You cannot rest today developing an app on one platform alone. While you do not necessarily need to invest on making apps for BBM and the like, you need to make apps for Android and iOS without an excuse. Windows still holds some power and Microsoft has not got rid of its smart phone division yet, so you may want to venture out for Windows app development too. And it is here that you need cross platform apps.
People are leaving behind the traditional desktop and using touch screen handheld devices to carry out their daily activities. Mobile app development companies are feeling the need to create apps that works smoothly across all the platforms. In this article, we will talk about the top 10 tools you can use to make cross platform mobile apps.
- Xamarin
This cross platform mobile development tool lets you do performance testing and monitoring on over 1000 devices. It also includes app store delivery and uses Ruby and C# for coding. Because of its robust structure, it has been used by industry giants like IBM, Microsoft and Dow Jones. There is a free trial version while business subscriptions start from $ 83 per month.
- Kony
Kony applies a single codebase for creating mobile apps for different platforms. It has a trial version, but pricing starts from $ 15 per month for a single user. It can import existing and third party libraries and uses JavaScript to enable its drag and drop reusable feature. Recently Kony launched the Mobile Fabric platform which supports multiple cloud service and middleware tools.
- PhoneGap
This mobile app development program from Adobe for cross platforms is suitable for beginners to translate codes from JavaScript, CSS and HTML 5. It has inbuilt SDKs for each supported platform. You can share a completed app with other team members for review once it is done. PhoneGap even supports BlackBerry and Windows apps.
- iFactr
IFactr is ideal for large enterprises to develop their apps quickly for mobile networks. It is very easy to learn the basics of the software with 2-3 days of training. This mobile app development program integrates Xamarin and PhoneGap to create native android and iOS apps. iFactr also offers strong prototyping options.
- Appcelerator Titanium
Appcelerator Titanium retains 60% to 90% of the original code for any mobile apps developed on it, and saves time by using it for other platforms. The SDK of this program uses JavaScript to create native apps for android and iOS. The tool is open source and constantly updated by participating developers to increase functionalities and fix problems.
- Sencha
It offers various cross platform mobile app development tools like Sencha Animator, Sencha Architect, etc. Apps can be created using HTML 5 which then can be converted to native versions using programs like PhoneGap. Corporate like Samsung, CNN and Google uses Sencha to develop apps which is supported by browsers and various touch screen devices. The pricing of the tool is on the higher side, but it can be a great investment to make high quality apps.
- Qt
You can code your apps in C++ and then move them to any platform you want to base your app on. After the apps are exported, you can test the app on different platforms and devices from the Qt interface.
- MoSync
MoSync allows developers to combine HTML 5 with the powerful C/C++ code to create fully featured apps. It also supports 9 different platforms at once and implements web based technologies for creating hybrid apps. It is a free open source mobile app development tool.
