Aug 23, 2023 Kiran Beladiya

Building apps for different platforms can be exhausting. You must constantly switch between frameworks and languages to ensure your app works properly on iOS, Android, and Windows. It's easy to get frustrated trying to juggle everything. The solution? Cross-platform frameworks. 

These tools allow you to create apps for multiple platforms using a single codebase. No more pulling your hair out porting code between operating systems! Cross-platform frameworks simplify development by providing a unified API and workflow. You can focus on building a great user experience instead of platform-specific quirks. 

In this post, we'll highlight some of the top cross-platform frameworks that can bring peace of mind to aggravated developers everywhere. Whether you're building mobile, desktop, or web apps, these frameworks will streamline your work and ease the development process!

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What Is a Cross-Platform App Development Framework?

In simple words, cross-platform development allows building apps for multiple operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows using a single shared codebase. This saves much time compared to building separate native apps for each platform from scratch. With cross-platform tools, you can use React Native to target iOS and Android or Xamarin for iOS, Android, and Windows. 

Native app development is more focused on leveraging what's unique to each platform. Using Swift for iOS lets you tap into Apple's APIs and UI toolkit. For Android, you can use Java or Kotlin to take advantage of Google services and UI elements. The performance can be better since you're using what's native. But it requires building multiple apps from the ground up, which takes more time and money. 

So cross-platform is about fast development, code reuse, and wider reach. Native is about specialized apps with tighter platform integration. Choose the approach based on your priorities and resources! But for most needs today, cross-platform tools offer huge advantages in terms of speed to market and development costs. Below we’ll briefly review the top 5 best cross-platform frameworks.

Flutter

Flutter, a well-known framework introduced by Google in 2017, is widely used to create mobile, web, and desktop applications using a single codebase. Developers use Dart, Google's programming language, to develop Flutter applications.

Programming language: Dart

Notable Mobile apps using Flutter: eBay, Alibaba, Google Pay, ByteDance apps

Key features:

  • Flutter's hot reload feature enables developers to instantly view the changes in their application as they modify the code without recompilation.
  • Flutter fully supports Google's Material Design, a design system that facilitates the creation of seamless digital experiences. It provides access to a variety of visual and behavioral widgets for app development.
  • Unlike web browser technology, Flutter utilizes its own rendering engine designed specifically for drawing widgets.
  • Flutter boasts an active and widespread user community worldwide. Developers highly prefer using the Flutter framework for cross-platform app development and hence it is now ranked as one of the most-loved frameworks in the world.

React Native

React Native, an open-source UI software framework was developed in 2015, earlier than Flutter, by Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook. It is built on Facebook's JavaScript library, React, and enables developers to create cross-platform mobile apps with native rendering.

Programming language: JavaScript

Notable Mobile apps using React Native: Skype, Bloomberg, Shopify, various small modules in Facebook and Instagram

Key features:

  • The Fast Refresh feature allows developers to instantly see changes in their React components, making the development process smoother and more efficient.
  • React Native strongly emphasis the UI, rendering React primitives into native platform UI components. This approach facilitates the creation of customized and responsive user interfaces.
  • From versions 0.62 and onwards, React Native comes with built-in integration with the mobile app debugger Flipper. This powerful tool aids in debugging Android, iOS, and React Native apps, offering features like a log viewer, an interactive layout inspector, and a network inspector.

Being one of the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks, React Native boasts a large and robust community of developers who actively share their technical knowledge. This thriving community provides valuable support and resources to developers when building mobile apps using the framework.

Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile

Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) is an SDK created by JetBrains that allows developers to build Android and iOS applications. With KMM, you can share common code between both platforms and only write platform-specific code when necessary, such as when working with native UI components or platform-specific APIs.

Programming language: Kotlin

Notable Mobile apps using Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile: Philips, Baidu, Netflix, Leroy Merlin

Key features:

  • You can easily integrate Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile into existing projects.
  • KMM offers full control over the user interface, enabling the latest UI frameworks like SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose.
  • Developers have unrestricted access to the Android and iOS SDKs.

Despite being our list’s youngest cross-platform mobile development framework, Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile has a mature and rapidly growing community. It has already made a significant impact on the current market. The framework's regularly updated documentation and strong community support make it easy to find answers to any questions. Moreover, numerous global companies and startups have adopted Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile to build multiplatform apps with a native-like user experience.

Contact Us To Know Which Framework Suits Your Needs

Ionic

Ionic is a freely available UI toolkit that was introduced in 2013. It assists developers in creating hybrid mobile and desktop applications by blending native and web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The framework also integrates well with popular frameworks such as Angular, React, and Vue.

Programming language: JavaScript

Notable Mobile apps using Ionic: T-Mobile, BBC (Children's & Education apps), EA Games

Key features:

  • Ionic is built on a SaaS UI framework specially designed for mobile operating systems, offering a range of UI components to facilitate app development.
  • The Ionic framework utilizes Cordova and Capacitor plugins to access the device's built-in features like the camera, flashlight, GPS, and audio recorder.
  • Ionic Studio, the framework's own IDE, streamlines app building, and prototyping with minimal coding requirements.

The Ionic Forum experiences consistent engagement from its community members, who actively exchange knowledge and support one another in overcoming various development challenges.

Xamarin

Xamarin, launched in 2011 and now owned by Microsoft, is an open-source, cross-platform app development framework. It utilizes the C# language and the .NET framework to build applications that work seamlessly on Android, iOS, and Windows.

Programming language: ะก#

Notable Mobile apps using Xamarin: UPS, Alaska Airlines, Academy Members (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

Key features:

  • Xamarin applications use the Base Class Library (BCL) from .NET, a comprehensive collection of classes that offer various features like XML, database, IO, and networking support. Moreover, developers can compile existing C# code to extend functionality beyond the BCL.
  • With Xamarin.Forms, developers can employ platform-specific UI elements to achieve a consistent appearance for their apps across different operating systems.
  • Xamarin.Forms' compiled bindings enhance data binding performance and provide compile-time validation for all binding expressions, reducing runtime errors for mobile engineers.
  • Xamarin benefits from a vast global community of contributors, and it is particularly favored among C, C++, and C# developers who specialize in mobile application development.

NativeScript

NativeScript, an open-source mobile application development framework, made its first release in 2014. It empowers developers to create Android and iOS mobile apps using JavaScript or languages that transpile to JavaScript, such as TypeScript, in conjunction with frameworks like Angular and Vue.js.

Programming language: JavaScript, TypeScript

Notable Mobile apps using NativeScript: Daily Nanny, Strudel, Breethe

Key features:

  • NativeScript provides convenient access to native Android and iOS APIs, enhancing the app's functionality.
  • The framework renders platform-native UIs, enabling apps built with NativeScript to run directly on native devices, eliminating the need for WebViews. WebViews are typically employed in Android OS to present web content within an app.
  • NativeScript offers a range of plugins and pre-built app templates, negating the need for third-party solutions and streamlining development.
  • NativeScript leverages familiar web technologies like JavaScript and Angular, making it a popular choice among developers. However, it is commonly used by small companies and startups in the development of their mobile applications.

Conclusion

In today's fast-paced app development landscape, cross-platform solutions have proven superior to native development in many cases. The ability to create apps that smoothly operate across multiple platforms using a single codebase has transformed the industry. Cross-platform app development offers significant advantages like faster development, cost-effectiveness, and broader user reach without compromising quality.

At Estatic Infotech, we take pride in delivering top-notch cross-platform app development services. With a team of skilled developers and cutting-edge technologies, we offer tailored solutions to meet diverse business needs. Our expertise ensures faster time-to-market and exceptional performance for mobile and web applications. With our cross-platform services, businesses can unlock their digital potential and stay ahead in the competitive landscape. Contact us today for a seamless and successful app development journey.

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