The problem of choice has recently overtaken us almost everywhere. It’s when choosing kitchen accessories, when buying a car or when choosing shoes. She also did not pass by the business sector in terms of mobile development. Let’s take a look at what happens most often when someone has an idea to develop a mobile application.

The bearer of the idea begins to frantically remember the familiar programmers to find out if someone will be able to implement his idea. As a result, he finds someone who agrees to the development. So as not to miss the opportunity to earn extra money, despite the apparent lack of the necessary competencies.

This is where the fun begins. These contractors don’t know what to do with clients who want to develop the first ever mobile app. They will not help them decide on which platform it is best to do it. For this device (phone or tablet), what should be in the application. And how it should behave.

The bearer of the idea is left to himself, because the selected contractor did not conduct any special research.

It often happens that the bearer of the idea turns to a familiar software development company, and not to a specialized mobile studio. Non-specialists usually cannot provide a full service for developing an application, from running an idea to its production and maintenance, and if they can, it is more expensive. It’s even worse if contractors hire a development subcontractor that they can manage even less than a human on staff. And then it can go to the point of stealing an idea.

All these problems could have been avoided by turning a person with an idea to specialists who are engaged only in mobile development. You can find app developers at freelance marketplaces like GoLance.

Cross-platform development features

Modern cross platform app development company allows you to create applications for various operating systems without the expense of narrow specialists on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc. There are several types of cross-platform development:

Using web frameworks

How it works: Every phone has a built-in browser that understands HTML markup, JavaScript and CSS styles. This allows you to create applications that, like websites, work through the built-in browser mechanism and do not require the developer to know special languages. All this is invisible to the user. He, as usual, downloads the application from the store, installs it on the device and sees the icon on the screen.

On a cross-platform framework

How it works: The framework supports several programming languages ​​other than the traditional ones for the platform. The code of such frameworks is first translated into bytecode, then run in a virtual machine, and only after that is executed by the device’s microprocessor. The main task of the framework is to provide the developer with its own separate functionality, which is somewhat similar to the native one, but this is just a slight similarity.

Of the advantages of cross-platform development, one can note the quick possibility of achieving the initial result, especially if the application needs to be created for several platforms at once and it does not require any special functions. But, unfortunately, there are more disadvantages:

The final product is tied to a specific development team. If the application is written on a little-known framework, there will be very big difficulties with the maintenance and development of the product. The bearer of the idea can become a “hostage” of the development team. This will dictate their terms on which they are ready to continue cooperation.

Unnecessary actions and calls generate errors. A framework is an additional layer that requires adaptation to a specific platform due to the impossibility of creating a truly universal tool for all systems at once. This adds unnecessary actions and calls, which can generate a set of various known and unknown errors.

Limited functionality. Framework from https://fireart.studio/mobile-ios-app-development-services/ provide a limited set of functions that can be “reproduced”. Each new function will have to be programmed from scratch and who knows how it will behave under different platforms. Thus, cross-platform development cannot use all the features of iOS, Android, Windows phone, otherwise it would be one platform.

Boxed development

The boxiness initially positions itself as the cheapest development. For less money, you will receive a final product. It will not differ in any way from the version developed by a specialist of the platform you need. The point is that product templates are created for various subject areas. This will then be adapted to a specific customer.

Let’s consider a simple example, when representatives of a café come to a contractor, wanting to create an application for ordering food online, or containing an announcement of all the activities of the institution. The box is customizable, i.e. is being adapted to the needs of a particular café. The application is painted in corporate colors, a logo is inserted, information is uploaded to the database, and the application is ready!

This approach really takes place. But is it only necessary if you want to strengthen your brand in the market and win a significant part of the audience? After all, many good ideas simply cannot be implemented with such an approach. Choosing this option, the customer should understand that his application will not stand out among hundreds of similar ones. And he will not become a trump card in the competition. This should automatically call into question the necessity and benefits of such an application.

Native development

Native development is the creation of an application in the native language of the chosen platform. And in my opinion, this is the healthiest approach of all presented in this review.

In addition to the cool product that will come out, a competent company of developers will tell you on which platform to make the application, with which devices to support, and how it should behave. And during development, it will protect you from the “flight of fantasy” effect. This can often harm the idea of ​​an application and change its original concept.

To sum up

Let’s do a little experiment. Let’s say you want to develop an application like a social network. Here a user will log in through the most popular social networks, upload a city map, take a photo, leave comments and share with friends. Development will be carried out for mobile devices on iOS 7 and Android 4.0.

It becomes clear that in the long term, the benefits of using any approach other than the native one are significantly reduced. Although you save on development costs, your application requires more time and money to maintain and change in the future, and its quality often leaves much to be desired. It is up to you which approach to choose when developing.