Best Cross-Platform Tools for App Development

Over time, as new technologies emerged, the development of cross-platform apps has gotten a bit easier. The apps created this way are getting more flexible, powerful, and adaptable than ever. Yet, some challenges are still there:

1. limited tools for maintenance;
2. performance hiccups;
3. security concerns;
4. poorer user experience due to performance glitches, etc.

Yes, some challenges still get in the way. However, the tech world has been evolving rapidly, thus making the process simpler. Besides, now, businesses can delegate this matter to a professional IT outsourcing company like Develux to save their teams' time. The company offers high-quality IT outsourcing services for a reasonable price. Thus, it can help cut the development costs and, at the same time, ensure the best results.

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5 Best Tools for Cross-Platform App Development

The modern world offers plenty of opportunities for seamless, quick, and simple app development. Not only is there a possibility to delegate the entire process to an IT outsourcing company, but there are also many other ways to make things easier.

Apart from turning to an IT outsourcing service, independent developers and companies can also use a wide range of tools. The latter simplifies the process, saves time, and cuts down the cost.

Recently, nTask has shared an updated list of 20+ great examples of such tools. Based on this list, as well as our own experience and experience of industry experts, we've compiled our own list. So, let's review the best tools for cross-platform app development for you to try.

Ionic

If you want to build applications for desktop, web, iOS, and Android using a single code base, then Ionic is a smart choice. This SDK uses Javascript, HTML, and CSS to let you develop apps for mobile devices.

The biggest benefit of Ionic is that it is very simple to use. Its main focus falls on the UI and overall look of applications. The SDK features a large library of high-quality, pre-designed elements, including themes, typography, and more that make it easy to create unique designs.

Some of the most well-known applications created using this framework include Nationwide, Pacifica, ChefSteps, and others.

React Native

It's hard to believe that there are still people who haven't heard of React Native. This software has gained an excellent reputation as one of the best tools for building native applications using JavaScript.

React Native is extremely versatile, which is one of its strongest sides. It allows writing modules in different languages, including Java, Swift, and C. Also, unlike many other API frameworks, it allows video processing and image editing. Finally, it can convert your source code into the native elements faster than most other software.

Just to confirm the trustworthiness of React Native, look at such well-known apps like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Uber, Skype, and many others - they all were built using this framework.

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Xamarin

Speaking of the best software for cross-platform development, it's impossible not to mention Xamarin. Just like React Native, Xamarin has gained wide popularity all across the world. This software enables you to easily create single-code applications that will be compatible with various platforms, including Android, Windows, and iOS.

Xamarin uses various native interfaces, which allow you to create apps that feel and look like native ones. The software allows you to achieve the same high performance, though keeping about 75% of the code the same, regardless of the chosen platform.

It also comes with a wide range of great features, including code editing, debugging, and UI design, which helps speed up the whole development process.

Flutter

If you are looking for the best software development kit, then Flutter is a worthy option to consider. This is a great and quite popular SDK that makes cross-platform development intuitive and fast. Flutter enables you to create applications for a variety of platforms, including web, desktop, iOS, and Android, keeping the codebase almost identical.

The programming language used by Flutter is Dart, which will be very easy to use for developers who specialize in Java or JavaScript.

The biggest benefit of this tool is that it has a handy widget feature, with lots of pre-configured widgets already built into the SDK. This allows you to enhance the look of your applications. To make it feel like a native app, you can add all the basic features (e.g. icons, scrolling, fonts, navigation, etc.).

Some famous applications built using this SDK are Alibaba and Google Ads.

Appcelerator

The name of this tool speaks for itself. Appcelerator is all about accelerating the process of app building. Compared to many other cross-platform development tools, Appcelerator makes the whole process much simpler and quicker. No wonder why it's so popular.

The core function of Appcelerator is to help you craft cloud-like-performing and native-like applications for various platforms with a single JavaScript code. The two biggest pros of this tool are the high compatibility and excellent quality. In terms of compatibility, the tool enables you to build for any OS and any device.

The point of quality is also worth mentioning. The framework offers you a wide range of features. It makes it easy to build, test, and adjust your apps to ensure the best performance.

Wrapping Up

Even though some challenges were mentioned at the beginning, the benefits of cross-platform app development make them fade. In turn, you gain access to:

1. extended outreach;
2. lower costs;
3. shorter time to market;
4. code reusability;
5. uniform design;
6. simplified cloud integration;
7. faster development process.

All these benefits make cross-platform app development worth attention. Besides, think about the wide availability of IT outsourcing services like Develux. They help businesses overcome all related challenges at reasonable prices. So, it really makes sense to adopt this method.

This list offers only a few of the many tools available out there, but they are the ones that bring the most benefits. Each of the options on this list deserves to give it a try, so, we hope that this article was helpful!

Lesley Montoya

Update 14 February 2021