks and tools, developers can overcome the challenges of platform
fragmentation and provide users with consistent and engaging experiences. Embracing cross-
platform development is a forward-thinking approach that meets the demands of modern app
development while optimizing time and resources.