If you are a developer or a business leader visualizing an amazing app and you can’t decide what is the best platform between iOS or Android to create it, maybe, you should develop your app for both (or more) platforms. The advantage of writing the code for more platforms is that you can reach more users and you save time, effort and money if you use a great part of your code to obtain apps ready to be launched on multiple markets. Because there are available so many mobile devices with so many screen sizes it is so difficult to choose only one app store. But don’t worry because there are a lot of tools that can help you in this situation and we will present you 10 of the most popular ones. They all have their advantages and disadvantages so you have to think about your area of activity and your budget to choose the tool that fits you best.
10 Cross – Platform Mobile App Development Tools
1- Sencha
With Sencha you can create your app using HTML5. It helps developers to create apps for different devices. They provide training courses and support for using their tools. This platform is useful more for business apps. It makes everything easier not only for developing, but for designing and testing the app, too. They are available with customer support all over the world. You can check their prices for licenses, maintenance and support. Sencha provides 3 frameworks:
- Ext JS helps you create HTML5 applications using JavaScript.
- GXT compile Java and GWT (Google Web Toolkit) into HTML5 apps.
- Sencha Touch is a MVC – based JavaScript framework that implements high – performance user interface elements for mobile apps.
2- Xamarin
If you are a master in C# then Xamarin from Microsoft is the answer for you to create mobile apps for iOS and Android. It provides native user interfaces and two options for writing common code for different platforms: Shared Asset Projects and Portable Class Libraries. Xamarin offers also a detailed documentation to help you manage the process better. With Xamarin Test Cloud you can test your app’s behavior for thousands of devices. It is free to use it with Xamarin Studio and basic package of Visual Studio.
3- Adobe PhoneGap Build
PhoneGap is an open source framework from Adobe which helps you transforming your HTML5 or JavaScript code and creating mobile apps for all platforms. It compiles everything into the cloud resulting applications ready for markets. PhoneGap makes all easier for development team to share the code between members. You can test your app using Hydration before uploading it on app store. All services are free if you have just an app with maximum 50MB and no plugins. For more, you can select a paid plan.
4- Appcelerator
It’s enough to use JavaScript for creating your code and Appcelerator takes care of everything else using 60% – 90% of it. It will build your app for all devices and platforms; it helps you test the app before launching and provides analytics for measuring the performances of your app. Check the prices if you want to deploy your app with Appcelerator.
5- Unity 3D
If you want to develop games for all platforms then Unity3D is a great solution. Using this game engine, you will be able to create 2D or 3D games for mobile devices, desktop and even for game consoles. With intuitive workflow you can use JavaScript and C# for coding. With Unity Editor you can build very fast animations and graphics along with optimized functionalities. If you are a little confused, don’t worry because they provide a lot of tutorials and detailed documentation. All these features are free for personal use. For enterprises, you can check their prices plans.
6- 5App
5App is a platform very useful for companies to create mobile apps for internal use and to organize their documents in a secure manner. You can use JavaScript and HTML5 to develop mobile apps and using 5App you can distribute them to employees. Moreover, you can take advantage of detailed analytics provided to measure your performances. For the price list you can contact 5 App team.
7- Corona Labs
Corona Labs provides Corona SDK for creating applications or 2D games for multiple platforms. They promise that you will have your app ready 10 times faster. A great aspect is that you can test your app to be sure that everything is all right. Another advantage is their built – in monetization feature with Corona Ads. If you want to develop apps with Corona SDK you need to use Lua, a coding language based on C. Don’t worry if you don’t know Lua, Corona Labs states that it takes around 5 minutes to start using the SDK using their guides, tutorials and documentation. The best thing is that you can develop apps with Corona for free.
8- Qt
Qt is a framework that allows you to develop cross – platform apps and interesting user interfaces for different types of devices. They provide tools for creating the desired app for all screen sizes, satisfying your users’ needs. Qt states that their technology increases the development speed of apps by 50%. For development you will use C++ along with Qt Creator IDE. For innovative UIs you can use Qt Quick. You have to get in touch with Qt team for the prices but you can start for free with their 30 days free trial.
9- Cocos2d
Cocos2d is a framework for developing 2D games and apps across multiple platforms. The advantage is that they offer many options for different coding languages. For that reason they provide 4 different forks:
- Cocos2d – x for games and apps written in C++, Java Script or Lua;
- Cocos2d – XNA for 2D or 3D games written in C#;
- Cocos2D – ObjC for 2D games with Xcode and Objective – C;
- Cocos2d (Python) is written in Python.
Cocos2d is open source and free to download. You can use it if you follow some great tutorials and guides.
10- Alpha Anywhere
Alpha Anywhere is a complete environment that provides multiple features for creating mobile applications mainly for business purposes using different programming languages, like C#, C++, JavaScript, Cobra, VB.NET, etc. It assures the security services for data connectivity and it helps you to create in an easy way mobile forms. It helps developers to add interactive features like Calendar, Image and Video Gallery, GPS and GIS. You can check their video tutorials to understand better how to use it. You can find on their website the price list if you are interested to use all these services.
Don’t be afraid to think that you can create your own app even if you don’t know how Android Studio works or you never worked with Swift. Today, the possibilities are endless. We listed the most popular frameworks to create mobile apps across all platforms. Now the question isn’t about choosing between iOS or Android platforms anymore, is about what programming language you know best to help you obtain your mobile app and to launch it on all possible app stores.
