Cross-Platform Development - My Thoughts

The mobile world of today is divided. As of June 2023, phones running iOS make up 57.38% of devices in the U.S., while those running Android make up 42.15%¹.

As a result, when looking at developing a mobile app, most people want to be able to support both platforms in order to maximize the market available to them. For a long time, this was a huge pain point for developers and startups because it meant you had to build the same set of features in two different places, doubling the time and effort (and funding) required to get your product out there.

But then, the world of cross-platform development came on the scene. Products began to appear that allowed you to build an app once, and have it be compatible with both iOS and Android. Nowadays, there are several viable options for this purpose: Flutter, React Native, Cordova, Ionic, and Xamarin, for example.

These platforms allow many startups to bring an MVP to market much more quickly and at a lower price than before, lowering the barrier to entry in the field. Despite this, however, many people still choose to develop apps natively (i.e. developing iOS and Android apps separately). Making the decision to go cross-platform vs. native is a very significant one for many businesses, and it will depend largely on the pros and cons of each approach for your particular use case.

General Guidelines for Cross-Platform vs. Native Apps

Let's look at some of the basic pros and cons of each approach:

Cross-Platform Apps

As we've already discussed, one of the big benefits of cross-platform apps is simply the speedier development process. However, it also has some subtler advantages that may also benefit your business: for one thing, they can be written using popular web technologies such as JavaScript and React that many, many developers are familiar with. Since the web has been around longer and is relatively easier to start developing on, there are a far greater number of developers who know React than who know the native mobile development languages and frameworks. Thus, it is often easier to find someone who will build you an app using React Native than it would be to find native app developers.

Another benefit of cross-platform apps is that it's much easier to maintain a consistent design between Android and iOS, which allows for a much faster rate of iteration and change as the app evolves.

That being said, there are some inherent downsides to this approach. Depending on your use case and the cross-platform framework you are using, the performance of your app may suffer a bit compared to a native approach. This is because of the extra work that goes into interfacing with the native libraries that power the app. In many cases, it's not particularly noticeable, but if your app includes a lot of unique UI elements and animations, it may become a bigger factor.

Additionally, because these frameworks have to provide a generic interface that works on both platforms, they leave you unable to leverage the full power of the operating system. Features that are unique to either iOS or Android, or that are implemented very differently between the two, will often be inaccessible through a cross-platform framework.

Finally, while it can be nice to have a consistent look and feel in your app, users often feel more "at home" with apps that mimic the style of their host operating system. iOS has a particular style to it, and cross-platform functionality often means branching off to a certain degree from that style. The same goes for Android.

Native Apps

The biggest concern with going for a native app approach is the increase in development time and budget. From my experience, if you opt to build your app this way, you will almost certainly come out with an app that feels more at home and integrated with the operating system. Performance is generally better, and you have the ability to take full advantage of all device features - those little touches like custom haptic feedback, long press actions, and other platform-specific behaviors can make quite a difference.

The question for you will be, is it worth the additional time, energy, and money?

So, how do you choose?

In my consulting business, I typically am working with startups in their very early stages of growth. They don't always have a lot of capital, and the idea they have may be time-sensitive if they want to get first-mover advantage. For these reasons, I most often recommend going for a cross-platform framework. It's more than possible to get a very high-quality app with all the most important features to your business by using a cross-platform framework. You'll move fast, and get results.

Every once in a while, though, there's an app that has different needs. The more unique your app (and specifically your app's UI) is, the more seriously you may want to consider native development. For example, iOS and Android devices have very different capabilities in terms of machine learning or augmented reality. If those things make up a substantial component of your app offering, it's likely going to be worth it to build it out separately on each platform (in some cases, you may only be able to build it on one platform).

Conclusion

Cross-platform development has opened up many new possibilities for those looking to create mobile apps. I'm a huge fan of using these frameworks and taking advantage of the strengths and benefits they offer, and I've found they are more than adequate for what most people are trying to accomplish.

That being said, choosing between that and a native approach is a big, important decision to make at the beginning of your development process, so if you're still not sure where your app lands, you'll want to do some more research.

If you have questions you'd like answered, I'd love to help! I offer consulting services to help you navigate these subjects and find what will work best for your business. If you're interested, consider signing up for a free 15-minute consultation so we can start a discussion!