Prosperity Software has been developing mobile apps for 4 years. During that time we were asked numerous times about cross-platform development hints to simplify the decision-making process. In this article, we summarised our experience to help you with your research.
Cross-platform development is still considered a trend in software development. In 2020, we saw new frameworks entering the market, robust growth of Flutter, and React Native strengthening its position to accelerate the app development process. With these changes, however, the key things businesses should take into account when building cross-platform apps are yet the same.
1. User profile
Customer-centricity is the key — the good old rule works here best. Research your customers' profiles. Keep in mind their geography, since it matters for their device preferences and shopping activities through the Play Store and App Store.
As StatCounter says, European users favour the Android platform, while the US market shares broad support for iOS devices in 2020. Most likely, in 2021 this tendency will keep.
2. Technology stack
There are plenty of cross-platform frameworks with their pros and cons. Learn Flutter by Google, React Native by Facebook, and progressive web applications' potential and limitations. Talk to experts to identify the technology stack which suits your business needs.
Both Flutter and React Native have millions of community supporters. They actively develop their solutions, which means we should expect enhancements to take full advantage of their systems.
3. Features
The more precise your scope is, the better for the project.
If you plan complex features and integrations, be careful with the product quality. Very often what works for native apps — like video streaming, large image processing or IoT integration — can work with multiple issues or even fail for a cross-platform app.
Just from the project kick-off, ensure all your priority features are possible to implement within your cross-platform solution.
4. UI/UX
UI/UX plays a vital role in mobile development. Users don't really care what's under the hood — they just expect a handy app with high performance. In cross-platform app development, however, sophisticated UI features work poorly. Communicate your design expectations with the team, so that you won't fix anything at the delivery phase.
5. Budget and timeline
Cross-platform apps are associated with cost-effective software development. And it's true at some point. You pay less, since you have one team instead of two, and there is no need for testing across numerous devices, so you get your app faster — but with fewer functionalities.