Cross-platform development – how to get it right

9 February 2023 | Noor Khan

Cross-platform applications have traditionally been seen to be more complex and involved to create or develop, due to the necessity of building a program that does not just work on multiple platforms, but is reliable, stable, and updateable.

Not every app development is suited for cross-platform development, and the structure of the project should be carefully assessed before work commences.

Pros and cons of cross-platform development

Deciding on whether to stay on one platform (native) or to take a cross-platform approach is a decision that needs to be made fairly early on in the project, in order to make the best use of the resources and structure available.

Some of the reasons for and against choosing cross-platform software include:

Pros

Faster time to market for the deliverable - With typically 70% to 90% of code being reusable across different platforms, completion of multiple versions is speedier than creating a single native structure and then retrospectively redeveloping it for other OS.
Standard web technologies can be utilised to further extend the app availability - Because coding language and software such as HTML5 and CSS are used on the web, and are not platform specific, any apps developed using these structures can be easily converted into a web-based app as well.
Cost effective way of deploying on multiple platforms - By creating an app as a cross-platform development (rather than as a native program that later has to be converted), there are no extensive extra investments, and the total project cost to reach all the platforms can be as much as 80% less than coming back to it later.
Wider user-base - Because more devices and OS are able to support cross-platform apps, the software can be made widely available, across multiple devices, and with a wider audience reach.

Cons

Performance quality may be reduced - Because the app has to deal with multiple OS and functional differences, the program may not be as reliable or easily maintainable as a native development which can focus specifically on one platform.
Background processing is generally unavailable - Most platforms and processes cannot support background processing for cross-platform applications.
UI/UX consistency is reduced - Compared to native applications, there are sometimes issues with UI/UX consistency and a lag in the application.

Making a cross-platform app: the best technology to use

When it comes to choosing the technology, coding language, and approach for your cross-platform app development, the most commonly used technologies include:

Xamarin – Allowing for development in non-OS-specific languages (such as Swift or Java), this platform is generally considered to be one of the main and most highly rated cross-platform build development tools.
Flutter - With a wide range of features and frameworks to create high quality apps that work with custom UI elements, Flutter apps are supported across cross-platform developments.

Other platforms, such as HTML5 and JavaScript are useful for creating mobile apps, as they are often cheaper and easier to handle with the software and utilise coding languages that are widely used on iOS and Android, which make them accessible for cross-platform development.

An alternative to cross-platform development

Outside of cross-platform development, the main approach for app development is to go ‘native’, in other words, to focus solely on one OS. Find out what is right for you, cross platform or native.

Take a careful look at your project, the realistic needs of the program design and app development requirements – determining how well these are supported will help you to identify whether you should be using a cross-platform approach, or staying native.

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