Availing a single codebase to be developed for multiple platforms requires cross-platform development.
A monstrous proportion of apps are being developed, deployed, and downloaded every month across platforms such as iOS, Android, and Windows. In its entirety, native app development proved to be of significance for companies looking to develop apps that occupy resources on the device and in their making too.
But, for organizations finding out ways to make mobile apps feasible, feature-rich, and cost-effective, cross-platform app development came to the rescue. The cross-platform app development landscape is ripe with activities as enterprises increasingly opt for the apps that seamlessly run on both Android and iOS devices- the two mobile operating systems that have captured majority of the marketplace – Android rules over 85.9%, while iOS has captured 14.1% as of the first quarter of 2018 – according to a report revealing the global mobile OS market share in sales to consumers by statista.
Xamarin and React Native are the top frameworks for cross-platform app development. Thus, we examine both to help you make an informed decision about your next mobile app.
Xamarin uses C# for building a native UI codebase across all major mobile platforms. Developers can not only build native app interfaces using Xamarin but also sweeps over the limitations of hybrid apps.
React Native development offers developers the exceptional ability to build native mobile apps using Javascript. The absence of a steep learning curve makes Javascript, and consequently React Native, popular amongst developers.
Cross-platform app market is estimated to increase from $25.19 Billion in 2015 to $80.45 Billion in 2020.
Here are some factors to consider when picking your favourite from the two most popular cross-platform app development frameworks-
# Framework style – React Native employs the new one-way data flow that accompanies React. The framework can only be improved for productivity marginally. In contrast to this, Xamarin works in the MVVM framework style, that is, anyone used to ASP.NET MVC, Web Forms, or any other MV* development, would certainly prefer Xamarin.
# Components – With React Native app development, you can find all the components in nom, with proper documentation. However, Xamarin components are divided into NuGet and component store, with documentation that can be substantially improved.
# Development environment – React Native offers developers the freedom to choose an IDE they want. React Native development also features hot loading which eliminates the need for a full application reload after code modification. Xamarin, on the other hand, allows developers to write code for iPhone on Windows and compile it for Mac. However, the developer would need a separate platform for the build.
# Community support – The community assistance found in Xamarin is ready-to-use and plenty. React Native being a relatively new technology, would need some time developing the same robust community of developers.
Vinfotech helps you to decide the right mobile app development platform you would start with, defining your requirements. Developing the exact expectations can help you decide which of these two cross-platform app development frameworks would suit your needs best. We are open, come discuss with us.
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