Mobile applications are fast becoming a necessity for businesses. As smartphone adoption rates soar through the roof worldwide, companies are mulling their app development options. Cross-platform applications have gained immense popularity in recent years, thanks to their wide-ranging benefits. However, there are many cross-platform development frameworks out there, and the question remains: which cross-platform app development framework suits you best?
Before we delve into the details of the top 10 cross-platform application development frameworks, it’ll help first to explain what cross-platform apps are all about and why they are so popular today.
Let’s start by explaining cross-platform application development.
What is Cross-Platform App Development?
In simple words, cross-platform applications are a kind of software that can operate on multiple operating systems, i.e., iOS, Android, Windows, etc. What sets these apps apart from native apps is that they do not require separate codes for different platforms. Instead, you write the code once, enabling the app to run on various platforms efficiently.
The multi-platform app development approach is becoming the go-to development choice for many developers and mobile app development companies. As a result, many cross-platform app development frameworks and tools have surfaced, overwhelming developers with a broad range of frameworks to choose from.
This is why we are writing this article; to help you choose the best cross-platform app development framework for developing incredible apps that function on various operating systems.
Here’s the list.
Top 10 Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
1. React Native
It is hard to ignore React Native when talking about cross-platform app development frameworks. As a cross-platform development tool, React Native is built on JavaScript. It gives a native-like feel to apps, allowing them to run smoothly on iOS and Android devices.
Moreover, React Native brings together the benefits of React.JS and JavaScript, besides enabling developers to write modules in Swift, Objective-C, and Java languages. It also allows developers to execute heavy operations like video processing and image editing. These operations are typically not a part of the framework APIs.
React Native is one of the top choices for developers and businesses alike due to its incredible features.
Here are some of its leading features:
- It is an open-source platform that boasts a large community of developers to support it.
- Another key benefit of React Native is that it runs on the WORA (write once, run anywhere) principle. This one-time coding eliminates the need for developers to write different codes for the same application on different platforms.
- WORA reduces your development time significantly, thus reducing the development costs.
- It supports third-party plugins.
- React Native helps you deliver exceptional user interfaces (UI) which require little to no time to load, making them highly responsive.
2. Ionic
Ionic is another leading cross-platform app development framework. It is built on Angular.JS and allows developers to use a variety of programming languages (CSS, JavaScript, HTML5, etc.).
It helps developers add fantastic features to their apps besides delivering an excellent user interface (UI). Moreover, apps built using Ionic are responsive and native-like. It is also a good option for progressive web app development.
Its leading features include the following:
- An open-source front-end framework that enables developers to alter the code structure to suit their specific requirements.
- It gives access to multiple UI parts that help you develop a powerful application.
- Ionic is built on the SAAS UI framework, making it even better for developing mobile apps.
- It is based on Angular.JS, which allows you to provide extensions to HTML syntax conveniently.
- Ionic uses Cordova plugins, letting you access in-built device features like GPS, camera, audio recorder, etc.
3. Xamarin
Xamarin is a cross-platform development framework significantly different from the previously discussed frameworks. It uses C# and .Net instead of JavaScript and HTML to develop Android, iOS, and Windows applications. It lets developers use the same code (90%) to build apps for all three platforms.
As an open-source mobile app platform, Xamarin gives native-like application aesthetics due to its excellent APIs.
Here are some of its leading features:
- It uses C#, a cross-platform app development programming language that supports multiple paradigms.
- It uses specific APIs and plugins to reduce hardware compatibility problems.
- Xamarin gives native-like app capabilities, customization, and functionality. You can even link it with other native libraries, making it a formidable contender for cross-platform app development.
- It runs on WORA, reducing the app development cost and time.
- Xamarin offers compile-time checking, reducing run-time errors and delivering a well-functioning app.
- It offers an amazing user interface, which gives it a native-like appearance.
4. Flutter
Back in 2017, Google introduced Flutter, a fantastic cross-platform app development framework. It is an SDK (software development kit) that enables developers to quickly and easily develop high-performing iOS and Android applications.
Here are some of the leading Flutter app development which makes it a top choice for developers.
- It supports GPU, which allows the developer to work on modern interfaces by leveraging UI power.
- It comes with a reactive framework, eliminating the need for developers to update UI content manually.
- Flutter is cost-efficient and enables quick application development, making it the ideal choice for building an MVP (minimum viable product).
- You can remake a widget tree automatically and understand code adjustments.
- It offers an in-built graphic engine that eliminates the need for you to build separate interfaces for iOS and Android.
5. Node.JS
Node.JS is another impressive open-source, cross-platform server environment that runs on Linux, Windows, Unix, and others. It is essentially a JavaScript run-time framework based on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine. You can use it to build scalable server-side networking applications.
It also makes it easy for you to build web applications by offering an extensive library of JavaScript modules. Moreover, node.js can handle multiple concurrent connections simultaneously.
Its top features include the following:
- Every API of Node.js is asynchronous, demonstrating how node. js-based servers don’t have to wait for data from APIs; instead, the server moves on after calling the API. It has a notification alert that lets the server get a response from the API call.
- Node.js cross-platform applications output data in bits and chunks instead of buffering.
- It speedily executes the code because of being built on Chrome’s V8 engine.
- It employs a single-threaded model with event-looping capabilities to deliver a pleasant and well-functioning application.
6. PhoneGap
PhoneGap (Apache Cordova) is an excellent cross-platform application development framework that utilizes JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. It lets developers share their apps in the cloud to get feedback from other developers.
As a cross-platform application development framework, PhoneGap uses existing web technologies to build impressive applications. Moreover, it completely supports a device’s in-built features like storage, phonebook, camera, GPS, etc.
Its top features include the following:
- It is trendy among developers because it uses existing web technologies like JavaScript and HTML5 to build great cross-platform apps.
- PhoneGap supports using a single codebase to build top-notch applications for different frameworks.
- Its architecture supports plugins, enabling developers to extend their access to native device APIs in a modular manner.
7. Corona SDK
You can use Corona SDK to build 2D mobile applications for Windows, Kindle, and other major platforms. It is exceptionally good for game app development, as it offers a ten times faster development speed.
It uses Lua, a high-level, lightweight, multi-paradigm programming language that focuses on top features of app development speed, scalability, portability, and ease of use. Moreover, Corona SDK supports real-time testing and is free.
Its leading features include the following:
- It offers over a thousand APIs, enabling your developers to sprite audio, music, animations, tween objects, etc.
- It is highly responsive to code changes and gives a real-time preview of an application as it would appear on a device.
- Corona SDK supports more than 200 plugins, which include media, analytics, in-app advertising, and more.
- It is a powerful and quick framework because it relies on Lua.
8. NativeScript
NativeScript is a powerful open-source framework designed for crafting truly native-like mobile applications using familiar web technologies like JavaScript, TypeScript, or Angular. Developed by Progress Software, NativeScript empowers developers to create high-performance, cross-platform apps with native UI components.
Here are some of the leading features of NativeScript:
- Native UI Components: Unlike hybrid frameworks, NativeScript renders user interfaces using native components rather than web views. This approach ensures that apps have a native look and feel, providing a seamless user experience on both iOS and Android devices.
- Single Codebase: With NativeScript, developers can write a single codebase using JavaScript, TypeScript, or Angular and deploy the application across multiple platforms. This streamlines cross platform development efforts and reduces maintenance overhead.
- Direct Access to Native APIs: NativeScript offers direct access to native APIs, allowing developers to leverage platform-specific features and functionalities without sacrificing performance. This level of access enables the creation of feature-rich applications tailored to the unique capabilities of each platform.
- Framework Flexibility: Whether you prefer the simplicity of JavaScript, the type safety of TypeScript, or the power of Angular, NativeScript caters to diverse development preferences. Its flexibility and extensibility make it an ideal choice for developers of varying skill levels and backgrounds.
9. Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch is a comprehensive HTML5 mobile app framework developed by Sencha Inc., designed to facilitate the creation of cross-platform mobile applications with a focus on rich user interfaces and smooth performance. As a leading framework for cross platform web app development, it enables developers to build touch-optimized web applications that run seamlessly on various mobile platforms.
Its important features include:
- Rich UI Components: Sencha Touch provides a wide array of pre-built, high-performance UI components such as buttons, lists, forms, and charts. These components are designed to offer a native-like user experience across different mobile devices.
- Touch-Optimized: As the name suggests, Sencha Touch is optimized for touch interactions, ensuring that mobile applications built with the framework deliver intuitive and responsive user experiences on touchscreen devices.
- MVC Architecture: Sencha Touch follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture pattern, which promotes a clean separation of concerns and facilitates code organization and maintenance. This architectural approach enhances development efficiency and scalability.
- Extensibility and Customization: Sencha Touch provides developers with a robust set of tools and APIs for extending and customizing the framework according to their specific project requirements. This flexibility allows for the creation of highly tailored and feature-rich mobile applications.
10. Kotlin Multiplatform
JetBrains, the creator of the Kotlin programming language, has developed Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), to enable Kotlin developers to share their Kotlin code across multiple platforms. It is an excellent multi-platform app development framework as it offers the best of native programming while letting you deploy your app code to diverse platforms like Linux, Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, etc.
Here are its key features:
- Shared Codebase: Kotlin Multiplatform allows developers to write shared business logic, data models, and networking code in Kotlin, which they can reuse across different platforms. This approach significantly reduces code duplication and improves code maintainability.
- Platform-Specific Implementations: While the core logic is shared, Kotlin Multiplatform provides mechanisms for writing platform-specific implementations or integrations when necessary. This allows developers to leverage platform-specific features and APIs while still benefiting from code sharing.
- Interoperability: Kotlin Multiplatform seamlessly interoperates with existing codebases written in Kotlin, Java, Swift, or Objective-C. This interoperability enables developers to gradually adopt KMP into their projects and leverage existing libraries and tools.
- Performance & Efficiency: Kotlin Multiplatform promotes code reuse and consistency by sharing code across platforms. This leads to improved development efficiency and reduced time-to-market. Additionally, Kotlin’s performance and conciseness contribute to the overall productivity of developers.
Conclusion
The cross-platform app development industry is in constant flux as new tools and technologies emerge every year. If you’re looking to choose one of these frameworks for cross-app development, it would be best first to identify your requirements and the resources you have. You can then make an informed decision about choosing a framework that best meets your needs.
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