How Cross-Platform App Development is a Better Choice for Any Business?

A few years back, cross-platform app development was considered to be risky, less reliable, difficult to update, and less user-friendly. However, this perception has changed with the development of its framework. Today, worldwide businesses commonly prefer cross-platform apps. This enables the apps to get maximum exposure as it can target both Android and iOS platforms.

Yet, whether to go for a native app or choose a cross-platform app is still a challenging decision for many businesses, but nowadays, there is more preference given to cross-platform products. This article explains some of its major advantages.

Top advantages of cross-platform app development

Reusable Code

The developers don’t need to write a fresh code every time, they can reuse the same code for all platforms. The concept of ‘write once, run everywhere’ eliminates the repetitive tasks of the developers and simplifies their work. The single codebase can be used again and again, saving time and efforts of the development team.

Cost-effective

Thanks to cross-platform mobile application development that the companies don’t need to spend a fortune on a lot of resources, new tools, and technologies. When a single code is used across different platforms, businesses need to invest just once. It is a one-time investment and very cost-effective.

Faster time to market

Since the code is designed only once, it consumes less time and gets completed faster. It reduces the efforts of developers to a huge extent and allows them to adhere to the deadlines. The businesses can ensure timely delivery of the final app to their clients.

Easy Implementation

Several cross-platform app development frameworks like Appcelerator, PhoneGap Sencha Touch, etc. are designed to work with scripting-level languages. These frameworks offer solutions which help the development team to easily make changes. For example, when Appcelerator is used, the developers can write the code in HTML5 and easily converted for any platform as per the client needs. It makes the implementation easier and synchronizing updates for all mobile devices also becomes easier.

Uniformity

Cross-platform app development ensures sameness and uniformity in the overall look of the apps across different platforms because the same code is used. User experience is one of the most important consideration in an app and the same codebase maintains consistency in it. If the end-users need to use different methods to access the same app, chances are that they find it cumbersome or will avoid using it. So, cross-platform apps are preferred by many clients globally.

Easy maintenance and deployment

It is easy to run a single code over all platforms and easy to make any changes and deploy the code. Even the updates of the app can be synchronized across all platforms and devices with ease. If any bug is found in the code, it needs to be fixed just once, while saving time and money of the development teams.

Ideal for prototyping

Cross-platform app development is ideal for prototyping as it is faster, budget-friendly and releases the app on different platforms at the same time. The businesses who want to test if their product could succeed in the market, development of a prototype is the best idea.

React Native is an open source framework for cross-platform mobile app development which allows you to develop Android and iOS apps with JavaScript and a few other native component APIs. It is advantageous for prototyping and allows the start-ups and other businesses to get a high-quality app at a minimal cost.

Wider reach and easy marketing

Today, many businesses, small or big, are developing their dedicated apps as these apps serve to be one of the best tools for promotion and marketing. The cross-platform apps are reachable to a wide range of audiences as they target both- Android and iOS at the same time and so, many businesses find them advantageous.

Summary:

It is a challenging decision for the businesses to decide whether to go for native, cross-platform or hybrid app development. Businesses should try to understand their customer’s needs, diverse mobile devices used by them, coverage of supported platforms, customer demographics, etc. factors along with their budget, while deciding which platform to choose. Yet, looking at the advantages mentioned here, cross-platform app development seems to be the right choice for diverse audiences.