An Exclusive Cross Platform App Development Guide For Businesses

Cross platform app development is your ultimate key to reaching a wider audience and increasing your ROI. Do you know why?

There are approximately 3 billion active Android devices and 1 billion iOS devices worldwide. You can target all of these users with a single app, reducing development costs. Cross platform mobile app development allows you to build an app for multiple platforms.

Many popular companies such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have already followed this approach and achieved success in the industry. Startups and enterprises aspire to replicate their success by choosing cross platform app development but they get confused due to lack of knowledge.

In today’s blog, we will tell you essential things related to cross platform mobile application development. After reading this blog, you will get a clear understanding of why you should invest in cross platform app development services. So, let’s jump right in by understanding:

What is Cross Platform App Development?

Before diving deep into the cross platform app development guide, let’s first define cross platform development. The definition of cross platform app development refers to building mobile applications that can run on multiple platforms such as iOS and Android using a single codebase.

Native apps require separate codebases for each platform but cross-platform app development streamlines the process by allowing run single codebase on every platform. Now, we will discuss the best cross platform mobile app development frameworks which are Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, etc.

Top Cross Platform App Development Frameworks

Several cross platform mobile development frameworks help in building next-gen mobile apps. They include a lot of capabilities that help developers build applications that run seamlessly on multiple platforms.

1. Xamarin

Xamarin is a popular cross-platform app development framework which is an open-source framework built by Microsoft. This framework uses C# and .NET languages to build applications for multiple platforms (Android, iOS, or both). Xamarin provides native user interfaces and seamless performance.

However, it can struggle with graphics-heavy apps and doesn’t have full access to all mobile APIs. Xamarin has some disadvantages such as limited library access, higher overhead, and more complex to create cross platform app. These disadvantages are making it less famous among the developers. The strong community support and 75% code sharing make Xamarin a popular choice to build cross platform mobile apps. This framework can play a crucial role in future trends in cross platform mobile app development. 

2. React Native

React Native is among the top cross platform app development frameworks which is becoming famous among the top developers in the mobile app development industry. React Native is a top demand currently and developers are learning skills to be efficient in building mobile apps using this cross platform mobile app development framework.

This framework is owned by Meta and uses JavaScript & TypeScript to make cross platform apps. Having hot reload and code reusability allows react native to build applications faster. Just like everything, this framework also has some limitations as some features still require native code. React Native comes with UI rendering but it’s quite complex to debug it. Due to its popularity and demand, the number of top React Native app development companies will increase in 2025.

3. Flutter

Flutter is another famous cross-platform app development framework commonly used in the industry. More developers are skilled at building cross-platform apps, and they have built a strong community for support and guidance. Flutter was developed by Google and uses the Dart language to build fast and seamless cross-platform apps for Android, iOS, or both.

With a rich set of widgets, Flutter allows faster development but the app size can be larger without native APIs. Flutter uses Dart, an easy-to-learn language with limited third-party support. Due to the popularity of this cross platform app development framework, we have seen several Flutter app development companies becoming famous.

Read Also: React Native VS Flutter: Which is Better For Your Business?

4. Cordova

Apache Cordova is a less-used but effective cross platform app development framework. It uses web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build mobile apps. This framework supports many platforms and provides quick app development but debugging can be a challenge while using it. Apache Cordova is a good choice to build mobile applications but it doesn’t match the performance of native apps. However, it’s free and supports many platforms but it raises several security concerns. So, after building your app with Apache Cordova you need to follow best security practices to fortify your cross-platform mobile app.

5. Ionic

Ionic is the third most famous cross platform mobile application development framework among developers and top cross platform app development companies. It uses web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

With the capability to develop cross platform mobile apps, Ionic integrates well with tools like Angular and React. Ionic can help you build simple applications but it can’t handle graphics-heavy tasks due to inconsistent UX.

Benefits of Cross Platform App Development For Businesses

Businesses need to choose cross platform app development to achieve success in their industry. By allowing businesses to develop cross platform apps, cross platform application development provides cost-saving, faster launch, and wider audience reach. However, many business owners think why they need to invest in cross platform mobile app development services. To get the answer to that question, let’s explore the benefits of developing a cross-platform mobile app:

1. Money-Saving Development

Money-saving is the most important advantage of cross platform app development. This approach allows businesses to build applications for iOS and Android with the same codebase. So, businesses don’t need to hire separate teams for both platforms. This helps in reducing development costs and establishes it as the best multi platform app development approach for startups and enterprises. Any experienced cross platform mobile app development company also offers budget-friendly app development services.

2. Launch The Application Faster

Speed is the most important factor in today’s business environment because everything has become fast-paced. With multi platform app development, businesses can launch their application faster due to shared codebase. This approach eliminates the need for writing separate codes for multiple platforms. By reusing 80% of the code, developers can reduce the development time. Mobile cross platform development allows businesses to roll out updates and new updates easily & faster.

3. Consistent User Experience

A seamless user experience is most important for the success of any application. Users love using a mobile app that runs flawlessly. Cross platform software allows businesses to maintain UI/UX consistency across different platforms. This approach allows developers to create a unified interface that offers the same functionality and design to provide a smooth experience on every device. This consistent performance builds brand identity and improves customer satisfaction. An experienced ui ux design agency can help you provide a seamless and intuitive experience.

4. Reach A Wider Audience

Cross-platform app development services allow businesses to launch the application on both Android & iOS platforms simultaneously. Having your app on both platforms increases market penetration and the customer base. Whether you are a startup looking for quick growth or enterprise expanding businesses, cross platform mobile app dev helps you build cutting-edge apps. This approach gives you the advantage of custom Android and iOS app development at the same time.

5. Helps You Earn More Money

We have discussed how cross-platform app development allows businesses to save money, launch the app faster, and reach a broader audience. In addition, multiplatform app development provides a higher return on investment, which means earning more money. Thus, when business owners launch a feature-rich application across multiple platforms without spending a lot of money, cross-platform app development becomes important.

Read Also: Benefits Of Developing A Cross-Platform Mobile App

How To Build A Cross-Platform App: Step-by-Step Process

We have discussed the benefits of cross platform app development. Now it’s important to understand how to make cross platform apps. Businesses should know the step-by-step process to develop cross platform app and achieve success in the industry. Let’s explore the complete process:

1. Analyze Your Business Requirements

Setting goals and objectives is important to have a clear understanding and purpose to develop cross platform mobile app. You need to identify the reason behind developing your app, what problem you want to solve with this app, who your target audience is, and how you can solve the problems. Summing up, you need to discover the challenges your business is facing and propose solutions. Remember to avoid top cross-platform app development challenges to start a secure process.

2. Conduct Deep Market Research

Now that you have set your goals, you need to conduct deep market research to identify your competitors. Find out where your competition is standing currently in the market, how well they are performing, and what features they have provided within their cross platform application. You need to identify how your competitors are serving the customers to solve their pain points. If you can find some missing opportunity that can become your USP, then it’s a big win for your business.

3. Decide App Features & Functionality

After finding out your unique selling point (USP), you decide the core features and functionalities that you want to include in the multi platform software. Remember that cross platform app development will allow your app to run on multiple platforms. So, you need to prioritize features keeping this in mind and user needs, market demands, and competitor analysis are the other significant factors. The selected features should align with the app’s objective, offer value to users, and improve the overall experience.

4. Choose The Development Framework

The next step is selecting the right cross platform development framework to build your mobile app. Selecting the right framework with platform compatibility is essential to build a seamless application. Some brilliant cross platform app development frameworks are; React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, Ionic, Cardova, etc.

5. Design The Application

Providing a consistent and intuitive UI/UX experience is important to reach more audience. You need to choose a brilliant mobile app development company to provide a consistent user experience on various platforms. The designers should be able to use platform-agnostic design principles such as adhering to a unique style guide and leveraging UI components.

6. Start The Cross Platform App Development

After completing these necessary steps, you decide to create a multi platform app through coding. In this phase, developers write code, add new features, integrate third-party APIs & libraries, and connect the code to the database to make the application functional. In cross platform app development, the code is written once and deployed across multiple platforms at a single time. However, the choice depends on your needs but startups choose Flutter for MVP development to achieve success.

7. Perform Testing & Launch The App

After developing the cross platform mobile application, the testing phase is essential to identify any bugs within the code. It helps in maintaining the quality of your application. You need to test the application across different devices, screen sizes, and operating systems to ensure compatibility and reliability. Testing leads you to the last step of building a cross platform software/application. You need to hire best cross platform app developers in USA to complete this step. After completing all the necessary checkpoints, you head towards launching the application on app stores.

How Much Does Cross Platform App Development Cost

The cost of building a cross platform application varies widely due to some important factors such as app complexity, features, design, development team location, and chosen technology stack. The average cost of cross platform app development ranges between $15,000 to $150,000, depending on some features.

• A simple app with basic features cost $15,000 to $40,000. 
• Medium-complexity apps with improved & advanced UI and integrations range from $40,000 to $80,000. 
• Building an advanced cross platform app with real-time features, AI, and third-party integration can take your budget up to $100,000.

However, these are just estimations and businesses need to partner with an experienced cross platform app development company to get the actual cost of making cross platform apps. Businesses need to take a look at the cost because the future of cross-platform app development looks brighter and it will be needed to achieve success.

Wrapping Up

Cross platform app development is a crucial approach for businesses looking to expand their customer base, reduce development, save time, and improve efficiency. This approach helps developers and businesses by providing several benefits. We hope this guide has answered all your questions related to cross platform mobile app development and helped you choose this approach.

However, building a cross platform app isn’t an easy task and you need to partner with a top app development company to build your desired application. At RipenApps, we have expert and experienced professionals skilled in cross platform app development frameworks. We acquire best-in-class expertise to help you achieve your business goals and improve engagement.