Best Frameworks For Developing Cross-Platform Mobile Apps

In today’s digital world, business firms can reach potential buyers through devices such as desktops, tablets, mobiles, PCs, etc. With 6.6 billion smartphone users, no organization can lose its presence on extensively used mobile application development frameworks. 

Here we see cross-platform app development coming in. Cross-platform app development allows a single code base making it more affordable than native application development.  

But, you might be thinking about how to pick the right framework for your app development. This blog will help you. Here is a list of the best frameworks curated for iOS and Android app development to grow your business in the coming years. 

Before we explore the list of cross-platform app development frameworks, let us understand cross-platform development and how it is more reasonable than native development.

What is Cross-Platform App Development? 

Cross-platform app development is creating compatible software applications using multiple mobile operating platforms, such as Android, iOS, and Windows applications.

Traditionally, designing native applications for operating systems was expensive and time-consuming, as one operating system code could not be used for another. Cross-platform development delivers solutions to these challenges, letting all the source code be shared across platforms. 

Popular Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks 

This list will never be complete as many options are available today. The important thing to realize is that no one-size-fits-all tool will be ideal for everyone. The choice of a framework depends on your project and business needs, as well as other specifics.

However, as the top app development company in Bangalore, we have picked out some of the top frameworks for cross-platform mobile development to help you start with your decision.

• React Native 

React Native is an open-source UI software framework, developed in 2015 by Meta Platforms. The cross-platform mobile app framework is based on Facebook’s JavaScript library React and lets developers create natively rendered cross-platform mobile apps.

Programming Language: JavaScript 

Features 

1. React Native focuses on the UI. Its primitives render to native platform UI components to build a personalized and responsive user interface.
2. The Fast Refresh feature lets developers see changes in their React components immediately.
3. In React Native versions 0.62 and others, integration between React Native and the mobile app debugger Flipper is the default. Flipper debugs Android, iOS, and React native apps, providing tools like an interactive layout, a log viewer, an inspector, and a network inspector.

Mobile App Examples: React Native is utilized in Meta’s Facebook, Microsoft Office, desktop Messenger, Skype, Xbox Game Pass, and Oculus. 

React Native is the most popular cross-platform app development framework with a large and powerful community of developers with the best technical knowledge. The framework supports your needs when developing mobile applications.

• Flutter 

Flutter is a popular framework for designing mobile, web, and desktop apps from a single codebase released by Google in 2017. Use Dart, Google’s programming language to develop mobile applications with Flutter. 

Programming Language: Dart 

Features 

1. The Flutter framework supports a design system called Google’s Material Design to help developers create digital experiences. It offers visual and behavioral widgets to build your application effectively.
2. Flutter’s reload feature helps you see how your application changes after you modify your code, without recompiling it.
3. Flutter does not depend on web browser technology. Rather, include a rendering engine for designing widgets.

Mobile App Examples: eBay, Alibaba, Google Pay, ByteDance apps

Flutter has dynamic clients globally and is used by many app developers. According to a source, Flutter is trending over time, according to the usage of the related tag. 

• Ionic 

Ionic is an open-source mobile UI toolkit released in 2013. It allows app developers to create cross-platform applications from a codebase using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, integrated with the Angular, React, and Vue frameworks.

Programming Language: JavaScript 

Features 

1. The Ionic framework uses two plugins Cordova and Capacitor to deliver access to the mobile’s built-in functionalities, such as the flashlight, camera, GPS, and audio recorder.
2. Ionic is founded on a SaaS framework developed for mobile OS and has various user experience features for creating applications.
3. Ionic has a command-line interface, Ionic CLI, a go-to tool for making Ionic mobile apps.

The Ionic Framework Forum is where the app development team exchanges knowledge and helps each other overcome challenges.

Mobile App Examples: T-Mobile, EA Games, and BBC

• Kotlin 

Kotlin Multiplatform or KMP is an open-source technology by JetBrains that allows code sharing across different platforms and maintains native programming advantages. Mobile app developers can seamlessly reuse code, write native code, and integrate shared Kotlin code into a project.

Programming Language: Kotlin 

Features 

1. Kotlin framework can be integrated into any business project. App developers can use platform-specific APIs for cross-platform and native development.
2. When you use Kotlin for Android, there is no need to introduce a new language to your codebase. You can reuse the Kotlin code and expertise, compared to other technologies.
3. Developers can reuse code across desktop, Android, iOS, and server-side while keeping the native code. 
4. Compose Multiplatform, a modern declarative cross-platform UI framework by JetBrains allows developers to have full code-sharing scalability and to share the UI and the logic.

Mobile App Examples: Netflix, 9GAG, McDonald’s, Forbes,, and Philips

The Kotlin cross-platform mobile development is the youngest framework with a mature community. Therefore, in November 2023, JetBrains promoted it to Stable to grow fast and make an impression on the market. 

• NativeScript 

NativeScript is an open-source mobile application development framework released in 2014. It builds Android and iOS mobile apps using JavaScript languages that transpile to TypeScript, and frameworks like Angular and Vue.js.

Programming Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript 

Features 

1. The NativeScript framework includes platform-native UIs. Apps built with NativeScript run directly on a native device without WebViews.
2. It offers pre-built templates and plugins, avoiding the need for third-party solutions.
3. App developers can access native Android and iOS APIs with NativeScript.

Mobile App Examples: Strudel, Daily Nanny, and Breethe

• .NET MAUI

.NET Multi-platform App UI or .NET MAUI is a cross-platform framework by Microsoft introduced in May 2022. It allows app developers to create native mobile and desktop applications using C# and XAML. The framework is an evolution of Xamarin. Forms, the functionality of Xamarin, provides native controls for the platform supported by Xamarin.

Programming Language: XAML, C#

Features 

1. A single project system is allowed using multi-targeting to target Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
2. .NET MAUI delivers cross-platform APIs to access native device functionalities, such as accelerometer, GPS, battery, and network states.
3. .NET hot reload support lets developers modify their managed source code during the app running process.

Mobile App Examples: Irth Solutions, NBC Sports Next, and Escola Agil

Being a new framework, .NET MAUI gained popularity among app developers with an active community on Microsoft Q&A.

Choose the Right Cross Platform App Development Framework with Indglobal 

We have covered the top cross-platform app development frameworks, there are many other cross-platform frameworks to come. Now the question is how to choose the best one for your organization. 

Firstly, ask yourself and understand your business goals and the purpose you want to accomplish with app development. There are factors that you need to consider, and the most crucial ones are- 

• Company Size 
• Objectives to Achieve 
• App Developers Experience 

Consider these three factors before choosing the best fit for your enterprise business solutions. For more details on selecting the right framework, contact the best app developers at the leading mobile app development company in Bangalore. Our team has the expertise to guide its clients about what to pick for their organization and succeed in the market. 

Summary 

Cross-platform app development increases business reach. With the high mobile phone usage today, most companies want to develop apps to stay ahead of the competition. Using the multiplatform application development method, you can create an application for multiple operating systems, including Android & iOS.

An amazing team of professional app developers is the key to achieving rich applications that can skyrocket your business. We are the best organizations for cross-platform app development, providing services, such as development, support, strategies, and maintenance. 

Meet our team today for the best cross-platform app development solutions!