Read on.
Cross-platform developmentOptions fall into just a few categories.
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) HTML/CSS, React, Angular, VueCons: Not a real app.
Runs in a web browser.
Not available in app stores.
Hard to create a desktop shortcut.
Cannot access many of the device’s resources like accelerometer, compass, proximity sensor, bluetooth, NFC, and morePros: Easy to writeHybrid (PhoneGap, Cordova, Sencha, Ionic)Cons: Runs in a WebView so it can be slowEasier for web devs to learn because it uses HTML and JavaScript as its language and structureNative Solutions (React Native, NativeScript, Flutter, Xamarin)Cons: Learning a framework may be difficult.
Mastering the toolchain definitely isPros: Real apps that can be found in the stores and run fastIf you have a captive audience, one where users value your app so much that they’re willing to accept a poorer user experience, the cheapest solution is to create a PWA.
If your app is extremely simple and speed is not expected to be an issue, a hybrid solution would be appropriate.
But if speed and smoothness are important you will need to go with a native solution.
Native SolutionsThere are four well-known cross-platform native development frameworks, Xamarin, NativeScript, React Native, and Flutter.
(Wish to heck that Medium would allow tables, so settle for this image that shows the four native solutions and their characteristics.
Bottom line: Flutter and React Native are more popular, newer, and free).
Sources: http://github.
com, http://stackoverflow.
com, http://stackshare.
comThe rise of Flutter and React NativeReact Native had been trending upward over the last few years largely because it is reputedly so much more pleasant to work with than Xamarin.
But with Flutter having moved from alpha to beta in the Spring of 2018 and from beta to version 1.
0 in December of 2018, there suddenly became a fourth option whose growth warrants some major attention.
React Native and Flutter have become the darlings of the development community with major buzz for each.
This is a Google Trends analysis of the four search terms from 2016 through 2018.
Note that Xamarin began to decrease as React Native begins to increase in early 2017.
Similarly React Native flattened beginning in the summer of 2018.
Perhaps not coincidentally, this is the time when Flutter began to grow more rapidly, suggesting that Flutter is slowly taking market share away from React Native just like React Native took market share from Xamarin the year before.
Xamarin and NativeScript are flat.
React Native has flattened recently.
Flutter continues to rise.
In parts two and three of this series, let’s compare React Native and Flutter directly.
In part two, we’ll compare them in detail.
And in part three, we’ll look at the languages with code samples of the same app in both platforms.
[1] Source: https://www.
forbes.
com/sites/chuckjones/2018/03/10/apples-ios-loyalty-rate-is-lower-than-googles-android-but-apple-may-steal-more-users-each-year[2] Source for the statistic and map: https://deviceatlas.
com/blog/android-v-ios-market-share#us[3] Sources: http://github.
com, http://stackoverflow.
com, http://stackshare.
com.