Creating an application is something that most developers have to deal with at one point. Apps need to work properly on different platforms, and this can be quite tricky to realise. Luckily for you, there are plenty of tools that that help you with mobile app development.
Making the app work on multiple platforms is no longer a problem, thanks to the WORA concept (write once, run anywhere). This means that the piece of code only has to be written once, for one platform, and it then runs on many platforms. This reduces the amount of work needed from the developer.
Monocross
This tool is ideal if you want to develop apps for bot smartphones and tablets. One thing that you should know about this platform is that the developer is able to access the native device APIs while coding in C#.
Nonetheless, it can be difficult to learn about Monocross, as there are not many resources online. There are few documents and support for this platform, so you might need to discuss with other developers if you need some help. Monocross supports the Mono framework, as well as .NET, Microsoft and C#.
Xamarin
You can use the C# code base in order to develop apps with this tool. It is possible to use the same APIs, language and IDE in all places. You should know that Xamarin development is tied with important companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Foursquare and Dow Jones. For those who use C# or Ruby, Xamarin is the best choice.
Xamarin offers a free version, as well as a paid one. If you choose the free version, you will have features that are limited and you won’t be able to use open-source libraries, which can be a major disadvantage. Sharing code is also possible for a developer.
PhoneGap
PhoneGap can be used to create apps that do not rely on the device. This platform was created by Adobe and it can be used to translate code from JavaScript, as well as CSS and HTML5. Apps can be developed for Android, Windows, iOS and BlackBerry.
A possible disadvantage could be that you can’t really use it for apps that are graphics-intensive. We should also add that this platform is available for free and it comes with great support for the developers.
NativeScript
This is another tool that can be used to develop cross-platform apps. There aren’t too many resources for its features. NativeScript comes with support for TypeScript, as well as Angular.js 2. Native APIs are also provided in JavaScript.
Appcelerator
Developing cross-platform applications with this tool is simple. A JavaScript codebase is used for it, and Appcelerator is open. Apps can be created for Android, iOS AND BlackBerry, but it also comes with support for HTML5.
More than 5000 devices can be supported by Accelerator, as well as OS APIs. The only con for this tool is the fact that the support team can be a bit slow with its responses.
Kony Mobile Platform
The Kony Mobile Platform comes with numerous impressive features such as API connection, automatic coding and app preview. One great thing about the Kony Mobile Platform is that it also has its own pre-built apps that can be used in order to develop a new app.
Once again, there are not many resources available for Kony Mobile Platform, which means that if you want to use it to develop an app, you are on your own. However, if its community continues to expand, there should be more documentation in the future.
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.
