The number of smartphones and mobile app users are increasing day by day. According to the present mobile app market, businesses and users require high-quality mobile apps that work on various platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows. Hence, a technology called cross platform app development is used by developers offering the best mobile app development services. This technology enables any mobile app development company to build mobile apps that can function on more than one platform. However, cross platform app development is not that easy as it looks on paper. Developers providing the best mobile app development services face a myriad of challenges while building cross platform mobile apps. A major constraint faced by developers in cross platform app development is maintaining consistent user interface and user experience while reconciling the native codes of each platform.
Given below are the 5 best practices that every mobile app development company or developers involved in cross platform app development must follow in order to overcome the challenges and build a seamless app:
1) Maintaining a consistent and steady UX
For developers involved in cross platform app development, it is extremely crucial to keep the user experience (UX) intact across all operating systems. Maintaining consistency of layout and functions across all platforms helps users to feel more comfortable and familiar when they are switching platforms. In addition to this, the layout and functions become the USP of the app. For example, the icons that appear in an e-commerce app would be in the same position whether the user opens the app on iOS or Android. Hence, it is vital for the part of the mobile app development company to give a uniform look and feel to the app across all platforms.
2) Making the app attractive and appealing for the users
The functioning of the app is most important, but that does not mean the aesthetics of the app can be ignored during cross platform app development. The mobile app built by developers offering the best mobile app development services should be captivating and delightful for the target audience. An attractive app results in improved user engagement. Moreover, the look and appearance of a mobile app help to improve and strengthen a brand’s identity and reputation in the market. Hence, an aesthetically pleasing app helps businesses and brands to stand out from their competitors in the market.
3) Making use of a platform-independent strategy
One of the major issues with mobile app development companies and developers in cross platform app development is that they tend to focus only on one specific platform (either Android or iOS), while completely ignoring the other. Due to this, most developers involved in cross platform app development test the app only on one platform or the one which is most frequently used by them. The outcome of this may be that a particular app works well on one platform and not so great on the other. Instead, developers offering the best mobile app development services must make use of a platform-independent approach. This tactic would keep the developers inclined and focused on getting the same results in performance on both platforms.
4) Testing the app
Since the cross platform app will run and be used on multiple platforms by users, it is extremely essential for developers and mobile app development companies providing the best mobile app development services to put the app to test on all platforms. It is also important to ensure that all the functions of the app working correctly. Any mobile app development company or for that matter, even developers involved in cross platform app development must not be under the false impression that if a particular app works well on one platform, it would replicate the same on another.
5) Focus must be on the users
Users must be the prime focus of developers, irrespective of whether the app is being built for one particular platform or multiple platforms. Paying heed to the needs and requirements of the users would go a long way in making the app user friendly and a highly successful one in the market.