“Cross-platform mobile apps are the future of digital commerce.”
The pandemic resulted in a seismic shift to online shopping in 2020. With digitalization, businesses cannot avoid building an app. And, unless you have a lot of cash on hand, you’ll need a mobile app development solution that can produce high-quality results on a limited budget. Cross-platform apps are the perfect solution for those who wish to run their apps across multiple operating systems. They can run on Android, iOS, Windows, and more.
Multi-platform apps are very powerful. Cost reductions and faster time to market are two primary benefits of cross-platform apps for business owners. But the good news doesn’t end there. Cross-platform apps have a significantly wider market reach because they can be downloaded and used by anybody, anywhere, on any smartphone.
Cross-platform mobile app development allows you to create apps that are compatible with all major platforms, providing you access to the world’s 6.64 billion smartphone users. Isn’t it lovely?
The benefits don’t stop there. Cross-platform apps are extremely cost-effective. Native app development would require two development teams, two codebases, and double the number of updates and maintenance. You’ll need to maintain both teams on retainer to ensure that upgrades are delivered on time and that maintenance is top-notch. It can be expensive to have two development teams.
These reasons have made cross-platform app development a favorite among entrepreneurs, startups, small and medium businesses, and anyone seeking high-quality apps at an affordable price. But what exactly cross-platform app development framework means? This blog is specially tailored to clarify all your queries.
What Does Cross-Platform Mobile App Development Framework Mean?
If you’ve decided to develop multiplatform apps for your company, you need to research the right technologies to make it happen. Choosing an app development framework is one of the first decisions you will need to make.
Application frameworks are software frameworks that developers use to create mobile applications. You can use this library to create any type of application.
Cross-platform mobile app development frameworks are designed to let developers create programs that may share the same codebase and run on any platform. Here are some of the most popular 2022 cross-platform app development frameworks.
Types of Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
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Flutter
As of December 2021, there were approximately 90,000 Flutter apps on Google Play, up from 50,000 in 2020. This shows how popular Flutter will be in 2022. Globally, 42 percent of developers use Flutter, according to Statista. As of April 2020, Google says 500,000 developers are using Flutter. Undoubtedly, the number has increased in 2022, growing 10% month-over-month in March.
Flutter started out as an open-source mobile UI framework that allowed developers to construct cross-platform apps with a single codebase and native user interfaces for each device. React Native was its direct rival. As a result, the program looks and feels just like a native app, offering users a high-performance app at half the cost of a native app.
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React Native
The second most popular cross-platform app development framework is Facebook’s react-native. Facebook built React Native as an internal hackathon project to be used in the creation of Facebook products. When Facebook engineers recognized how unique the framework they had created was, they decided to open source it. React Native is now used by 38% of developers all over the world. Some of the world’s most well-known organizations, such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Uber, have employed React Native in development projects.
React Native’s native UI components enable developers to create a user experience that is personalized to the user’s needs and platform choices. These UI components are similar to Lego blocks in that they can be easily customized and performed natively.
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Ionic
Ionic is an open-source user interface toolkit that allows developers to create hybrid apps that look and work like native apps. It’s based on Angular JS and uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to construct a variety of mobile apps, including corporate apps, Progressive Web apps, mobile and desktop apps, and more.
Many ready-to-use components are among Ionic’s best features. Hundreds of APIs, various plugins for native functionality, the ability to tailor code for a variety of platforms, and a passionate community
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Xamarin
Xamarin is an open-source cross-platform framework that may be used to create programs for Android, iOS, Windows, and other platforms. It was first released in 2011. Developers may reuse up to 90% of code using Xamarin, lowering development costs and speeding up time to market, giving your organization a substantial competitive advantage.
As everyone knows, Xamarin is relatively straightforward to learn and use. net and C# may be learned rapidly. Developers may quickly alter the app and add native functionality thanks to its straightforward connection with native libraries.
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PhoneGap
PhoneGap was founded in 2005 and acquired by Adobe in 2011. It was one of the first cross-platform players. While many loyal users continue to utilize PhoneGap Build for cross-platform app development, Adobe will stop supporting it on October 1, 2020. As a result, no PhoneGap updates will be sent to you.
Choose one of the four frameworks for cross-platform app development from the list below for any new app development projects you want to start in 2022.
Wrapping Up
In 2022, the most popular cross-platform mobile app development frameworks will be Flutter and React Native, followed by Ionic and Xamarin. Cross-platform app development is unquestionably here to stay due to the significant time, money, and convenience benefits it provides. Cross-platform apps can be created in half the time it takes to create native apps and can be deployed across all platforms at the same time.
The framework you select for multi-platform app development has a major impact on how your app looks and feels in the end, as well as how your clients interact with it. So, if you need assistance determining which framework is appropriate for your business, all you have to do is employ the best cross-platform app development team that can match your needs.