Nowadays, apps have become an integral part
of daily lives. Now, the question is, “what made us say that?” we can all admit
to the fact that various applications can do various jobs and apparently they
are very well fitted for that. Evidently, this has made us realize that mobile
technology is the way of leading the future and of course making a fortune out
of it.
Apparently, there are quite several tools
available for hybrid cross-platform app development:
- Xamarin
- React Native
- Flutter
- Kotlin
Native
- J2ObjC/Doppleer
- Progressive
Web Apps (PWA)
- Ionic2
- Cordova/PhoneGap/Titanium
- Unity
From the above mentioned list, we have picked
up three of the most popular and established solution – Flutter, React Native,
and Xamarin.
In this particular article, we’ll be
discussing their pros and cons and along with that, we’ll run a comparison by
focusing on development, performance, and many other different aspects.
So, without any further ado, let’s start
things up.
What’s Flutter?
- It’s a free
and open source platform
- It’s based
on Dart
- The
architecture is based on reactive programming
Pros of Flutter
- Faster code
writing, which normally takes second and helps teams with adding features,
fixing bugs, and experimenting faster.
- Developers
only have to write just one codebase which is used for apps covering both
Android and iOS platforms.
- It requires
less time while testing which ultimately quicken the quality assurance process.
- It is
considered to ideal for MVP because you can build the app in less time,
comparatively.
Cons of Flutter
- Flutter is
still in its beta stage and has not released the stable version yet.
- When it
comes down to native app development, Flutter is still not at all that rich.
What’s Xamarin?
Xamarin was launched back in the year 2011,
and later was acquired by Microsoft. This tool is used to write native Android,
iOS and Windows apps with native user interfaces.
Pros of Xamarin
- The
framework uses C# language that fluently works over a myriad of platforms.
- In case you
are making an app for multiple platforms, then you can share or reuse most of
your code for other platforms.
- You can get
platform-specific functionalities in your app.
- Faster app
development with NuGet and Xamarin plug-ins
Cons of Xamarin
- Xamarin is
not free and you not only need to buy the framework. But its price is not at
all suitable for startups or budget constraint business.
- Limited
access to different vital libraries for the creation of an app using this
framework.
- UI
development is time consuming as the user-interface creation is not mobile.
- Currently,
Xamarin suffers from low community activity, which is not good for developing a
framework.
What is React Native?
It was presented by Facebook back in the year
2015; React Native emerged as a cross-platform app development technology
because it uses JavaScript to build a native mobile app.
Pros of React Native
- React Native
offers some of the most reliable elements that can quicken the development time
drastically.
- Hot Reload:
you can reload your application quickly, without recompiling.
- Direct use
of native code to optimize your app to a great level.
- Faster app
development with pre-built elements
- It gives you
access to native functionalities like camera, accelerometer, and so on.
Cons of React Native
The navigation
of your mobile is most likely not being equivalent to native navigation. Without
a doubt, a navigation which is being designed in React Native is proven to be not
that smooth.
Just like
Xamarin, React Native lets you develop superior quality apps. But, apps built
with React Native are comparatively slower in performance.
Apps Built
With These Platforms
Flutter
Some of the most popular apps that have been
built with Flutter are – AppTree, Alibaba, Topline, Google Adwords, Google
Greentea, Refelcctly, Hamilton Musical, OfflinePal, Hookle, BetaBubs, and many
more.
React Native
Here are some of the some prominent apps that
are built with React Native – Facebook, Facebook Analytics, Skype, Instagram,
Facebook Ads Manager, Tesla, Walmart, Uber, Pinterest, Bloomberg, Artsy,
Soundcloud Pulse, Discord, Vogue, F8, Chop, and so on.
Xamarin
A few of the mobile apps that are built with
Xamarin are – APX, Insightly, FreshDirect, SuperGiant Games, Thermo Fisher
Sceintific, Olo, Just Giving, Skulls of the Shogun, The World Bank, Storyo,
etc.
Which
Framework is the better one?
All three of these frameworks are totally
suitable for making a best-in-class app. however; it is quite a task for us to
say which one is the better one. Instead of that, you need to think which one
is to choose for your business. Some prefer coding in React Native while other
chooses Flutter, and only a few consider Xamarin.
Final
Thoughts
Being one of the best Xamarin app development
companies out there, Fluper has vast experience in developing reliable yet
productive apps at the same time. So, if you want to make an app, then feel
free to contact us to receive spontaneous response.