5 Cross-Platform Mobile App Development Frameworks Not to Miss

Cross-platform app development frameworks strike a balance between both, developers, and businesses, helping them build mobile apps in the language they are comfortable with less development cost.       

However, choosing the right framework is important to stand out in the ocean of mobile apps and achieve the goals of launching it. For example, Flutter helps in developing an app for multiple OS versions whereas React Native saves development time with its ready-made features. 

 Here is a list of the top 5 frameworks popular among developers. Some of the popular apps like Google Pay, Shopify, and Netflix are built upon those frameworks. 

 A Quick Brief Before You Hit the Jackpot

The name itself tells what cross-platform mobile app development is. It’s a way to develop mobile applications for multiple operating systems, but commonly for Android and iOS. These two dominate the global market share where Android is the winner. In the USA, iOS takes the lead despite its market share going down from the previous years.

Facts apart, cross-platform is the best approach because of its philosophy- write code once, run anywhere. Beside single codebase, these are other advantages of choosing the cross-platform mobile app development services:

• Faster development compared to native development
• Cost-effective making it ideal for small businesses, startups, or those who want to build MVC at less budget
• The wide reach of the audience with one single application 
• Unified codebase for easy bug fixing and updating the apps on every targeted platform 

Developers’ Choice: The Best Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks 

No.5: Native Script

Launched in 2014, this open-source free framework should be on your bucket list. Here’s why?

• It supports not one, but four programming languages- JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, and Angular. With so many choices, it’s easy for developers to switch between any language as per the development requirement.  
• No need to use third-party solutions for designing new features or integrating with other systems. It offers pre-built app templates and a variety of plugins. It means enhancing the app’s functionality is easy and fast without writing even a single line of new code. 
• It offers 100-day zero access to Native API allowing developers to fully explore and utilize native UI. They can also control the app’s performance however they want. 

No.4: Iconic

Developers simply love Iconic. Released in 2013, this open-source framework lets you build both mobile and web applications with attractive features. Here are some more reasons to choose Iconic for your first or next mobile app. 

• Choose the javascript framework of your choice or choose nothing at all as Iconic’s open-source SDK supports Angular, Vue, and React. 
• View how your Android or iOS mobile app will look and perform on the web browser. No need to test the app on a real mobile device. 
• Build prototype faster without writing much code from its own IDE- Iconic Studio. 
• Add a modern interface to your mobile app with Iconic’s stock of 100 modern UI components. There’s a whole list of components such as slider, alert, chip, input, toggle, and more to create an interface easily. 
• From camera, maps, and Bluetooth, to geolocation, Iconic has plugins for everything that to make your app feature-rich. Developers can even build plugins to give a custom native experience to the users. 

No.3: Xamarin

Want to build apps that work beyond mobile devices? Look no further than Xamarin. This Microsoft-owned framework can build applications for Windows, Android, iOS, Maco, and wearable devices. Currently, 1.2 million developers trust this cross-platform development framework. 

• 90% of code is transferrable which means developing and launching an app is fast with Xamarin. 
• The app gets the same look and feel on different OS as Xamarin offers platforms-specific UI elements. 
• It costs less to update and maintain mobile apps built on Xamarin. 
• Xamarin’s integrated testing solutions let you test mobile apps on real devices before launching the app. 

No. 2: React Native 

Thanks to Facebook for launching React Native. This JavaScript framework truly needs a mention in our list. It is one of the most popular frameworks for building cross-platform mobile apps. We have the reasons too.

• It lives by its motto “Many Platforms, One React,” that means you can build mobile apps without worrying about its functionality and performance. 
• With React Native, your developers don’t have to waste hours on implementing changes. Whether it’s a minor or major change, this open-source javascript framework lets them do changes faster than light. 
• It’s flexible as integrating React Native components is simple and quick with the existing code of your mobile app. It also gives the option to use plugins for repurposing the Cordova-based code. 
• No need to hire developers as React Native supports common languages like Objective-C, C++, Python, Java, and more. 

No. 1: Flutter 

After React Native, Flutter is the only framework widely loved and used by the developers’ community. There are many reasons behind it. Google is one of those reasons and rests are listed below. 

• Speed is the specialty of Flutter. It lets you build native mobile apps for any platform of your choice in less time than it takes traditionally. Not just development, the framework promises fast performance on different devices as well. 
• Just like React Native, Flutter improves developers’ productivity when it comes to making code changes in the application. Its hot reload feature lets them make changes quickly without losing anything in the process. 
• The best thing every developer loves about Flutter is its graphic engine. Every pixel and every design is completely customizable for creating an absolutely stunning and visually appealing app. 
• Everything that your team needs for building high-quality cross-platform applications is right here at Flutter, from development tools to testing tools. 

Although Flutter is at No.1, there is no compulsion that it will always be the preferred choice. Therefore, it’s important to compare multiple frameworks like Xamarin vs React Native orFlutter vs React Native before finalizing one. 

Bonus Tips to Choose the Best Framework

Tip 1: Look for the Right Skills

Check whether the skills of your team match the knowledge requirement of the framework. And if not, make sure they are willing to learn or else you can hire an expert cross-platform app development services provider.  

Tip 2: Native Feature Usage

If your mobile app depends heavily on the features specific to a particular device, choose a framework with good plugin support. Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin are best but avoid using multiple plugins otherwise it would negatively impact the app’s performance. 

Tip 3: Don’t Overlook Performance 

Your mobile app needs to perform not just good but the best. Therefore, pick a framework that offers high performance. 

The Final Consideration 

Last but not least, don’t just make decisions on your current expectations and needs. Focus on how your mobile app should look in the future without much rework or investment in development. This will happen only if you weigh the frameworks’ capabilities with the future requirements of the mobile app.  

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