Are you planning on getting your mobile app developed?
Let’s be honest. Some of the quotes or cost estimates may have scared you a bit. Especially if you are an entrepreneur without startup or seed funding. App development has become a very costly affair, more so if you’re looking to develop a multi-device application on both iOS and Android. iOS applications work on iPhones, iPads etc. whereas Android applications work on – android smart phones. Today, if it’s a consumer facing app – you would generally need to target both user base. You cannot ignore users who use Apple devices as that is a huge number and a segment that really spends on app. You can’t ignore the android market as it is a larger and mass market. And If we look at the typical start-up: getting early in the market is important as well as saving that crucial seed capital. Ok, so enough about the problem. What is the solution?
Hybrid or Cross platform app development to save Money
The solution is something called as the Hybrid or cross platform app development. Truth be told, hybrid mobile app development is not a new concept and has been around for the last 4-5 years. The technology behind hybrid app development is quite mature and we actually have multiple technology platforms for cross platform app development. Some of these are: Cordova / Phonegap, Xamarin, Ionic Framework, Titanium Appcelerator, Sencha Touch.
In cross platform or hybrid app development, an app is developed using a single programming language, single set of libraries. There may of-course be the need to add some platform specific libraries which are not common across iOS and Android.
But typically, anywhere between 60% – 100% of the code will become common with cross platform development. This obviously reduces the effort and cost that companies need to spend to create these mobile applications. It also provides for a single code base. This is the reason that any cross platform app development company is very much in demand these days.
The advantages of having this single code base are multifold:
1. Lesser cost during initial development as common programming for multiple platforms. As an example if you’d spend $30,000 (consolidated) on developing 2 versions of the app – for Android and iOS, you may be able to get the same via a single cross platform app for as low as $15,000-20,000.
2. Lesser cost during maintenance phase of your Mobile App.
3. Lesser effort in managing, coordination, replication of features across multiple device platforms leading to quicker time to market.
4. Lesser cost in testing and marketing the app as changes can go live quicker and in sync with each other.
5. Lesser Project Management risk as you’ll be managing a single smaller team instead of two.
If you are looking for a mobile app development company from India, do contact us for a free consultation.
Cross platform App development Decision – When to make
If you have an app idea, study the prospective user base and decide which device coverage is necessary for you. If you reach the conclusion that you need to be on both Android and iOS (which would generally be the case for most B2C apps in US / Europe), then the question would be whether you can afford to develop it native and separately or invest in cross-platform and develop for both platforms together. You will get an answer to this a scenario analysis of both situations and be able to see the advantages / disadvantages.
So if you’re looking to get a mobile app created – do explore the hybrid app development option. It may just be what you’re looking for.