Whenever a developer is asked to build an application the first question that comes to their mind is that “what I am going to built this for?”. Is the mobile application for Android, or is it for iOS, Windows, Blackberry, etc? The developer chooses its mobile app development tools depending on the type of platform the application is going to run on. Well, believe us this does not make the task of a developer easier. For instance, if a client asks you for an application that is to be run both on iOS and Android then the developer has to code the same application twice with different tools. this is where cross-platform development comes in.
Today there is no need for a programmer to write the same boring code again and again in different tools to make it work on different platforms. They can just go for hybrid mobile app development and these categories of developers are called cross-platform app developer. Cross-platform app developers are highly in demand in the development market and the reasons for that are obvious. Apart from the time-saving aspect cross-platform developer brings in efficiency and efficacy as a part of its development.
Well if you are a developer and are looking to get started with the cross-platform development then we have got a list of some handy tools for you. Here are the top 7 cross-platform mobile apps development tools that can be your lifeline.
PhoneGap
It is one of the best development tools for the cross-platform developer. PhoneGap is open-source software that allows the developer to develop a hybrid mobile application capable to run on different devices. It is the best cross-platform mobile app development tool for the application that does not require a lot of mobile phones native features to run. Instead, it packs the application in a separate environment that allows the javascript to access the mobile device APIs. The best thing about PhoneGap is that the developers can easily develop any application using pre-existing skills of javascript, HTML, and CSS. Moreover, this single code can be deployed on various other platforms including android, ios, blackberry, windows, firefox OS and many other. So if you are looking to get started with the cross-platform app development without having to learn new skills then PhoneGap is the perfect choice for you.
Ionic
In addition to being fairly easy to use, this hybrid mobile app development tool has established itself as the leader in the cross-platform app development industry. This tool also offers the developer with a wide library of optimized CSS, Javascript and HTML components, gestures and tools that work with pre-defined components. This means that the developer can add customized features to the mobile easily as they are perfectly going to work with the predefined elements of Ionic. The best part about ionic is that it provides all the functionalities that are found in the native mobile app SDKs. Now this means that the mobile application developed using ionic can access all the native components of the mobile phone such as camera, sensors, etc. Additionally, you can also use ionic with angular to create custom components for your application. Well, Ionic sure has a lot of features to start with and this is probably the reason why it is considered one of the best mobile app development tool for hybrid mobile app development.
Appcelerator
It is one of the single code implementation tools, that means it allows the developers to write once in javascript and deploy across various other platforms. Appcelerator is different from all the other developer’s tools because of its feature of providing the web content in the native application, unlike others. This does sound a little messy but it ensures that your code is not wrap up around the web containers.
Appcelerator provides many rapid development tools that allow the developer to built the application in lesser time and effort. You can also create a prototype to evaluate user interaction and experience with the mobile app user interface.
Xamarin
This tool makes use of C# based code to develop native application and allows the developer to do anything with C# that they can do with C, javascript or swift. It also has sample apps that make it quick and easy to start things up.
Sencha Touch
This is a leading hybrid cross-platform development tool or a framework that can be used to build effective applications in an efficient way using mobile acceleration techniques.
Monocross
This tool makes use of C#, Microsoft .net and the mono framework for quick development of the responsive hybrid application. Can be a really effective and handy tool.
Codename One
This is a tool with a simple goal of easy, flexible and quick development of a hybrid application. While the developer is supposed to code in java the code can also be simultaneously tested and verified with codenames one simulator.
