How does DhiWise make cross-platform mobile app development suck less?

Summary:

Android and iOS are the prime operating systems used in mobile technology such as smartphones, digital watches, and tablets. Having an app that runs on multiple platforms such as Android and iOS helps businesses to reach more customers. Find out how to build cross-platform mobile apps efficiently.

Traditionally the apps for different mobile platforms like Android and iOS were built separately. But, with the introduction of modern cross-platform development technologies like React Native, Flutter, and Kotlin, developers can now build apps that can run on multiple platforms with little modification.

Though cross-platform mobile apps are the best solution for most businesses that demand cost-effective and faster app development, building one has its own challenges.

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Let's understand in detail what cross-platform mobile app development is, why it is so important, the technologies used, the implementation challenges, and how DhiWise can help you to build cross-platform apps faster with ease.  

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What is cross-platform development and why is it so important?

Cross-platform mobile apps are built to function on multiple mobile platforms, unlike native applications that only run on a single platform. Cross-platform apps are compatible with more than one operating system such as Android and iOS.  

That means the company can release quality apps faster to the market that run on multiple mobile devices and reach a broader audience. 

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The importance of cross-platform mobile app development

The number of mobile app users has been constantly growing over the last few years, almost covering nearly half of the world’s population, and it will continue to rise in the near future. 

According to Statista, in the year 2020, the global revenue of the mobile app had increased to over 318 billion US dollars; in the next few years, it will reach around 613 billion US dollars. 

The above figures show the significant rise in the demand for mobile apps but, why should one choose cross-platform development?

So here is your answer:

• With cross-platform apps, businesses can cover both the Android and iOS markets.
• It requires only half of the build-up cost as compared to native app development for Android and iOS.
• Reduces the app development time to half compared to native app development.

Rapid development, cost efficiency, and the broader market make it more suitable for businesses who want to launch their app faster to the market and within a lower budget. So, it's no wonder why the focus is gradually shifting from native to cross-platform app development. 

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Popular technologies used for cross-platform app development

Among the available cross-platform app development technologies React Native, Flutter and Kotlin seem to be the winners.

React Native

React Native is the native mobile app development library that is used to build mobile apps with reusable components. It is an open-source JavaScript-based framework developed by Facebook, allowing developers to build cross-platform mobile apps using a single codebase.

It leverages APIs to render UI components that can be used for both Android and iOS apps. React Native uses Java APIs to render the Android components, native Application Program Interface (API), and Objective-C language to write the iOS components while rendering UI components. 

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Flutter

Flutter is an open-source UI software Kit created by Google. It is a popular tool among cross-platform application developers and it is currently used by nearly 2 million developers globally. It is used to develop cross-platform mobile applications for Android, iOS, macOS, Desktop, web, and embedded systems from a single codebase.

Flutter is based on the Dart programming language with C and C++ as its core, and it enables developers to access platform-specific SDKs for Android and iOS. In this way, it gives native look and feels to your cross-platform app. 

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Kotlin

Kotlin is a modern programming language developed by JetBrains and open-source contributors. Since May 2019, Google has officially supported Kotlin for Android application development. It's Multiplatform programming abilities help developers to build applications that can run on different platforms while retaining the flexibility of native programming. 

Kotlin has a huge ecosystem of multiplatform libraries that include libraries like Ktor, SQLDelight, Apollo, and Koin.

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How does DhiWise help you to build cross-platform mobile applications with popular technologies?

DhiWise is the world’s first ProCode+LowCode app development platform that empowers developers to build web and mobile apps at lightning speed. The platform supports multiple technologies and provides state-of-the-art features to make app development a highly efficient and effortless task without affecting the code quality.

In fact, DhiWise supports clean code architecture so the generated code is highly scalable and easy to maintain and test. 

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If you are building a cross-platform mobile application, DhiWise supports both Kotlin and Flutter and provides advanced mobile app development features. To build a mobile app  you can use:

1. DhiWise Android App Builder for building apps using Kotlin 
2. DhiWise Flutter Builder for Flutter application development

For the backend developers can use DhiWise Node.js Builder and Laravel Builder. 

Here, we will discuss the front-end mobile app development technologies supported by DhiWise. 

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DhiWise Android App Builder

The Android App builder lets developers build cross-platform mobile applications using Kotlin. The platform eliminates the repetitive tasks in app development through automation and visual programming language. To make the process easier it provides an intuitive graphical user interface.  

Top features of DhiWise Android App Builder:

1. Design to Code in minutes: Convert your design in Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch to Kotlin code with higher accuracy. 
2. Conditional workflow builder: Easily create logic in your front-end application on button clicks and lifecycle events. 
3. Duel app generation:  Create entire boilerplate code for your iOS application. 
4. Firebase integration: Connect your app to the unstructured database with Firebase integration.
5. Manage Lifecycle and screen navigation: Assign screen components with the callbacks and lifecycle stages in mind and also, manage screen navigation. 
6. Generate, view, download, and share source code: Get complete code ownership. View, download, and share the generated source and use it wherever you want. 

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Flutter App Builder

For Flutter lovers, DhiWise provides Flutter Builder- A versatile platform to build both iOS and Android applications in a whiff. 

Top features of DhiWise Flutter App Builder:

1. Design to Code: Convert your design to Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch to Flutter.
2. Flexible UI: Get complete control over your app UI with support for UI customization. 
3. Conditional workflow builder: Create logic in your front-end application on button clicks and lifecycle events. 
4. Firebase and Supabase integration: Connect to structured or Unstructured database in minutes with Firebase and Supabase integration. 
5. API manager:  Create and manage new APIs or Upload the pre-existing Postman file from the collection. 
6. Complete code ownership: Get complete code ownership. View, download, share, customize and use code wherever you want. 

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The Bottom Line:

In the article, we have learned about the importance of cross-platform application development, the popular technologies used, and how DhiWise App builders can help developers to build cross-platform mobile apps faster.

DhiWise supports multiple front-end and back-end technologies including Flutter and Kotlin so that developers can efficiently build production-ready, cross-platform mobile apps all using the single platform. 

Explore more about this amazing platform and sign up for free to build your next cross-platform mobile application.