You will be baffled to know that the total number of internet users is growing by 11 people per second these days. These numbers simply indicate that the worldwide online community is joined by millions of individuals who choose to be Android and iOS users every day. With over 1.85 million iOS apps and 2.6 million Android apps available in respective stores, targeting any one of these operating systems is an unseemly decision for the business.
Moreover, developing the best cross-platform applications is a less time-consuming and non-expensive option for business owners as well as top mobile app developers. What is even more interesting is that cross-platform applications are getting increasingly popular day by day.
Now, why is cross-platform application development the first love of app developers? In this article, you will find out about the perks of cross-platform app development.
Inception of cross-platform application development
Over the past few years, there has been tremendous growth in the use of mobile devices. This growth itself has fueled the development of millions of software applications for these mobile devices popularly known as apps. Current estimates indicate that the number of cross-platform apps optimized for mobility will quadruple by the end of 2023.
Cross-platform app for a normal user might mean an app that runs on all devices but for best cross-platform app developers, this means software frameworks and languages. The concept of cross-platform app development took root in 1995 with the tagline of Sun microsystems; Write once, Run anywhere (WORA).
Although, in the early days it was taken as Write once, Debug everywhere, a frolic jest among developers. Since then, the development tools have ascended in maturity, numbers, and many aspects.
Evolution of Cross-Platform App Development
As a large amount of energy was spent on the implementation of different platforms and the custom mobile app solutions, app development experts encountered some development and adaptation pain points such as fragmentation of mobile devices screens, fragmented system versions, and proliferation of manufacturer customization. It increased costs and consumed longer project cycles. Although the demands are contradictory, companies want apps to go online on time and implement them as soon as possible with low costs.
During this time, cross-platform technology was born and developed. It eliminates the differentiation between different platforms and helps develop high-performance android and iOS dual-platform apps over one coding.
Mixing direction
With HTML came the native app development realizing the application’s UI layout and business logic quicker. Nevertheless, the functions that can’t be executed by just HTML or the user experience that is not good enough can be captured with the help of hybrid development.
As the app engine of the cross platforms is based on the web view architecture, it is very friendly to the developers for hire. It is backed by the massive JavaScript ecosystem of the front end, so sophisticated cross-platform app developers can build apps without any prior knowledge of new technologies.
A few of the technologies representing this are Ionic, AppMobi, and Cordova.
Intermediate language (DSL) compilation direction
As the cross-platform application development process requires the use of specific syntax to write app code through a compilation environment that is compiled into both Android and iOS native app. With this mode, dedicated cross-platform app developers do not need to learn complex development languages like iOS native and Android technology to build cross-platform apps.
The app engine uses a virtual machine to execute complex coding instead of relying on Web view. It helps in communication, state management, interactive processing while improving native communication mechanisms and expanding time. It maximizes the performance of rendering by continuing the front-end development system with well-packaged system capabilities and components.
The technologies representing it are Weex and React Native.
API Cloud
API Cloud is a rapidly growing era in the evolution of cross-platform app development. Based on cloud integration, it explores areas of efficiency revolution leading the domestic low code development platforms. It has never stopped moving forward since its release.
It has evolved from mobile development to a low code development platform committed to providing apps for various industries with customization and enterprise digital services.
Behind any public cloud solution, the core component is cloud API primarily based on the REST and SOAP frameworks as well as vendor-specific APIs and cross-platform. It allows top mobile app developers to freely choose between two modes of mixed development and Intermediate language compilation in the same application.
Best-in-class Experts in Cross Platform App Development.
Perspectives for successful Cross-Platform App Development
As the title of this blog suggests, you might be thinking what exactly does cross-platform app development entail? To help you get answers to this question, we have assembled the blog from three main perspectives as such.
Cross-platform app development from Developers’ perspective
Creating an application will include making trade-offs between the realities of development and the developers’ artistic vision. During a development process, mobile app developers often operate in parallel universes, isolated by a rigid distinction between the difficulties inherited in iterating a clients’ concept and the app development framework they use.
The developers’ imagination is slowed down by constraints in APIs or frameworks or postponed by some code issues or torn between two individual, Android and iOS, platforms. But, with cross-platform app development, they are in complete control over a comprehensive collection of features on both iOS and Android altogether.
Source code
Writing good code for any application is the topmost priority for developers. It’s a jackpot for sophisticated cross-platform mobile app developers when they have to do it just once for mobile applications on different platforms.
