Are you a fan of apps that can be used anywhere at any time and on any platform? If yes, you might be interested in reading and knowing about the cross-platform development agency that takes the hurdle of developing such apps. Mobile phones have exponentially increased in the last two decades, where people and businesses want to connect to build relationships or promote brands. Since digitalization was at its peak, there was an increasing demand for applications that could connect them. However, the main issues came when the same apps had to be created for different platforms.
We all know the different platforms available, but two of them, Android and iOS, have the largest audience. Comparing them both, we also know the audience for Android apps exceeds the other one. The main problem arose when developers had to create the same app for two different platforms as their functions or the app coding wasn’t compatible enough to be used on both. It was time for a new solution to mitigate the issue and provide a cost-effective solution. It was that cross-platform apps came into being to help businesses and audiences.
What is a cross-platform app?
Like native cross-platform mobile apps are software or applications that can be used on multiple platforms. Though building the backend of these apps wasn’t an easy task, with a lot of research and experimentation, developers were able to create such apps. Now companies can use a single code to run apps on various platforms simultaneously. This meant developers no longer had to create different codes from scratch for Android and iOS. It saved time and cut down the expense. However, using the same code for every platform doesn’t mean using it exactly. The engineers and developers need to slightly change the code to make it applicable for all platforms.
The code once and run on all platform technique was a revolution that gave a new perspective to the app and mobile development industry. Since it was a challenging task, it gave rise to cross platform app development agencies with a team of specialized developers mastered in both operating systems to resolve issues promptly. Comparing it to native apps is a complex task but has saved a lot of time and money. Users no longer have to download different apps separately, saving them the storage space for more critical tasks. Anyhow with time, the development of such applications has become relatively easier.
They have solved portability issues and guaranteed high performance at a lower development cost. Since the users need to download the app once, it has made developing, launching and maintaining the app much more effortless. Besides this, it can target a wider audience as the same app with the same features is used on different platforms with a diverse audience. For example, iOS and Android users use the same app and leverage its services, whereas, previously, only one platform knew about the app or brand.
4 New Approaches to Cross Platforms
- Hybrid Mobile Apps: The cross-platform app development has introduced hybrid mobile applications where developers code once as an HTML5 or JavaScript and wrap it up in a native device. It gives the users a native-like feel.
- RMAD: It stands for rapid mobile app development, where the app development agency uses code-free programming technology or tools to build and maintain internal apps efficiently. The prime purpose of these apps is to identify emerging or existing business issues and mitigate them on time to avoid bigger problems.
- Windows Universal App: These apps use a single codebase for all Windows devices. It means the same application smoothly runs on Windows PC, smartwatch, mobile phone, tablet, etc.
- PWAs: It stands for progressive web apps, which are websites that look and function like mobile applications. Here they use the native features where users no longer have to use an app store to make a purchase or download the software.
Why should businesses hire developers?
Hiring developers or an agency to develop smart apps is always advised. This is because they have the skills and experience with the required knowledge to create efficient apps with any framework. Secondly, they build apps in less time than the time taken by businesses or beginners. The cross platform application development agency or developer specializes in developing feature-rich apps compatible with multiple operating systems. However, they usually offer their services for Android and iOS devices. Here each app has similar features and functions.
These agencies or professionals have the nag of handling and building apps quickly at a budget-friendly price. Moreover, they analyze the business and its requirements before integrating a framework. Many even go a bit further and build wearable and IoT apps. Besides this, hiring them is the best option if you want a professional app with an interactive UI design and guaranteed success. But if you are a startup and do not have the budget, you can always search for developers that charge less or opt for online app builders that require little or no knowledge about the apps.
Its reusable code, cloud integration, customization and uniform design are not easy tasks to achieve, especially with some drawbacks that might require professional assistance. These apps are in every way but can face glitches with their performance which might lead to low user experiences. This can be a hurdle in maintaining compliance across the operating systems or devices. Thus showing why developers are an integral part of the development process.
Conclusion
A cross-platform development agency has recently gained popularity to decrease the complexity of developing similar applications for different platforms. It often led to high costs and a waste of time, so to tackle the situation, developers created cross platform apps that used one code to run on all operating systems. However, they might not be a good option for businesses dealing with sensitive data or information. Therefore, hiring an agency is vital to avoid issues and speed up development.
