Perhaps the most intimidating question for marketers and developers is what is the best app development platform for a mobile app. The mobile app development platform that you choose will determine how successful your application can be.
Choosing from cross-platform or native mobile app platforms can be confusing, as both have a strong set of features. So which platform should you start with; Android or iOS? These are questions that can keep you engaged.
Table of Contents
- How to Pick The Right Mobile App Development Platform
- Gaining Insight into the Various Mobile App Development Platforms
- Final Say
How to Pick the Right Mobile App Development Platform
Any business can remain competitive with mobile applications. The mobile application development market is soaring at a pace of CARG 15% and anticipated to reach 100 USD billion by the year 2022. Engineering a strong mobile application is possible by analyzing which platform is best for mobile applications. So, you need to consider the following while choosing the right platform:
- Features: When confused about the mobile app development platform, it is advisable to start with the features. Consider the features that you will need for your mobile app, along with user experience. Following this, you must compare these along with the capabilities of a particular platform. For instance, when you aim to develop a custom app with the native look and feel, solutions like WP, iOS, and Android are the best. However, you can choose cross-platform mobile app development if you want an all-inclusive app. But the features that come with easy implementation for native ways might not receive support from cross-platform solutions.
- Devices that Require Support: Devices that receive support from Android count nearly 160 items. Android struggles to enhance the number, but Apple carries a distinct strategy. The latest iOS of Apple supports 15 devices, among which are editions of iPods and iPads. These two are the chief market holders, and it will be quite a challenge to adapt an application for each gadget. While moving forward with cross-platform mobile app development, you must adapt it to all the devices together.
- User Expectations: Users carry particular expectations from applications on their Smartphone devices. The expectations largely depend on the mobile app development platform and the creator. If your aim is making the users feel satiated, then you need to consider those hopes. For example, Apple is reputed for upscale innovations and quality. The brand followers are loyal, but they anticipate getting hold of extreme usability and trendy design from the applications they utilize. On the contrary, a lot of foot-draggings are witnessed when it comes to Android application users. These users are not interested in investing money in in-app purchases. Android users prefer freebies more. So when you are contemplating how to choose the right mobile platform for app development, keeping user expectations in mind is paramount 😀
- Target Audience: If you seek the best technology for mobile app development, then one of the most important factors is the target audience. Conducting research is important for creating the correct customer profile. In addition, focusing on the geographic criteria is vital. Platforms can vary broadly by region. For example, when you emphasize Europe, you need to know that most Europeans tend to go with Android devices and not iPhones. On the other hand, Americans can use both, but in Asia, it can differ from one country to the other. Make sure to research such facts while choosing your mobile app development platform.
- Development Cost: We will now learn about the development cost. You might believe platform mobile app development cost to be cost-effective. It is because instead of paying numerous developers, you might appoint a single cross-platform engineer. It is an option that will attract you, But as you dig a bit deeper, you will find a different scenario.
Now, let’s learn what hybrid apps are. They are a web page optimized for use on numerous devices covered in a native container. It enables them to access native features. However, hybrid applications can fail in the context of the development of functions such as video live streaming or image processing. Integration of few native features is impossible. With cross-platform, the pay is less, and the output is also less.
Gaining Insight into the Various Mobile App Development Platforms
After we became familiar with the important factors for choosing the mobile app development platform for your app, it is now time to learn about the merits and demerits of each platform 💪
- Native iOS: If the question is about picking the finest native platform for your application, then you will come to terms with Android and iOS in front of you. Let’s start with iOS first.
It is a closed platform that throws light to the fact that Apple has complete control over the programming language, the devices it can release, and the apps it can publish. These include strict guidelines. Not only must you adhere to the rules, but gear up for constant transformations as well. Updating the application to the latest OS will be an important task from time to time. When you are a product owner, you must constantly communicate with the developer to update the application as per the latest requisite.
When revenue is your concern, but you still want the digital business to grow, you must know that the iOS device is highly expensive. These attract users to invest money in apps. You can choose iOS development while contemplating cross-platform mobile app development and multi-platform mobile app development if your only objective is to earn income from an app.
- Native Android: If you choose Android, you are choosing the best mobile app development platform. The number of people who are currently using Android devices is uncountable. If your device constructs an Android application, you are gaining access to a humongous amount of target users. The OS is a flexible one and can function on several gadgets like watches, Smartphones, TV boxes, etc. You can get hold of a pool of early followers if you decide to publish your application on this marketplace.
If anything is more popular than the Android world, it is a programming language called Java. The platform is not very challenging to adapt to, making it easier for you to start working with an expert developer who can convert ideas to reality.
Google constantly crafts and polishes the apt development tools that simplify programmers to construct apps of varied complexity heights.
- Cross-Platform: The amalgamation of native plug-ins and HTML5 gives rise to a cross-platform application. Most people regard this mobile app development platform to be the most cost-effective one. One of the most reputed cross-platform networks is Appcelerator that assures 20% faster development compared to native languages, huge cost reduction, reclaim of almost 90% code that is developed and many more.
So with the availability of various supported devices, UI frameworks for implementing a complex feature, and several ready-made solutions, cross-platform development seems to be the best option.
With this, supporting an HTML5 app is also simpler when compared to a native one. However, there are a lot of catches that you need to bear in mind.
Several cross-platform frameworks are available, but each carries its restrictions. Before you choose the best technology for mobile app development, you must study the possibilities first.
Along with this, not every feature will include easy implementation with the assistance of a cross-platform framework. Many believe that complex functions like push notifications and image processing require the assistance of native solutions for performing impeccably.
- Bugs: If you get the answer as cross-platform mobile app development after asking which platform is best for mobile applications, you must be prepared to be friends with the bugs 🐞 Fixing the bugs is easy when it comes to native applications. But debugging chances are low if bugs are found in cross-platform apps.
- Look and Feel: Presenting amazing native designs to users is not a possibility with a cross-platform framework. Tools like Apache Cordova are considered the finest tools for cross-platform mobile app development, but you cannot create trendy designs even with this. So here you can forget about the native look and feel. You must be aware of every drawback and merit of both cross-platform and native solutions so that you can pick the best for project development.
Final Say
Did you expect us to tell you the name of the same mobile app development platform that you need for your project in the concluding part? Unfortunately, giving you one name is an impossible task 🙈
We know how distinct iOS and Android are, but yet there can be no particular winner. You must base your selection on the specifics of the application that you wish to develop. It would help if you emphasized the application’s unique needs.