Smartphone users are growing day by day – according to a study there are more than
But now the mobile app market is shifting its needs; now business owners want to have a mobile application that is adaptable on various mobile platforms so people can easily use it.
Therefore, a technology has been introduced called “cross-platform mobile application development” which is a method to develop applications that can be used on more than one mobile platform. In recent years it has become necessary for businesses to develop mobile apps that are able to run on various devices. But developing these apps is not very easy, a developer has to think of a different angle to create such an app. So, I have come up with seven best practices that will certainly help to develop cross platform mobile apps:
#1. Use The Most Convenient Native Development Technology
Using native development technologies and tools on cross platform mobile apps is a challenging task because every smartphone platform has its own language and SDK. For example iOS have Cocoa & Xcode, Android has Java with ADK and windows have C#.net with Microsoft Visual Studio. Using these separate tools makes it difficult for an app developer to maintain it, especially when the app has different versions.
Therefore, a developer must use the most convenient development environment on a mobile platform. It is also advantageous to use packages that allow code sharing like HTML5 & C++. It supports the full functionality and quick access to the new features of mobile OS as well as easier development of apps with great performance.
#2. Use Virtual Machines to Improve the App Performance
Virtual Machines are very robust that can run complicated environments with a minimum effect on a machine’s performance. There are so many advantages of using Virtual Machines, a couple of those are mentioned below:
- Virtual Machines can be easily sharable but first an app development environment needs to be prepared. After this, the VM can be shared with the team so they can efficiently work on developing cross mobile app development.
- By using a Virtual Machine, a developer doesn’t need to switch between different setup environments for debugging and compiling the code. The VM enables them to perform all compiling tasks on a single machine.
- By using VM a developer can simply test the code that changes frequently on all platforms. Also, Virtual Machines can be re-launched with a low error ratio and effort.
#3. Keep the User Experience Intact
No matter what mobile operating system is running your mobile app, it is needed to set the same user experience on all mobile platforms. A normal user might not be comfortable with different layouts of the app whenever he switches the software platform.
The same functions and layout helps a user quickly identify and use your app, also it can show the unique values of your app. Different layout and navigation flow will force a user to learn the new ways to use your app and he might not like it. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the app navigation and design consistent on all platforms.
Most importantly, the user interaction with your mobile app will be the same across all different smartphone operating systems.
#4. Confirm That All the Features Are Working
When an app developer is writing the code he must confirm that all the functions and the code written in a specific language for cross platform are working properly. Sometimes it happens that the features integrated into a mobile app don’t work properly on a variety of platforms. It could happen because of the technical reasons like code incompatibility or code misplaced by the developer etc.
#5. Do Not Use too many Third-Party Libraries
Most of the time developers use so many third party libraries that they make an app unnecessarily heavy and hard to maintain. Therefore, it is better to focus on your own custom libraries and specialized code; it will keep your app size minimum as well as the maintenance cost. You can find various custom C++ libraries that are compatible and provide needed functionality for general mobile app development.
#6. Integrate the App With Other Smartphone Services
There are so many smartphone services like content management, photo storage and social networking. A developer can integrate his app with these services to increase the productivity. To do this he needs to adopt a feasible mobile technology, app design and functionalities that make an efficient cross platform smartphone application.
Using powerful cross platform mobile app frameworks like PhoneGap, Titanium, Appcelerator and Rhomobile can help you build a strong and successful smartphone app that uniquely serves the users on various platforms.
#7. Make Sure of App Security on All Platform
Each smartphone device manufacturer knows the significance of security and so they offer various levels of safety in their apps. This applies to the mobile OS as well, every mobile operating system has a custom environment to run the application that offers different degrees of safety.
It means that phone operating systems do not support the same level of security features, this makes it mandatory for an app developer to build a cross platform app that is compatible for each mobile platform in terms of security features.
Bottom Line
The mobile world already has multiple operating systems and it is approaching a new level where it could partially replace the use of personal computers. Therefore, businesses are emphasizing more on building mobile apps that are capable of running on multiple smartphone platforms. To achieve this, it is essential to begin working on cross platform technology and make the most of the principle “Write once, runs everywhere”.
Images: “Composition by means of communication/Shutterstock.com“
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