The availability of numerous mobile operating systems in the market has always posed a challenge of creating the singular app for various platforms. The problem of recreating an app, a process that includes intense re-coding and financial inputs, has finally been resolved by the introduction of Cross Platform App Development Tools.
Cross Platform mobile development has proved to be a revolutionary technological advancement as it benefits both developers and investors of any particular mobile application. Cross Platform mobile development refers to a technique in which a single codebase is developed for app that can be used on different operating systems.
Previously, developers had to create different source code for the same app in order to make it compatible with various mobile operating systems. For Example: an app that runs on iOS will have a different coding structure than that of what it will have while being run on Android. There is a simple answer to the transition i.e. the difference between the architecture of both iOS and Android. iOS and Android follow completely different ways of developing codes in order to create apps for their respective operating systems and the duplication of codes requires constant tweaking by the developers. The introduction of Cross-Platform mobile development tools has now made this task much easier.
The need for Cross Platform Apps:
Before digging deep into the best framework for your application, let us get familiar with the basics of the types of apps.
Native Apps
An app can be termed as native if it has been developed for usage on a particular device or platform. The fact that a native app is built for a particular device and its OS is followed by the ability of such apps being able to use device specific hardware and software. For ex: A native app can utilize the latest technology available on your device such as the Global Positioning System (GPS)
A native app can be installed directly on a mobile device and the developers are supposed to create separate apps version for various mobile operating systems. Internet connectivity may or may not be required for the proper functioning of native apps.
Hybrid Apps
An application that consists of the properties of both native and web application is known as Hybrid Application. These apps can function with or without the device being connected. Hybrid apps can integrate with the web-based services as well as the device’s file system. A hybrid app also has an embedded browser that improves the access to dynamic online content. There are various web apps that can be considered hybrid apps such as the online banking apps or apps that are stored locally like MS Word.
Various Platforms Suitable for Developing Mobile Apps:
PhoneGap
PhoneGap happens to be the most popular cross-platform mobile development tool that has the capability of handling app for iOS, Android, Symbian, Blackberry and Palm. This platform is based upon distributed technologies and web shortcuts like HTML, JavaScripts and CSS3. The property of PhoneGap to leverage developers with the access to advanced hardware components like GPS tracker and accelerometer make it quite efficient.
Additionally, PhoneGap also offers an Adobe AIR app and online training courses that help the developers to access native API and build more apps on its own platform.
Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch was one of the initial HTML5 mobile JavaScript framework that showed native properties on iOS, Android and Blackberry. The UI offered is incredibly beautiful and the data management system is up to the mark.
Titanium
Titanium is a development platform by Appcelerator that helps in the development of native mobile, tablet and desktop applications through the various web programming languages like HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Ruby and Python. Almost 1000 native apps are developed over the Titanium development platform per month. Titanium also provides its users with the access to more than 300 APIs along with location information.
The apps developed in Appcelerator can be hardware based and there is a choice of storing the data on the device or over cloud.
Xamarin
Xmarin is a C# based mobile development platform in which the code is written generally for iOS and Android and compiled using different methodologies when it comes to deployment. It is quite useful when the work is defined among a team of various developers. Xmarin allows the calling of native APIs in the resulting application. The process of compilation in Xmarin is preceded by execution of code on a .NET framework at runtime and the assignment of a native dialect of either Android or iOS.
MoSync
MoSync is great tool for the development of cross-platform apps; its standard kit includes libraries for common technologies. The best feature of MoSync is that it allows native apps to be ported to iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Linux mobile platforms with ease. The design of MoSync is eclipse-like and supports C/C++, PHP, Python, Ruby, Javascript, and Java.
Previously, developers had to create different source code for the same app in order to make it compatible with various mobile operating systems. For Example: an app that runs on iOS will have a different coding structure than that of what it will have while being run on Android. There is a simple answer to the transition i.e. the difference between the architecture of both iOS and Android. iOS and Android follow completely different ways of developing codes in order to create apps for their respective operating systems and the duplication of codes requires constant tweaking by the developers. The introduction of Cross-Platform mobile development tools has now made this task much easier.
The need for Cross Platform Apps:
- Using cross platform one can generate a common source code that can be used to develop apps upon various platforms.
- No need to tweak the codes for each native platform.
- Apps will not require constant revision.
- One can control the different version of apps without losing track of semantics deployed.
- Cost of developing apps reduced by large amounts.
Before digging deep into the best framework for your application, let us get familiar with the basics of the types of apps.
Native Apps
An app can be termed as native if it has been developed for usage on a particular device or platform. The fact that a native app is built for a particular device and its OS is followed by the ability of such apps being able to use device specific hardware and software. For ex: A native app can utilize the latest technology available on your device such as the Global Positioning System (GPS)
A native app can be installed directly on a mobile device and the developers are supposed to create separate apps version for various mobile operating systems. Internet connectivity may or may not be required for the proper functioning of native apps.
Hybrid Apps
An application that consists of the properties of both native and web application is known as Hybrid Application. These apps can function with or without the device being connected. Hybrid apps can integrate with the web-based services as well as the device’s file system. A hybrid app also has an embedded browser that improves the access to dynamic online content. There are various web apps that can be considered hybrid apps such as the online banking apps or apps that are stored locally like MS Word.
Various Platforms Suitable for Developing Mobile Apps:
PhoneGap
PhoneGap happens to be the most popular cross-platform mobile development tool that has the capability of handling app for iOS, Android, Symbian, Blackberry and Palm. This platform is based upon distributed technologies and web shortcuts like HTML, JavaScripts and CSS3. The property of PhoneGap to leverage developers with the access to advanced hardware components like GPS tracker and accelerometer make it quite efficient.
Additionally, PhoneGap also offers an Adobe AIR app and online training courses that help the developers to access native API and build more apps on its own platform.
Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch was one of the initial HTML5 mobile JavaScript framework that showed native properties on iOS, Android and Blackberry. The UI offered is incredibly beautiful and the data management system is up to the mark.
Titanium
Titanium is a development platform by Appcelerator that helps in the development of native mobile, tablet and desktop applications through the various web programming languages like HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Ruby and Python. Almost 1000 native apps are developed over the Titanium development platform per month. Titanium also provides its users with the access to more than 300 APIs along with location information.
The apps developed in Appcelerator can be hardware based and there is a choice of storing the data on the device or over cloud.
Xamarin
Xmarin is a C# based mobile development platform in which the code is written generally for iOS and Android and compiled using different methodologies when it comes to deployment. It is quite useful when the work is defined among a team of various developers. Xmarin allows the calling of native APIs in the resulting application. The process of compilation in Xmarin is preceded by execution of code on a .NET framework at runtime and the assignment of a native dialect of either Android or iOS.
MoSync
MoSync is great tool for the development of cross-platform apps; its standard kit includes libraries for common technologies. The best feature of MoSync is that it allows native apps to be ported to iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Linux mobile platforms with ease. The design of MoSync is eclipse-like and supports C/C++, PHP, Python, Ruby, Javascript, and Java.