With the number of mobile device users worldwide projected to reach a whopping 7.33 billion by 2023, building well-performing and feature-rich software applications for mobiles is more important than ever. Over the years, we’ve witnessed a fierce struggle for dominance among several mobile operating systems (MOS). The likes of Symbian couldn’t survive the battle and […]
With the number of mobile device users worldwide projected to reach a whopping 7.33 billion by 2023, building well-performing and feature-rich software applications for mobiles is more important than ever.
Over the years, we’ve witnessed a fierce struggle for dominance among several mobile operating systems (MOS). The likes of Symbian couldn’t survive the battle and are now forgotten by all but historians. Only Android and iOS came through victorious.
Android is a Google-backed operating system. It powers 86.6% of mobile devices on the planet. The $0 price of Android attracts a great number of hardware vendors to it, for example, Samsung.
iOS is the brainchild of Steve Jobs’ company, Apple. Its use is much more limited than that of Android. This is because iOS can power Apple gadgets exclusively. At present, 13.4% of the market belongs to this MOS.
Thus, to cover the entire customer base, businesses have to multiply their expenses by two since one development team is not enough.
Trying to figure out which of the two systems is more popular among the target audience is another option. In practice, though, it’s a very challenging task. Not covering the entire clientele means losing revenue. What’s to be done then?
The ultimate solution to this problem has been found: the platform-agnostic approach. It assumes the use of key web technologies and frameworks to interact with a device’s hardware. This approach makes it possible to target two major MOSs with just one set of programming instructions. Therefore, one team of developers needs to be hired, cutting down expenses in half or even more.
Some other pros:
One of the best frameworks that implement the cross-platform approach is React Native (RN). Let’s have a look at why it is so valuable for businesses.
Fast development speed is very important from a business standpoint: the fewer man-hours, the more money saved. RN and rapid development are synonymous. By some estimates, RN apps can be delivered 3 times as fast as traditional ones. This is why:
RN doesn’t use pure HTML to render web pages. Instead, it utilizes JSX (JavaScript XML) syntax, which basically embeds HTML elements into JavaScript code and places them in the DOM without any additional methods. This tremendously simplifies and speeds up development.
React.js is another factor that enables RN developers to make apps faster. This JavaScript library treats everything as components. These represent standalone blocks that can be reused in different parts of the same application or in other apps.
For instance, in a navigation menu, every item becomes a separate component. Then, all these components are added to another component — the navigation menu itself. Later, a developer can take the entire menu or menu items and integrate them into another app. Reusability is one of the key features of good software.
In addition to making their own components, React.js provides many UI elements for both MOSs off the shelf: buttons, pickers, progress bars, and other essentials. Examples include ImagePickerIOS, ActionSheetIOS, DatePickerAndroid, ToolbarAndroid, and others. So, developers have all they need to be able to create visually appealing solutions at a high speed.
The developers of native apps have to recompile their programs every time they change something. This lengthens the development process.
Instead, RN allows developers to see all their changes immediately. No repeated recompilation is required. This hugely speeds up the programmers’ work.
Since RN is based on JavaScript and React.js, developers don’t have to worry about learning something new every time. Whether a project is new or old, a professional react developer only needs to study the requirements to start coding away.
Besides, the RN developer community is getting larger day by day. To illustrate this, React Native has 86,000 stars on GitHub at the moment of writing the post. The more people are interested in a technology, the easier it is to find answers to questions and solve problems. If an RN developer gets stuck, they can go to sites like Reddit or StackOverflow for answers and recommendations and get them in no time.
JavaScript tops all possible charts. If we look at the Developer Survey Results 2019, almost 70% of professional programmers are now on it, and they are likely to keep using it in years to come.
RN and React are also popular technologies among professionals. The same survey lists React as third among web frameworks. RN is sixth among other frameworks, libraries, and tools.
The number of soldiers in the RN development army is constantly growing, and you can easily choose someone who meets your quality vs cost requirement.
React Native developers build JavaScript components that work as iOS and Android widgets. No WebView (a kind of an app’s own browser) is necessary, which allows RN developers to create apps that function almost identically to their conventional counterparts.
Moreover, RN is capable of conducting CPU-intensive operations thanks to native code blocks (e.g., written in Kotlin) that RN devs can insert into their programs. Native code means native performance.
RN enables programming professionals to take maximum advantage of smartphone or tablet capabilities and build amazingly interactive programs, including professional-looking games.
In addition, RN apps are fully responsive by default. This gives you a 100% confidence that all your customers will have the same user experience regardless of screen resolutions.
An RN app also takes little memory space. Therefore, it runs faster — a crucial characteristic for a business app. No one wants to look at a progress bar too long.
What’s important is that an RN app requires considerably fewer investments to build than the traditional approach dictates.
The main advantage of tools to build system-independent solutions for businesses is their cost-effectiveness since they provide one codebase for both MOSs.
Among several tools that implement the two-platforms-one-codebase approach, React Native truly shines, It allows developers to create well-performing apps with a native look for two major mobile operating systems at once.
GetDevDone employs exceptional React Native professionals who will skillfully convert your idea into a working solution to help you reach out to consumers with devices powered by two MOSs at the same time. This will require much fewer investments compared to purely native way. Talk to us about your project. We’re always here for you.
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