Reasons To Choose Cross-Platform App Development Over Native App Development
As per the current market scenario, most people prefer using online options especially mobile applications for almost everything today. Businesses are heavily driven by mobile user perspectives now. And according to a current Stats report, nearly 65 per cent of mobile users use mobile apps for whatever they need. Also, people spend more than 60 per cent of their total mobile usage time on using different mobile applications. The Stats reports have already made it evident that mobile applications have become an inseparable and undeniable part of people’s life now and act as the fuel for rapid business growth. This has already made millions of applications for more than one platform. And the rest are striving to get their applications built as soon as possible by a reliable and experienced app development company.
However, when it comes to application development, most business owners get stuck between options like native application development or cross-platform app development. But as per the research and studies, it has been seen that most of the businesses have opted for cross-platform application development till now. And there are many reasons for this. Businesses now want to reach out to the maximum number of mobile users irrespective of what OS or what mobile device the user is using. The Google Play Store is flooded with over 3 million applications and the Apple App Store has got more than 2.5 million apps. With this huge count, most of the businesses prefer having a presence for both Android and iOS.
Though both native application development and cross-platform application development approach can help you get an app built for multiple platforms, a smarter and wiser choice can be the second one that is the cross-platform app development approach. And here are the key reasons why.
But before diving into the reasons, let’s see the major difference between cross-platform and native apps.
The difference in terms of development basics: – One of the major challenges that developers often face with native application development is having to write and execute separate codebases for different targeted platforms. When building a native application, developers need to write the codes for each of the native platforms right from scratch and use the native tools and IDEs. Whereas, with the cross-platform application development approach, developers can just write a single codebase and execute the same for building the application for all the platforms you wish to target.
Operational difference: A native application can be run or operated on the specific platform for which it is built whereas a cross-platform application can be operated and run on multiple targeted platforms.
Now, let’s take a look at the major reasons why choosing cross-platform app development can be a smarter choice than having a native application.
Simple and faster app development cycle:
In the cross-platform app development approach, a single codebase is used across multiple platforms and that’s what makes the entire app development process simpler and faster. In other words, with this approach, developers get the opportunity to reuse the same codes, which also reduces the effort.
Cuts down the development costs:
As the same codebase, tools, and IDEs are used for building the application for multiple targeted platforms, this reduces the time of development, which in turn, reduces the development costs well. This approach also optimises resource utilisation, thereby, bringing down the application development cost further. Considering this point, you can also say that with a reduced cost of development, the cross-platform application gives you the opportunity to reach a wider audience at the same time.
Quick MVP or Minimum Viable Product:
Minimum Viable Product or MVP is a vital part of the application development environment. The centralised and reduced effort required for cross-platform application development also significantly reduces the time and effort required to launch the MVP as well. The single codebase is used for delivering the MVP in less time and then you can add more features to it later on as well.
Ease of integration:
It is much easier to support cross-platform integration with the use of a cloud environment.
Code duplication:
A lot of fragmented codes get generated because of native application development. Whereas, with cross-platform application development, developers write and reuse the same code base. This benefit of code reusability or code duplication also reduces the time and effort required for debugging the codes as developers only have to debug a single codebase to ensure a flawless and bug-free application for multiple platforms.
With the rapid pace at which the application development landscape is changing and getting advanced, it is becoming more and more challenging for the developers and businesses to cope up with them. However, after a lot of evaluation and analysis, it has been seen that cross-platform applications can result in more ROI and can widen the user base as well, letting your application run on multiple platforms.
