What is Mobile Application Development?

Mobile application development is the process of making software for smartphones, tablets and digital assistants, most commonly for the Android and iOS operating systems.

What is iOS app development?

iOS application development is the process of making mobile applications for Apple hardware, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The software is written in the Swift programming language or Objective-C and then deployed to the App Store for users to download.

Meet the developer requirements Before you write a single line of code in the iOS app development process, you need:

• An Apple Mac computer running the latest version of macOS.
• Xcode, which is the integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, available as a free download from the Mac App Store.
• An active Apple Developer account, which requires a USD 99 annual fee.

These three requirements work together: Only active members of the Apple Developer Program can post an app to the Apple App Store. Only apps signed and published by Xcode are eligible for submission to the App Store. Xcode runs only on macOS, and macOS runs only on Apple computers.

The good news is that Xcode offers much more than just the ability to sign and publish your completed app. The IDE contains a user interface designer, code editor, testing engine, asset catalogue and more—virtually everything you need for iOS app development.

What is Android development?

Android development refers to the process of creating mobile applications specifically for devices running the Android operating system. This includes smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, TVs, and other devices. Android development involves designing, coding, testing, and deploying applications tailored to the Android platform.

Android applications can be developed using several programming languages, but the most commonly used languages are Java and Kotlin. Java has been traditionally used for Android development, while Kotlin is gaining popularity due to its modern features and seamless integration with existing Java codebases.

Android Studio is the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android development. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for designing interfaces, writing code, debugging, and testing applications. Android Studio offers features like code completion, debugging tools, and an emulator for testing apps on virtual devices.

Android currently runs on over two billion devices worldwide, and developers have published nearly four million apps. Many of the major manufacturers use Android on their phones, including HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, and Sony.

What is cross-platform mobile development?

Cross-platform mobile development is an approach to developing software applications that are compatible with multiple mobile operating systems (OSes) or platforms. These apps are platform-agnostic, meaning they can be used regardless of the OS powering the mobile device.

Importance of cross-platform development in the mobile app industry

Cross-platform development plays a significant role in the mobile app industry for several reasons:

• Cost-effectiveness: Developing separate native apps for each platform (Android and iOS) can be costly and time-consuming. Cross-platform development allows businesses to save resources by writing code once and deploying it on multiple platforms. This approach reduces development costs, as fewer developers are needed, and it streamlines the maintenance process.
• Faster time to market: With cross-platform development, companies can release their apps on multiple platforms simultaneously, resulting in a faster time to market. This is particularly crucial in today’s competitive app market, where speed is essential to gain a competitive edge.
• Code reusability: Cross-platform frameworks enable code reuse across different platforms, allowing developers to leverage their existing knowledge and skills. This reusability reduces duplicate efforts and increases development efficiency.
• Wider audience reach: Android and iOS dominate the mobile operating system market, with over 98% of mobile users worldwide using one of these platforms. By utilizing cross-platform development, businesses can target a larger audience, as their apps can run on both Android and iOS devices without the need for separate development efforts.
• Consistent user experience: Cross-platform frameworks offer tools and libraries that allow developers to create apps with a native-like user experience. Users expect a seamless and consistent experience across different platforms, and cross-platform development helps achieve this by providing access to platform-specific features and APIs.
• Easier maintenance: Maintaining and updating separate native apps can be challenging and time-consuming. Cross-platform development simplifies the maintenance process, as developers only need to update a single codebase. It ensures that bug fixes, feature updates, and security patches are applied uniformly across all platforms.
• Larger talent pool: Cross-platform development frameworks often use popular programming languages like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, which are widely known and understood by developers. It expands the talent pool for companies looking to hire cross-platform developers, as they can tap into a broader range of expertise.

The most popular cross-platform solutions

The most popular cross-platform frameworks include Flutter, React Native, and Kotlin Multiplatform. Each of these frameworks has its own capabilities and strengths. Depending on the tool you use, your development process and the outcome may vary.

Flutter

Created by Google, Flutter is a cross-platform development framework that uses the Dart programming language. Flutter supports native features, such as location services, camera functionality, and hard drive access. If you need to create a specific app feature that's not supported in Flutter, you can write platform-specific code using the Platform Channel technology.

Apps built with Flutter need to share all of their UX and UI layers, which is why they may not always feel 100% native. One of the best things about this framework is its Hot Reload feature, which allows developers to make changes and view them instantly.

This framework may be the best option in the following situations:

• You want to share UI components between your apps but you want your applications to look close to native.
• The app is expected to put a heavy load on CPU/GPU and performance is likely to require optimization. *You need to develop an MVP (minimum viable product).

Among the most popular apps built with Flutter are Google Ads, Xianyu by Alibaba, eBay Motors, and Hamilton.

React Native

Facebook introduced React Native in 2015 as an open-source framework designed to help mobile engineers build hybrid native/cross-platform apps. It's based on ReactJS – a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. In other words, it uses JavaScript to build mobile apps for Android and iOS systems.

React Native provides access to several third-party UI libraries with ready-to-use components, helping mobile engineers save time during the development process. Like Flutter, it allows you to see all your changes immediately, thanks to the Fast Refresh feature.

You should consider using React Native for your app in the following cases:

• Your application is relatively simple and is expected to be lightweight.
• The development team is fluent in JavaScript or React.

Applications built with React Native include Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and Uber Eats.