10 Best Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks of 2020

With the increase in competition in the market, people are looking for better ways to improve their businesses. When the idea of business is looked side by side with the idea of technology, apps have become important, even for business. From a small store to a multi-million company, apps are proved beneficial. Moreover, applications help a business in numerous ways and are provide convenience to people.

Now, this is valid on both the ends i.e. the receiving and giving sides. If you are looking for app development for your business, you have to keep Cross-Platform App Frameworks in mind. Also, there are many aspects that should be looked upon. However, choosing the correct Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks is the most crucial aspect. This is because when it comes to a Mobile App Development, majorly two platforms opt for app development such are iOS & Android.

Also, to ensure that you are targeting both, you must ensure opting for Cross-platform Mobile Frameworks. Moreover, hire Mobile App Developers that can develop an app with the latest and best suited Cross-platform App Development Tools. Furthermore, in this article, we'll look up to the Top 10 Cross-Platform Framework for app development.

Pros of using Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks

Cross-Platform App Frameworks don't come with many barriers when it comes to technology.

It offers Cost-Effectiveness.

It allows simple and easy cloud integration.

You are able to use a single code for various platforms.

It has a wider reach and requires a shorter span of time for marketing.

1. Flutter

Written in dart language, flutter is a popular cross-platform mobile app development framework. Flutter is launched by Google, and it is one of the reasons that make it a reliable one for the purpose. Moreover, it is an open-source mobile application development SDK.

With the option of the 2D rendering engine, Skia, Flutter App Development has become really popular. It has become one of the Best Cross-platform Frameworks when it comes to cross-platform mobile app development. The best point about Flutter is that you don't have to restart the whole development process if you encounter any error, you can simply resolve an error in real-time.

Pros:

Fast app development

Easy-to-use UI

Provides widgets and libraries

Responsive

Clear documentation

Cons:

No flexibility

Limited libraries

2. Appcelerator

It’s one of the best Cross-platform Mobile Frameworks you can use, especially when looking for good outcomes. It will further help with an increased speed of the overall process. The practical use of this app has made it a hot choice amongst people. Like Flutter, this also comes with the open-source SDK.

Moreover, you can use it to build hybrid apps as well as HTML 5 applications. Appcelerator uses JavaScript as the codebase. With JavaScript, supports platforms like iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, and many more to create apps.

Pros:

Web-oriented

Fast prototyping

Easy to use

Cons:

No Freemium

Flexibility limitations

Increasing complexity

3. React Native

We can't forget this famous framework called React Native as far as cross-platform app development is considered. Like Appcelerator, it also supports the JavaScript codebase that makes it a good choice. Also, React Native can be used to write codes that give a native-like feel to a mobile application that can work in both Android and iOS.

It comes equipped with a number of features and practical usability offered by React Native. And hence, it becomes a better option than many others, frameworks available out there.

Pros:

JavaScript for fast programming

Allows codebase sharing

Good performance

Cons:

Not completely usable for cross-platform development

Compatibility issues

Requires expertise in the case of native modules

4. Ionic

This framework stands out in the crowd due to the option of offering a combination of many languages to users. Developers can use this framework to build a user-friendly app interface and user-friendly features. What makes it a good choice is it is an open-source front end framework.

This allows the developers to alter the development process according to their own unique ideas. Ionic is based on SAAS UI, which is the best framework due to being designed specifically for mobile operating systems.

Pros:

Easy to learn

Concise documentation

Fast prototyping

Single codebase across different platforms

Cons:

Lacks in overall performance

Security-related issues

Plugin-dependent

5. Xamarin

Xamarin is a totally different app development framework from the ones we have discussed so far. By using Xamarin, the developer gains the option to use 90% of the code for building all in three different platforms. Xamarin is used to develop applications for Android, iOS, and Windows.

In terms of the base language, Xamarin uses C# and for those who don't know, C# offers a better product than other existing languages. Also, Xamarin has an advantage over React Native that is, a native-like aesthetic experience it gives to your app.

Pros:

The performance level is close to Native

Easy to maintain

Requires only one stack of technologies for different platforms

Cons:

Access to Open Source Libraries is limited

Higher cost factor

6. PhoneGap

PhoneGap is one of the best cross-platform app development tools offering language support like JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS. This is known to have changed the field mobile development field considerably. PhoneGap is a good choice if you are looking for cross-platform mobile application development.

Apart from developing apps for all major platforms, you can also add features in the form of add-ons. Moreover, what makes PhoneGap different is the option to work without any hardware restrictions.

Pros:

Fast Testing

Fast Deployment

One Code Base when it comes to various platforms

Cons:

Performance isn’t good than the other in the list

Lacking UI widgets

7. Node.js

Node.js is an extremely powerful framework for the development of cross-platform mobile applications. In most cases, the apps developed with Node.js are highly responsive and efficient. In terms of the base, Node.js works on JavaScript that is based on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine.

Moreover, this framework is capable of handling a few concurrent tasks at a time. Node.js also comes with an inbuilt library that does the simplification of the whole process of development. The library of Node.js is impressively speedy in terms of execution.

Pros:

Code sharing and its re-use

Good stack of technologies

Fast performance

Cons:

Callback hell concern

Performance sucks when it comes to heavy work

8. Sencha Touch

Like all other names in this list, Sencha Touch is also a famous cross-platform mobile application development framework. Sencha Touch is known to have built-in native looking themes for all major platforms like android, iOS, and others all well. It is known to provide results in the form of fast and efficient applications.

Applications developed in Sencha Touch are known to speedy hardware acceleration techniques. With Sencha Touch, even developing larger business apps and maintaining them is also possible. Sencha Touch is also known to have Cordova integration inbuilt.

Pros:

Community support

Fast performance

Good documentation

Easy to use with plug-ins

Cons:

Heavy DOM elements

9. Corona SDK

Corona SDK works in a way that is similar to that of the Flutter framework, which is also discussed in the list. This framework is used by programmers for the development of apps on all major platforms. Moreover, this framework is reliable because of the fact that it offers a backend framework language Lua.

Lua is a comparatively lightweight application development language. Corona SDK is known to focus on only the major aspects of all development such as portability, extensibility, scalability, and ease of use.

Pros:

You only require writing the code once

Minimum lag

A good amount of plug-ins

Easy to both use and learn

Cons:

Quite costly to use

No way at present to integrate native plug-ins

10. NativeScript

NativeScript is also one of the most preferred Cross-platform App Development Tools used for both iOS and Android. It allows a mobile app developer to develop native apps with the use of TypeScript, Angular, JavaScript, or Vue.js. Moreover, this open-source framework offers to customize the User interface as per various different screens types on different mobiles or other devices. Apart from that, there is hardly any need for third-party solutions.

Pros:

Good overall performance

Allows architectural selection among Angular, TypeScript, JavaScript, and Vue

Big repository when it comes to plug-ins

Cons:

No live sync

Almost everything is running on a single thread

Conclusion

Choosing the best option possible can speed up your business's brush. Also, this list clears the fact that you can't decide the best framework for mobile app development. Instead of choosing one framework, you should look at all the options available and choose what matches your project’s requirements. Most of the major mobile application development frameworks are different in terms of what they offer at their core but offer the same basic features.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sagar Bagsariya

Principal Mobile App Developer