Cross-platform app development is a business-savvy means of addressing consumer needs in an efficient manner. 

Though native technologies remain in high use for most soft development processes, as much as half of mobile developers use cross-platform development technologies.

This is likely because of the obvious merits of cross-platform app development that your business can take advantage of if you so desire.

Before you start building a mobile app, or any software development project for that matter, it’s important to understand the objectives you plan to meet and what technologies will move you forward.
If mobile app development is your goal, then you should consider the various ways in which you can develop a mobile app.
To learn more about cross-platform app development, how it can benefit your business, and the challenges to using this development approach, stay tuned!

What Is Cross-Platform App Development?

Cross-platform app development refers to the development of software that is able to run on multiple devices. 

Multi-platform compatibility is a pervasively desirable trait in the software development realm. Even outside of software development, it should come as no surprise that businesses want their product to be available to as many consumers as possible.

On the other hand, the complexities of software development often mean decreased portability. That is, software developers are routinely unable to use the same software across numerous computing environments.

You can glimpse a plain example of this through the lens of mobile app development. Currently, native app development is the primary means by which developers build mobile apps.

Native app development entails that developers build platform-specific software. For instance, Android and iOS have long been the chief operating systems for mobile devices.

Yet the native programming languages for Android only include Java and Kotlin, or Swift and Objective-C for iOS.

While native development suggests severe limitations when it comes to accessibility from one device to another, most software experts believe using native tools elicits better performance.

In turn, cross-platform app development uses an array of clever technologies to enable developers to build cross-platform software. 

Take note that cross-platform app development is not synonymous with hybrid app development which by definition uses a mix of native and web technologies. Though, cross-platform and hybrid app development both warrant code shareability.

The underlying question is whether or not cross-platform frameworks and technologies can extend enough flexibility to the effect that performance concerns are negligible.

What Are the Advantages of Cross-Platform Development?

The advantages of cross-platform development all play into the optimization of your business strategy. By nature, this perk trickles down into the efficiency of your software development process.