Mobile app development has evolved over the last decade and a half. We take an in-depth look at how these changes are affecting web design, branding and search engine optimization.
For the last 10 years, smartphones have spread in the hands of billions of people like wildfire. It is estimated that 80% of the people of the world own smartphones, and have access to their services and applications.
Developers are racing to gain the hearts and minds of those billions of smartphone users with their fancy and useful mobile applications. The new gold mine for developers. .
Analysts estimate that in 2021, the revenue of mobile apps is around 133 Billion USD, split between the 2 main platforms, iOS (63% of the total revenue) and Android (37%).
As you can see, the mobile app business is booming, and it is time you become part of this world.
Mobile Platforms
Although there are billions of smartphones, and tens of handset manufacturers, there are only 2 platforms that run all those phones. Android which is developed and maintained by Google, and runs around 85% of all the smartphones on hundreds of models from tens of manufacturers.
And iOS, developed by Apple, which is the platform for iPhone and iPad devices only, and they account for 15% of smart devices globally.
Having 2 different platforms means that any developer or company who wants to develop an application that has 100% reach will need to develop it for both platforms.
If they miss one of them, they either miss the widespread use of Android and lose 85% of the market, or miss iOS and lose the most profitable platform.
Developing for 2 platforms is a challenge by itself. You need to take into consideration the different aspects of each of the platform’s. Design standards, hardware limitations, and the UI guidelines of the platform.
Keeping the mobile design similar in both platforms, and across all different models is yet another challenge.
Mobile Application design process
Developing a mobile application is a multi-step process. You need to make many decisions before you start the design and development process. Let’s explore some of these decisions and choices.
- Do you really need to develop a mobile application? Or is a website sufficient for your business?
- Do you need to develop the application for both iOS and Android, or one of them is sufficient?
- If the decision is taken to develop an application for both platforms, what strategy should you take? Native app for each platform (meaning 2 different apps with 2 different codes), or a cross platform app (meaning one app that runs on both platforms, with only one code).
- What design strategy should you follow? Should you follow the standard design for each platform, you will have 2 different designs, but your app’s UI will look native to the platforms. Or you unify the design and UI and have a unique identity for the application.
- What programming language will you use to develop the app? Will you use the native programming language for each platform, or will you use a cross-platform framework?
These are some (not all) of the decisions you need to make before you even start your first steps in Mobile app development.
And in this article we will explore together the different choices you have, and understand them.
Application Design
There are 2 platforms in the smartphone world. iOS by Apple, and Android by Google. Each of these platforms has their own design language. The below image shows the different UI design language for the same app mockup in both iOS and Android.
As you can see the same application with the same exact content, but they are represented differently. You can see that each UI element is represented differently from one platform to the other. Starting from the title of the screen itself, different fonts, and different sizes.
The tabs are different in both platforms. Even the navigation method is different. In iOS it is a navigation bar in the bottom, and in Android there is a drawer menu that holds the different navigation options.
If you choose to follow these UI element designs for each platform, you will have the benefit of familiarity. Your app will look like most other apps in the platform it runs on.
This means the users will find it easier to understand your application, and navigate its screen, similar to what they are used to. However this also means you will have 2 different codes to maintain, which means increasing the cost and effort required.
Then you have the other choice, the universal (or cross-platform) app design. In the below image, you can see a different design for a news app, this design is not similar to any of the above 2 designs, it is unique, and doesn’t conform to any of the 2 platform design elements.
This means that your application will look exactly the same in any smartphone it is used on.
The benefit of developing an app with a universal design, is that it will look different and unique. you can apply your company’s (or your client’s) brand colors and identity.
The users can identify your brand just by looking at the app. Also another important benefit is that you will have only one design and most probably one code to maintain.
Native vs Cross-Platform
One of the most important decisions to make is choosing between native or cross-platform app development. Deciding to choose one or the other means you will have to know the difference in cost, time, and functionality.
So let’s explore both options and understand the pros and cons of each.
Native Applications
Developing a native application means you are building a mobile application exclusively for a specific platform. Which also means you will use the tools and programming languages made specifically for that platform. iOS native apps are developed with either 2 languages.
The old and almost obsolete Objective-C, and the new more popular language “Swift”. And the IDE used to develop native iOS apps called XCode developed by Apple specifically for developing apps for Apple devices.
Android native applications are coded using either Java or Kotlin, the latter is the newcomer, and is becoming more popular day after day, and the official IDE used to develop Android applications is called Android Studio.
Both Kotlin and Android Studio are developed by JetBrains and adapted by google for Android development.
Native applications have the advantage of being highly optimized for their platforms, which means they perform better and faster than cross-platform applications.
They are usually more stable, and have better support, as they are developed with languages introduced by Apple or Google themselves, these languages and SDKs (Software Development Kits) are updated regularly and maintain compatibility with the platforms as intended by their developers.
Native apps usually benefit from having maximum hardware compatibility. Functionalities like camera, GPS, and motion sensors, are tightly integrated and supported in the native SDKs of each platform.
Security is also one of the easily inherited features of native apps, as they have direct access to the platform security functionalities like encryption, identity management and file management.
The main disadvantage of developing native apps is that you will need to develop a completely different app for each platform, which means 2 codes. 2 development teams, double the costs and time. In most cases you will have to publish your app in one platform before the other, which will affect your customer base.
Also when you introduce a new update or feature, this means you will have to update the 2 apps, and you’ll need to time introducing them together to maintain compatibility. In a few words, there is no code reusability between both apps directed towards the 2 platforms.
Cross-Platform Applications
Cross-Platform development means building an application for multiple platforms or operating systems based on only one source code.
In the world of mobile applications this means you don’t use the native programming languages for iOS and Android, but use other languages and tools that can build applications for both platforms.
The most popular options for developing cross-platform applications are React Native, Xamarin, Ionic and flutter, we will discuss them later in the next article.
Developing a cross-platform application saves your time and money. You will have only one code base, you will have to maintain and update this code only for the lifecycle of the application.
You will realize cost savings as well, as you will need only one development team instead of two (or less development time if one team will develop for both platforms).
Faster go-to-market is also a good advantage. Once you build the app, you will be able to publish it on iOS and Android at the same time.
However, unfortunately the grass is not always greener on the other side. Cross-platform development has its own cons as well, the apps developed by this technique tend to be slower and have lower performance compared to native apps.
They don’t deliver the same UI/UX experience as the native apps. And accessing some of the functionalities or hardware like microphone, camera or GPS may be challenging for developers.
Conclusion
So, now you know that there is always a good side and bad side for both choices, making your decision means you need to consider all pros and cons of both techniques. Are you looking for lower cost, easier development, and unique UI, then cross platform is your choice.
However if money and time are not your main concern, but higher performance, tighter integration with the platform and better future support, then native development is the way to go.
You decide your way forward? Ok, then which programming language, or framework will you choose? This is what we will discuss in the next article. So follow us.