There is a flow of information regarding pros and cons of native, hybrid and cross-platform mobile apps development over the Internet. Thus, it is also important to pay attention not only to what is said, but also to who is saying. Logically, representatives of cross-platform solutions emphasize the advantages of fast and cost-saving development and maintenance. At the same time iOS and Android development companies are the most persuasive in describing successful cases of native mobile applications development. They are right but sometimes keep giving an univocal advice in the ambivalent contexts.

SWOT for mobile apps development

Before making choice concerning the future mobile app development technology, it is useful to make sure your answers to several questions are complete:

  • What is the type of the mobile app (portal/news, online shop, game etc.)?
  • Does mobile app really need to be cross-platform and become such right way?
  • Does project benefit from the mobile app native design?
  • How critical is the mobile app performance?

You have to be aware of the probabilities of strengths and weaknesses provided by the selected mobile app development technology. Here are some SWOT-like priorities of when it is better to choose cross-platform solutions and when this choice becomes risky:

S

  • One code base for multiple platforms
  • Diminish the number of bugs for 2+ platform
  • Lower origination cost
  • Quicker development
  • Best option for developing MVP prototypes
 W

  • Sometimes the performance is a bit slower (PhoneGap)
  • Limited UI adoption to the native look and feel
  • Usually not the best option for specific complex apps
  • Limited access to specific mobile OS frameworks
 O

  • A fall of hybrid apps
  • Single language (e.g. C#)
  • Niche cross-platform frameworks (e.g. Corona for game apps)

 

 T

  • New mobile features are integrated into cross-platform solutions only after they’ve been released for the native development environments
  • Mobile operating systems (especially iOS) develop themselves in competitive way

Summing up the aforesaid, it should be noticed that the cross-platform mobile development potential evolves very rapidly. So it is reasonable to take into account the options of cross-platform solutions every time a client consider mobile app development.