Cross-platform Mobile App Development – Selecting the Perfect Platform

An organization can always enhance the popularity of a mobile app by targeting multiple operating systems at a time. The rapidly growing popularity of mobile platforms further encourages many enterprises to invest in cross-platform mobile application development. A developer can simply write the code once, and deploy the same to multiple mobile platforms. Most organizations build cross-platform mobile apps by targeting hugely popular operating systems like iOS, Android and Windows. But the developers often have to address the challenges related to hardware capabilities and software stack of individual mobile operating systems. The challenges can be easily addresses by picking the perfect cross-platform mobile application development platform. However, an organization has to consider several factors to choose the best platform.

How to Pick the Perfect Cross-Platform Mobile App Development Platform?

Define the User Experience

Each mobile app must target the right audience to become popular within a shorter span of time. So your choice of mobile app development platform will be impacted by the audience you want to target. Once you identify want your potential customers expect, it will be easier for you to choose the right tools and framework to achieve higher engagement rate by targeting multiple mobile operating systems. After defining the user experience, you can choose the right framework that optimizes the look, feel and performance of the application on each mobile platform.

Familiarity of the Platform

Most cross-platform application development platforms are built for scripting languages. So the developers familiar with HTML, JavaScript and CSS can easily user these frameworks. You can help your team in migrating from website and internet application development to mobile application development by choosing a platform that is more familiar to them.

Look for Powerful Plug-ins

Widely used cross-platform mobile development frameworks like Appcelerator's Titanium and Adobe's PhoneGap come with easy to use plug-ins. These plug-ins allow developers to use a variety of services or tools, along with accessing common links to similar APIs. The programmers can further use the plug-ins to communicate with the mobile device’s cameras, location sensors or accelerometers without writing lengthy lines of the code. So you must opt for a platform that provides customized plug-ins to developers.

Explore Future Prospects

A number of recent reports have highlighted the constantly growing number of dead apps in various app stores. So you must use the latest and futuristic technologies to extend the lifespan of the mobile application. It is always important to choose a platform that supports the latest technological advances in the industry. At the same time, the platform must enable developers to use futuristic technologies like HTML5 and XML. The feature will make it easier for them to include new features and functionalities without writing lengthy lines of code.

Option to Adopt Enterprise Cloud Services

Within a shorter span of time, Cloud services have become hugely popular among both individual and enterprise users. Often developers have to write lengthy and complex code to integrate the enterprise and Cloud services. But some innovative cross-platform mobile app development platforms make it easier for programmers to integrate Cloud services in a quick and hassle-free way. For instance, they can simply code an Exchange integration once to make the mobile app work on multiple mobile operating systems without requiring any additional security methods.

Evaluate the Pros and Cons of Each Platform

The cross-platform mobile application development frameworks help organization in enhancing deployment speed, while reducing the development cost. Further, an organizer has option to choose from several open source and commercial development tools and frameworks. Often these frameworks required developers to use prescribed tools and suites, which can make the coding and rendition slower. There are also chances that the developers have to learn new tools to build the mobile app. So you must not forget to evaluate the pros and cons of each platform according to the type of cross-platform mobile app you want to build.

Google, Microsoft and Apple frequently update their mobile operating systems by including innovative features and functionalities. So each organization must use the most recent version of the cross-platform mobile app development platform to deliver richer user experience.

You can hire developers from top mobile app development companies in India who can help you accomplish your project within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide cross-platform mobile app development services. If you would like to hire Phonegap app developers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Why Cross-Platform Mobile App Development helps?

This article is a brief introduction to the rationale behind and rise of cross-platform mobile app development and introduces the reader to some of the most popular cross-platform mobile development approaches in use today.

Mobile Mobile Everywhere

We are moving towards a future dominated by ubiquitous mobile usage. Mobile devices touch almost all aspects of modern life. Customers are getting increasingly mobile-savvy and businesses around the world are gearing up by creating new and innovative mobile apps for every conceivable reason. 

Keeping pace with the velocity of demand, a number of mobile platforms have been introduced over the years. However, only a few of them – iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry – have been able to hold their own and grow up to command respectable market share. The mobile landscape is in a constant state of flux, witnessing tectonic shifts with dynamic balance of power amongst the top mobile platforms. If you want to develop a mobile app today, you have an array of development options: native and cross-platform mobile development (including web and hybrid ways).

Native Apps

You may choose to create your app as a “native” app targeted to a specific mobile platform. For example, you can create an iOS app using Objective C or an Android app using Java. Native apps have excellent performance and integration but also prohibitively high costs associated with the development and maintenance of multiple platform-specific app versions (you have to create and maintain separate apps for iOS, Android, Windows, BlackBerry … phew!)

Web Apps

Mobile “apps” implemented as websites give you broader reach and better standardization. These try to look like mobile apps but they aren’t really so (they are just websites). These use the familiar paradigm of a web server and a web browser sharing between them the responsibility of executing application logic and executing/rendering UI respectively. You can either create standard web apps or client-side ones using tools such as jQuery Mobile and Sencha Touch. In any case, these “apps” would have no app store distribution, have limited access to hardware features and APIs, and provide inferior rich-media performance.

Hybrid Apps

Hybrid apps let you code once (like native apps) and deploy to multiple platforms (like web apps). An increasing number of cross-platform mobile app development frameworks are in use today that let you quickly create high-quality mobile apps simultaneously targeting multiple mobile platforms, such as iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Symbian, WebOS, Bada, etc. Considering adoption rates and number of apps created, some of the most popular cross-platform mobile development frameworks are Appcelerator Titanium, Adobe PhoneGap, and Motorola RhoMobile. Some of these cross-platform mobile app development frameworks can create apps with truly native widgets and with access to native hardware features & APIs. 

Cross-Platform App Development

Companies like Mindfire Solutions provide expert cross-platform app development services using Titanium, PhoneGap, RhoMobile, etc. The dedicated Titanium, PhoneGap, and RhoMobile teams at Mindfire have a strong track record of developing powerful and engaging cross-platform mobile apps for global clients across diverse industry domains. If you want to do cool cross-platform mobile apps and need some development help, get in touch with Mindfire today – call +1 248-686-1424 or email sales at mindfiresolutions dot com – to leverage the strong track record and solid experience of Mindfire’s cross-platform app development experts to bring your cool mobile app ideas to life.

Appcelerator Titanium App Development

Appcelerator Titanium App Development belongs to the exciting new world of cross-platform mobile app development. 

Cross-Platform Mobile App Development: What & Why

Cross-platform mobile apps can run on multiple mobile platforms such as Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, WebOS, Bada, and tablets like iPad & Samsung Galaxy Tab. The mobile app development landscape is getting more and more complex with the rapid proliferation of new mobile platforms. Cross-platform mobile app development serves to simplify and streamline mobile app development by providing app providers and developers the ability to create a mobile app once and deploy it to multiple app platforms like iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, etc. Cross-platform mobile apps not only give you the ability to reach all of your target audience (across platforms) faster than your competition, but it also results in tremendous cost reductions in contrast to the prohibitively high costs associated with the development, maintenance, and upgrade of multiple platform-specific app versions. 

Cross-Platform Mobile App Development: How

A number of modern cross-platform mobile development frameworks are available today that can help you quickly create high-quality apps targeting multiple mobile platforms. Appcelerator Titanium, Adobe PhoneGap, and Motorola RhoMobile are some of the more popular ones going by number of apps created by mobile app developers using these cross-platform mobile development frameworks around the world. 

Appcelerator Titanium App Development

Appcelerator Titanium is a top choice for creating iPhone/iPad, Android, and mobile web apps. All from a single code base and with full access to each device’s API. Titanium apps are native – perform just like Objective-C (iPhone/iPad) and Java (Android phone/tablets) apps. They are also a lot easier and faster (up to 70%) to create. Appcelerator is also "the first mobile platform to combine the flexibility of open source development technologies with the power of cloud services." Applications built with Titanium can achieve compelling user experience with cloud services such as push notifications and check-ins. 

Appcelerator: At a Glance

Appcelerator was founded in 2006. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, it has revolutionized the mobile development landscape.  By now it has over 300,000 registered developers and more than 40,000 applications deployed on 50 million devices. Appcelerator Titanium is used by thousands of companies such as eBay, PayPal, ZipCar, Merck, Michaels, NBC Universal, Razorfish, Medtronic, BestFit, etc. In their 2012 Magic Quadrant report for Mobile Consumer Application Platforms, Gartner positions Appcelerator as Visionary.

Titanium App Development Services

Companies like Mindfire Solutions provide expert Titanium App Development Services backed by a strong track record of developing engaging cross-platform mobile apps using Appcelerator Titanium. The dedicated team of certified Titanium experts at Mindfire has made deep use of Titanium in successfully delivering many high-quality projects for global clients across diverse industries.

If you want to do cool Titanium Apps and need some development help, get in touch with Mindfire today – call +1 248-686-1424 or email sales at mindfiresolutions dot com – to leverage the strong track record and solid experience of Mindfire’s Titanium App Development experts to bring your cool mobile app ideas to life.

Cross-Platform Mobile App Development

As mobile Operating systems — especially Android & iPhone— wax and wane, the question open pops up – How does one choose which mobile devices to develop for and which devices to omit from your roadmap? Hence, Cross-Platform App Development is becoming increasingly more prevalent in today’s world. It is also known as multi-platform app development / multi-OS app development. As its name indicates, a cross-platform mobile app runs across multiple mobile platforms like iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, WebOS, Bada, and tablets like iPad & Samsung Galaxy Tab. But first things first: what’s the need?

If you are a mobile services provider or an app developer, creating platform-specific versions of your app presents a great challenge. With so many platforms around today and more getting added by the minute, which platform(s) should you create your app for? iPhone? Android? iPhone and Android? iPhone and Android and Windows Mobile? iPhone and Android and BlackBerry and … Phew! And just imagine what it might do to your cost of development and time to market… let alone future app maintenance and upgrade challenges! And even after an epic struggle, your mobile app may still cover only a part of your target audience!

When you think of an idea which mobile users can use conveniently from their phones, it is highly limiting if your app works only in one “type” of mobiles. Something like the iphone was less known before 5-6 years and now is hot cake technology. Similarly, something which was most widely known like the Symbian OS or the Windows mobile OS have lost ground to other competitive mobile OS. There are even others which are no longer being used anymore. If your app idea is built with just that technology in mind, you would need to build the application from scratch every time you want to port it to another mobile platform. 

With Cross platform app development, that thing can be done with. Working with a cross platform mobile app team has its own advantages – from the very beginning, the app architecture will help in its porting to different platform while the need to build from scratch every time, removed.  In a changed world such as this, cross-platform mobile app development comes to the rescue. Using modern cross-platform mobile development frameworks such as Appcelerator Titanium, Adobe PhoneGap, Motorola RhoMobile, etc. one can create a cross-platform mobile app just once and deploy it to multiple mobile platforms like iOS, Android, BlackBerry, etc.

Companies like Mindfire Solutions provide expert cross-platform app development services backed by a strong track record of developing engaging cross-platform mobile apps using Titanium, PhoneGap, and RhoMobile. Whereas Titanium is considered to be one of the top choices for building cross-platform mobile apps by many, PhoneGap is a powerful an open source cross-platform mobile development framework, and RhoMobile offers an impressive suite of polished tools for cross-platform app development. 

Dedicated Titanium, PhoneGap, and RhoMobile teams at Mindfire have made deep use of these powerful cross-platform mobile app development frameworks and have successfully delivered many high-quality projects for global clients across diverse industries such as healthcare, entertainment, sports, retail, etc.