Having a Mobile App for businesses is not at all new now. But the catch lies in making it available for users of all devices irrespective of the platform. Users want an experience and as a business, it becomes imperative to provide a uniform experience to all.
But for that, mobile app development has to be done for all platforms available in the market. For this, cross-platform app development tools come into play.
Looking for Mobile App Development Companies? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the Best Mobile App Development Companies
Overcoming Multipurpose App Challenges
1. Time Consuming
App Development doesn’t happen overnight. You need developers that know either both (hardly possible!) or have to look for subject-matter experts. Even after that, the task is no way easier.
You have to keep tabs on both, the Android and iOS apps to see if things are going as per the flow you want. A lot of resources and time goes into this process.
2. Difficult to Manage
Mobile Apps will require updates as you upgrade your services or decide to add features and the chances of unwanted glitches are always on the table. Once the app is updated, the patches have to be run for all the platforms separately.
This makes the maintenance of the app altogether clumsy and an added overhead for your business.
3. Expensive
The whole process of app development for multiple platforms requires you to hire experts for each of them.
For Android, there have to be app developers who know their way around Android Studio and for iOS app, you need people who are wizards with Xcode. And this adds to your App Development Budget.
4. Marketing
It is difficult getting people to download your apps. What makes it even more difficult is marketing your apps for multiple platforms.
People might already be using similar apps and so your efforts to market the app developed after all the hassle needs to be increased too for desired results.
But, in this digital era, there are solutions for all the problems. To avoid the use of coding for multiple platforms and deploying it, there is something called cross-platform app development tools.
Such cross-platform app development tools help developers in making a mobile app from their comfort zone. Didn’t get it?
Let us elaborate, with the help of cross-platform app development tools, one base-code can be used across multiple platforms.
There are various frameworks to help you with coding that can be deployed on multiple platforms simultaneously without writing separate codes for all.
Choosing the right one that works for your business, depends on your requirements and the resources at hand.
List of 14 Best Cross Platform App Development Tools
Adobe PhoneGap is an Open Source platform for mobile app development that helps in writing code in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript without depending on the native APIs of platforms like Android, iOS or Windows.
So instead of using native SDKs for each platform, Adobe PhoneGap allows us to write the app code once and use it for all platforms.
It functions like a native app and gives all the benefits of the same.
Xamarin is a tool by Microsoft that allows developers to code in C# to build native Android and iOS apps. Apps developed with Xamarin are compiled ahead of time and this is an added benefit because it does not face any performance lags.
If a developer is used to working with Microsoft platforms, using Xamarin will be a cakewalk as the interface is quite similar.
Also, Read: A Complete Guide for Mobile App Marketing for 2020
Corona
This cross-platform app development platform has made quite a name in the Game Developing community. It has drooling graphics to offer and is easy to learn. That’s how they are putting themselves out in the market, as a rapid app development platform.
It is a Lua-based platform that allows the creation of lightweight and faster apps.
Sencha Touch has been merged with Ext JS. It’s all about HTML5 coding. This enables the apps developed to run uniformly on web browsers and mobile devices too.
One of the best features of Sencha is that a team can work on the same project from anywhere with the help of pre-built elements. It also has an extensive range of Design and Testing tools to aid mobile app developers.
Also, Read: 7 Major Mistakes That New Mobile App Developers Make
React Native
This is an open-source cross-platform app development tool launched by Facebook which is now growing in popularity with several third-party components that aid using the tool.
It is based on JavaScript and rather than compiling to get the native app benefits, it interprets JavaScript responses at Run time. This also saves time as there is no lag from rendering the apps.
Cocos2d
It is a popular tool to develop 2D apps. Being an open-source platform, a lot of different versions are available to be used and developers can choose from 5 different platforms depending on the preferred programming language. The rich functionality of Graphic rendering makes it a prime choice for game development companies.
Codename One
Codename One is an open-source tool that can also be used to make enterprise apps for commercial purposes. It fulfills the Write Once and Run Anywhere approach and doesn’t need any specific hardware to run apps. It is easy to use and has a Drag & Drop GUI builder that helps in building apps faster.
Qt
Qt is a subscription-based cross-platform app development tool that offers a free trial too. The catch here is the pace at which it allows your app to be launched in the market after developing it.
You can write the code once, export it and access it on multiple devices to check its functioning.
SAP
SAP is a trusted name when it comes to enterprise application development. It helps in utilizing the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data in app development with real-time analytics to give next-gen mobile apps.
There are packaged components that help app developers increase productivity through predictive algorithms.
The prime USP of Alpha is that the apps developed using this cross-platform app development tool can be used in offline mode without compromising on the features.
They say build in hours, not months and this way they make it quite clear that with minimum coding and easy-to-use features, building an app has been made easier than ever by Alpha.
Unity3D
A good game is defined by great graphics. This sums up what Unity3D is, a super game developing tool. Not only this, it helps the developers in exporting the code to 17 different platforms. You can totally rely on Unity3D to distribute your app to all the stores.
Another perk of this tool is that you get analytics to know how your app is performing apart from the social shares of your apps on various channels
This tool claims that maximizing your productivity with minimum coding and faster implementations. It provides reusable components and templates to help you keep pace with app development.
Data integration happens in a snap of fingers and the extensive range of automated tools help in getting the testing and publishing simplified.
13. Convertigo
This is an open-source tool that enables faster end-to-end app developments at lower costs. With mobile backend connectors and application SDKs, Convertigo makes the process of integrating apps with enterprise database and 3rd-party tools quicker.
14. 5App
This is a unique app development platform that is specifically used to enhance knowledge sharing and a community feeling. It is used to develop apps that can be used by enterprise employees to better their lives and learning curve. It is easy to use and deploy and totally driven based on values to improve the digital community.
Wrapping up:
We tried our best to sum up the list of cross-platform app development tools depending on the latest mobile app development trends. You can now make an informed decision as to which tool to go with to maximize your revenue by serving a wide range of app users without having to develop multiple times.
There can be a lot of confusion, but you can always look for parameters like time, budget and resources at hand to shortlist!
Chirantan Patel is the Product Manager at Softwaresuggest & Callhippo, an Inc. 275 company that researches and analyzes software to educate, advise, and connect buyers and sellers of business technology.
