Mobile application development has exploded with new trends and tools that are here to change the scenario of the entire industry. With each year, new trends and technologies take over the mobile development scenario.
Mobile apps and websites are at the forefront of the app landscape as mobile phones become devices of utility and luxury. Every person on the globe, even kids, is more likely to have mobile phones with them.
In such cases, app development companies are rightly focusing on mobile app development and promotion. Mobile app developers and their skills are in much demand in 2023.
One of the leading technologies that is used today is cross-platform app development. As more and more mobile devices and operating systems are becoming popular, the future of cross-platform mobile development will be brighter in the coming years.
The Trends of Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
Earlier, mobile app developers used to focus on native app development for specific mobile operating systems. Today, cross-platform mobile app development is on the rise with robust cross-platform development frameworks.
Cross-platform development frameworks like React, Xamarin, Flutter, etc., are leading the charge with Cross-platform mobile development possibilities. Before we go towards the future of cross-platform mobile development, let us understand the current factors and drivers of the mobile app development market in 2023.
The use of IOT capabilities and tools has allowed mobile developers to create apps that work tremendously well with smartphones.
On the other hand, there are other factors that are majorly affecting the mobile app development market. Smartphone penetration and the sheer number of people who are using smartphones is a major influence on cross-platform mobile development.
A cross-platform app development company has a wider audience and a large target group thanks to the large-scale smartphone penetration. The rise of mobile usage for various purposes and reasons is also a huge factor contributing to the adoption of cross-platform mobile app development in the present scenario.
Mobile usage around the world has skyrocketed manifold, with people even owning two or three mobile devices and tablets. There are today 6.8 billion mobile phone users in the world, and this number is only increasing in the coming years. This is a golden opportunity for cross-platform mobile app developers to gain more profits and launch more apps.
The higher use of social media networks and the rise of new social media apps, like Threads, is also a major driver of cross-platform app development.
A regular user would wish to use his favourite social media app on multiple platforms across devices. This is where cross-platform app development services step in to help companies and people.
By catering to an ever-increasing user base, cross-platform app development companies can increase their influence and revenue. The rise of e-commerce platforms in the previous few years and their continued usage has created a huge dependency of people on such convenience apps.
E-commerce apps are also highly developed on cross-platform development frameworks so that they are accessible to multiple audience segments.
Benefits of Cross-Platform App Development
According to the present statistics, more than one-third of mobile app development companies are relying on cross-platform app development frameworks. This reliability will only increase in the coming years.
With many different operating systems and types of mobile devices emerging, going for native development is only a one-dimensional decision.
To cover all bases of mobile app development, you have to hire the team of a cross-platform app development company. Native app development has become more time-consuming and effort-taking as compared to cross-platform app development. Besides, cross-platform app development creates more profitability scope for your company.
The judicious use of a good cross-platform app development framework can help you stay ahead of your competitors by developing apps for multiple platforms in the time and effort of developing an app for an individual platform.
There are many benefits of opting for cross-platform app development services that mobile app companies experience. The benefits of cross-platform app development are as follows:
1. The App Code and the Data Reusability
The use of cross-platform app development frameworks ensures that the app code is reusable and its code blocks can be reused in other development processes. The code reusability feature saves time and costs for the cross-platform app development company while improving profitability.
2. Reduces Upgrade and Modification Time
If your company has floated individual apps for multiple back ends, the updating and maintenance cycles for individual back ends consume time and resources.
When the development is done through cross-platform app development frameworks, the update and maintenance of all the apps across different platforms can be done through one single framework and resources are optimised.
The upgrades to all the app versions happen in one single go, which also saves time and effort for the development team.
3. Great UX and UI
The user experience design and interface are important components of the application developed. When the application is developed through cross-platform app development frameworks for multiple platforms, the UX design and the UI can be managed to be concurrent across different devices. The application becomes adaptable and useful to a larger audience.
The user experience is highly conserved and consistent for the user groups, which improves the reputation of the application. A larger number of people will be open to downloading the app, and there will be an increase in its popularity as well as revenue turnover.
Now that we know the benefits of adopting cross-platform mobile app development technologies, let us know about the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks of 2023.
The Best Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks Of 2023
1. Flutter
The Flutter SDK suite is a major cross-platform app development framework that is used by mobile app developers. Flutter is a very recent development in cross-platform app development services, and it is very reliable.
Its backing by Google and other tech giants also increases its credibility in the mobile development field. The SDK is very easy to use and has multiple capabilities.
The cross-platform development framework is useful in developing apps for IOS, Android, Windows, Linux and other operating systems.
The multi-platform framework allows the developers to create native-like performance for cross-platform apps. Today, there are more than 40000 apps that have been developed by Flutter SDK, and this number continues to grow.
2. React Native
React Native is an older framework compared with Flutter SDK, but it is also one of the most reliable frameworks in use today. The app development framework was floated by Meta in 2015, and it supports popular apps like Facebook and Instagram today.
At first, React Native was only focused on native app development, but seeing the trends of the time, it opened up cross-development app capabilities.
The React native framework is today used to create mobile apps for iOS and Android as well as for the development of web apps. The versatility and reliability of the React Native framework are what make the framework very popular for developers. The framework has multiple capabilities like codebase sharing, reusability of components, designing the UI UX of an app, etc.
The use of React Native saves the team a lot of time and effort. The framework is easily used for multiple platforms and creates concurrency among apps on different devices.
The React Native framework is in use for the development and maintenance of more than 34000 apps on mobile phones.
3. Xamarin
There is another cross-platform app development framework that is as good as Flutter and React Native. This particular framework is called Xamarin. Xamarin is a cross-platform app development framework that has been developed by Microsoft.
The framework is a good option to use for popular mobile ecosystems powered by iOS, Windows, Android and other platforms. The platform uses the most usable programming languages like HTML, C#, and .NET languages.
These languages are used with 90% reusability on multiple platforms. The Xamarin framework is very versatile and has links with native libraries, so you get native-like performance on cross-platform apps.
The Xamarin framework also extends high customisation possibilities so that the app can be customised according to user needs. Xamarin also offers specific APIs and plugins to support features and hardware compatibility.
These are some of the cross-platform app development frameworks that work best for cross-platform app development companies. Usually, teams work with one framework, but having the knowledge of multiple development tools always comes in handy.
How to Develop Cross-Platform Applications for Mobile Phones the Right Way?
If your team is starting with cross-platform mobile application development, then it needs to follow multiple steps for the same. For example,
1. Research
The cross-platform mobile development company team needs to do market research and competitive research to identify the audience for the app and the features they want. Competitive research is a must since the mobile app development landscape is so cutthroat at present.
Competitive research allows your team to study your strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your competitors so that your company can secure a unique edge over others. Researching and gaining insights into the market landscape helps the team at all stages of app development and launch. A successful launch, feedback collection, and improvement cycles are a must to ensure that the app remains popular.
2. Design
At a time when there are countless apps in the mobile development landscape, it is important to design the cross-platform app properly so that it is attractive to potential users.
The UX and UI design should be on point and well-targeted to user groups. The user interface should be highly interactive and useful for the users.
The usability and simplicity of the UI determine the app’s popularity and wide-scale use. A good development and runtime environment creates a strong front end for the app to be used by the user groups.
The UI of the cross-platform app should be adaptable to different operating systems and different screens. These changes and features make the application seamless and very useful.
3. Use Pre-Built Components
Most of the popular cross-platform app development frameworks have features such as pre-built components and code reusability. To optimise the app development process and to optimise it, you need to use pre-built components and their links with the native libraries. The native libraries and the reusable codes reduce the development time while maintaining the quality of the app codebase.
The development team should strike a balance between building the application from scratch and building certain parts from pre-built components. After building the app with pre-included components, you also need to do rigorous testing of the app to ensure that the app runs on multiple platforms without any performance lags.
Conclusion
The future of cross-platform mobile development is bright and secure, as there is a natural demand for cross-platform mobile apps. Mobile devices and smart wearables are trending in 2023, so apps are also in demand for this mode. The mobile apps are what give these devices substance.
Thus, cross-platform app development services have a massive responsibility on their shoulders to offer something out of the box and novel to users. Users will continue to depend on mobile devices, so cross-platform apps need to be created to cater to popular demand. Cross-platform apps are here to stay as people increase their dependence on gadgets.
FAQs
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Give Examples Of Some Popular Cross Platform Mobile Apps
There are many leading cross-platform mobile apps that people use today. These apps are Google Pay, Alibaba, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype, etc. These apps can be used on desktops, mobile phones and tablets because they are highly accessible.
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What Are The Limitations Of Cross-Platform Mobile Apps?
The challenges that cross-platform app developers face are the variability of devices for which concurrent code needs to be developed. Cross-platform apps can also give rise to some UX and UI issues, which lead to performance lag in apps and devices. Another challenge is that some cross-platform apps might not have access to all native, system-specific features of a mobile device.
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Will End Users Be Able To Differentiate Cross Platform Apps From Native Ones?
Rarely any end user will be able to spot the differences between cross-platform apps and native ones. Nowadays, it is easy to offer native-like performance on cross-platform apps. So, users, especially non-technical users, are unable to differentiate between cross-platform apps and native apps.
