Constraints of Native App Development
Unfortunately, each mobile OS platform has own sets of programming technologies, hardware requirements, tools, and skill set.
Thus,
- You need to create a separate app for each platform using respective native technologies.
- It means if you go for the major platforms, you will have three apps, one for iOS, one for Android, and one for Windows Mobile platform.
- Therefore, you have to deal with three different skill sets (Developers).
- You need to invest in different infrastructures for each platform development.
- You have to constantly struggle for consistency in code and synchronization of updates & upgrades.
- Investing time three different coding also take huge when time-to-market is essential.
It proves too much costly for the average businesses and even for large enterprises, which are striving for a number of different apps at a time to serve different purposes.
Cross-platform and Hybrid Apps Are Solutions
Considering these facts, our mobile App Development team has started experimenting with cross-platform and hybrid mobile app development frameworks. p>
Our Experiences with Different Frameworks
We have tried:
- Web app development frameworks- PhoneGap and Titanium using HTML, CSS, and JS
- Cross-platform app development frameworks- Xamarin using C# and React Native using JS
- Ionic using JS with an Angular framework in combination
By choosing cross-platform and hybrid frameworks, we have delivered the best possible Native-like user experiences across the different OS platforms and devices. We did all by respecting budgetary constraints of our clients and time-to-market requirements.
Now, I am going to share my valuable experiences with these tested and tried frameworks to deliver native-like user experiences and changing needs of our clientele with the pace of time.
- We have seen that when we have shifted from traditional agile app development to sprint-based development methodologies and started iterating the products frequently, many frameworks failed to deliver expected results.
- Many tech-savvy clients come with development framework suggestions, and when they nullify our resistance by force, we have implemented accordingly and have seen that the development stuck at some point.
- We have tried Xamarin and Ionic for mobile app development. However, in one project, which was listing based app development we found jerking responses while scrolling the textual list along with images. After failures, we have changed the development framework and tried superfast React Native and overcame the issue.
- Xamarin is Microsoft affiliated platform, Ionic is Google attached, and React Native is created and maintained by Facebook though performance comes with React Native proved superior in all parameters.
Characteristics of React Native Development
After the realization of the power of React Native, we have decided to leverage its distinct characteristics and advantages in most of the mobile app development intended to have a hybrid or cross-platform applications.
Let me explain some of those distinct characteristics.
Native UI
In React Native application logic is written in JavaScript, but UI is fully native and runs on OS directly instead of HTML-based UI running on the browser or Web View and suffering from associated problems.
Cross-platform Support
React Native uses mix of JavaScript and JSX (XML) that supports rendering of native UI on both platforms. Thus, it provides almost native-like experiences on both platforms with a single code and avoids wrapping of HTML, CSS, and JS code with native code to access native hardware and software features.
Easy Access to Platform Features
React Native exposes JavaScript UIs for platform (Mobile OS) APIs. It means React Native apps can access platform features and functionality including an accelerometer, camera, GPS, and so on to deliver excellent native-like UX.
High Performance
React Native application works with high performance and capability because React functions independently from main UI thread. Moreover, React Native translate your code/markup into real and native UI elements thus, it eliminates reverse engineering of all fine details as happens in other cross-platform or hybrid frameworks.
Another noteworthy thing is that React Native leverages UI libraries of host mobile OS platform instead of depending on HTML, CSS, and other programming markup libraries. Thus, it provides the excellent performance that hardly any other framework can do.
Easy to Develop
React Native demands most of the code in JavaScript and some in XML class of scripts. These are common and highly used programming technologies, and almost all web developers are accustomed to it. It means:
- It is easy to develop.
- It demands only one code-base and one set of development tools.
- It is fast to develop using the latest tools and techniques.
- It is developer-friendly as developers don’t have to test with different simulators and platform specific tests and tools to save a lot of development time.
We use Flow.org, which is a static type of checker to check JavaScript code in React Native fast and enable development within given deadlines with the least code errors and programming glitches.
React Native Best Choice When
It proves the best choice for app development when we are going to develop mobile apps for startups where we have to meet several constraints. It is good for shopping cart apps, daily deal apps, taxi business apps, logistic and supply chain apps, insurance apps, manufacturing industry apps, government and public sector apps, and much more.
Who Use React Native?
It is obvious that Facebook is using it in its ads manager app. Apart from it following brands are real fans and followers of React Native framework.
- Airbnb
- Discovery VR app
- Wallmart
Conclusion:
It depends on your solution architect that which framework or platform they prefer for your mobile app development. As far as app development team at Perception System concerns, we used to stick to react native and for the same, things have explained above.
If you want to save 40% cost of development and time without sacrificing app performance in favor of your esteemed patrons, it is React Native that is something you get started with us. It is our recommendation to all startups, and IT managers of the corporate sector to use React Native when you stumble upon app development framework.
This post first appeared on Perception System Official Blog | Latest IT Indus, please read the originial post: here
