When it comes to mobile applications, the two most famous operating system that comes to our mind are Android by Google and iOS by Apple. App development requires requirement analysis, design planning, development phase, testing, and deployment of the app. To develop these apps, we need a mobile app development platform that can help in developing a native, hybrid, cross-platform as well as web app.
What is Android?
Android is an open-source mobile operating system introduced by Google. It is the most widely used operating system supporting a wide range of devices. Android is written in Linux kernel with the help of programming languages like C++ and Java. It is built particularly for tablets and touchscreen mobile devices.
An Android application is a software developed to run on an Android device. It is an APK (Android Package) file, Zip archive which contains app source code, resources, and metadata. The apps can be written in languages like Java, Kotlin, C++, etc.
What is an Android Mobile App Development Platform?
An Android app development platform provides a set of tools, software, debugging tools, libraries, etc. to develop an Android application. All these elements provided by the mobile app development framework along with source code are used to develop apps for various mobile devices. This strong foundation is useful in developing apps with the help of in-built modules that provide functionalities like networking, user interface, storage, etc.
With the help of mobile app development platforms, app development becomes easy with reduced time and error and improved consistency and stability across various platforms.
Advantages of Mobile App Development Platforms
There are many advantages of using Android app development platforms:
- Cost efficient: With the help of app development platforms, developing apps become easy at less cost and can be distributed across multiple platforms. This saves the cost of hiring different teams for each platform.
- Ease of integration: These platforms provide various libraries and resources that can be used in apps instead of writing complex codes.
- Enhanced performance: Platforms like Flutter and React Native have enhanced performance than the others. They focus on improving the user experience as well as making the app fast and responsive.
- Built-in components: They provide built-in features that can be customized according to the app’s requirements saving both time and effort for the developers.
What is the Need For Android in Mobile Application Development?
Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are global market leaders in today’s world. There is fierce competition between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, although Android SDKs are now dominating the global mobile operating system market. Here are a few reasons why you should choose Android over iOS if you are not able to incorporate both kinds of apps:
- Easy entry into the market
- Large base of customers
- Compatible with a wide range of devices
- Easy integration of social media platforms
- Easy to develop, test and deploy the app
- Comparatively low development cost
Top Android App Development Platforms
Android app development platforms ease the development process with reduced time and cost. Through these platforms, native, cross-platform, hybrid, and web apps can be created which are compatible with various devices. Have a look at some of the best platforms for Android app development.
1. Flutter
Flutter is an open-source and cross-platform Android app development platform. It was created by Google that enables developers to develop apps for Android, Windows, iOS, and the web with the help of a single codebase. It is written in the Dart language. It contains widgets, debugging tools, a rendering engine, and tools to integrate APIs to create apps. Applications such as Google Ads, Google Pay, eBay Motors, etc. are developed using Flutter.
Features:
- Flutter has a Hot Reload feature because of which only the changes will get loaded instead of the entire application. This is very useful in saving time as output can be seen in real-time with less compilation time.
- Various backend features and services can be integrated into the app like user authentication (through Google, Facebook, Email/Password, Phone, Microsoft, GitHub, etc), cloud services, storage, and push notifications.
- Provides various animations and UI enhancement features to make the app look more appealing.
- Provides performance closely related to that of native.
2. Android Studio
Android Studio is Google’s official Android Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that provides a lot of features and functionalities to develop mobile apps. Developers can easily write the source code, debug and test the quality of their application. It supports various programming languages like Java, Kotlin, Swift, C++, etc. Google continuously updates it to meet the latest trends and requirements of developers and allows them to customize it as per your needs. It has a large community of Android developers to help in case you are stuck.
Features:
- Has virtual emulators as well as physical connection with devices both wired and wireless.
- Has Gradle build support
- Provides Google Play services like Google Ads, Google Maps, in-app purchases, etc.
- Has GitHub support so you can perform any Git command just with a few clicks
- Integrated with tools and frameworks for testing
3. React Native
React Native is an open-source, accessible, cross-platform app development platform developed by Meta that can help developers in creating native applications for Android, iOS, and the web. It uses JavaScript and React library to develop, test and deploy the app. It allows fast development and deployment of mobile apps.
React Native has a syntax same as CSS but it does not use HTML or CSS. To take advantage of native views, the JavaScript thread’s messages are used. Applications such as Skype, Airbnb, Amazon Prime, etc. are developed using React Native.
Features:
- The app is built using native elements and APIs which provide a smooth user experience.
- Components can be reused and third-party extensions can be easily integrated.
- With React Native, a component-based GUI can be created for front-end applications.
- A single codebase can be used across all platforms to create platform-specific versions of numerous functionalities.
- Provides a variety of services to create the backend of the application.
4. Ionic
Ionic is an open-source, cross-platform app development platform developed with the help of Apache Cordova and Angular. It enables developers to build robust and high-feature native apps both in Android and iOS with the help of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It can be used to develop hybrid and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) as well.
Features:
- It is simple to work with as it uses technologies that most developers are already familiar with.
- Various components such as inputs, easy navigation, filtrations, views, etc. can be integrated to improve the user interface.
- The user interface is consistent and provides flexibility as well.
- The Ionic Command Line Interface is a tool that provides commands to start, build, run, and emulate the apps.
5. Xamarin
Xamarin is an open-source, cross-platform Android app development platform owned by Microsoft. It can build apps with the help of C# and .NET that can run on mobile operating systems like Android, iOS, and Windows. It provides the developers with a variety of tools to create, test, debug and deploy the apps and can be integrated with cloud services like Microsoft Azure.
It enables the developers to share the scripts across Windows and macOS. Developers can create a development environment with the help of APIs, components, backend services, etc. by using tools, frameworks, and that are supported by an active community.
Features:
- Developers can use the same code across multiple platforms without compromising the quality.
- Xamarin’s intermediate layer manages the relationship between the standard code and the core system code.
- Less time is required in coding as C# uses few lines of code.
- Its integration with Microsoft Visual Studio can help in managing and increasing the productivity of app development.
6. Native Script
Native Script is an open-source, native mobile app development platform developed by Progress. It uses CSS, JavaScript, Angular, Typescript, and Vue.js to develop mobile apps. Native Script Sidekick is a Graphical User Interface used to create tasks via a GUI tool.
XML files are used to define platform-independent user interfaces. It is possible to construct application logic independent of the target platform using Angular and TypeScript.
Features:
- Native Script has direct access to iOS and Android APIs.
- Provides strong backend support to apps.
- Has a native UI without Web Views.
- Integration of other frameworks and libraries is easy.
- Uses less code and time to load the app on the system.
7. Apache Cordova (Formerly Phone Gap)
Apache Cordova is an open-source, cross-platform app development platform that uses HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to develop mobile apps. It supports operating systems like Android, Windows, and iOS. It provides various plugins to developers to integrate hardware features like camera, GPS, accelerometer, etc. to provide an interface like native.
Features:
- Cordova utilizes a single codebase to develop mobile apps and third-party tools for management.
- The development process is very smooth.
- Cordova Command Line Interface is a tool that is used to build and install various plugins used across different platforms.
- Various core components are provided by Cordova to create the base of the application on which developers can implement their own logic.
8. Sencha Ext JS
Sencha combined with Ext JS is a cross-platform mobile application development platform. It is a JavaScript framework to create data-driven mobile and web apps. It has a wide range of built-in UI components, extensions such as grids, calendars, windows, trees, toolbars, etc., and has various themes to enhance the appearance of the elements. Sencha Architect is a tool provided by Sencha Ext JS to shorten the time it takes to get an app to market.
To change a theme, you need to change the CSS and Script code of the theme. Ext JS is available in two types: Modern toolkit and Classic toolkit.
Features:
- Provides strong data analytics.
- Has a flexible layout system.
- Has a high level of Data-Driven Documents (D3) package
- Has a graphical data representation.
- Handles and manages millions of data.
Conclusion
To ease the process of Android app development, many app development platforms are available in the market. Each platform has its own features suitable for different types of projects. You need to identify your requirements properly so that you can choose the app development platform to develop and publish your app on Google Play Store. Your journey does not stop by just creating and publishing your app, you need to maintain it, fix bugs that are identified after production, implement new features, and deploy new versions of the app. Whichever app development platform you choose, make sure it is apt for all the functionalities you want to implement in your application. There are video tutorials, documentation, and courses available for each platform that you can make use of in case you are stuck anywhere.
FAQs on Best Mobile App Development Platforms
Q1. What is the future of app development in 2023?
Answer:
By 2023, mobile app development services will see a considerable increase in the use of mobile payment, which has grown in popularity over the past few years.
Q2. Is Android development a good career in 2023?
Answer:
With the Android market growing rapidly, the job opportunities for Android Developers are also increasing at a good salary package.
Q3. What are the most popular widely used mobile application development frameworks as of 2023?
Answer:
Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, Ionic, Apache Cordova, and Native Scripts are some of the best mobile app development frameworks in 2023. Each framework has its unique features and capabilities, making it suitable for specific use cases.
Q4. Is React Native better than Flutter?
Answer:
Flutter has a minimum required SDK version of 16 and can be compiled into Android 4.1, making it compatible with many devices. React Native apps require a lower minimum SDK version than others. Hence React Native apps are usually more lightweight and need less code than others.
Q5. What is the future scope for app development?
Answer:
By 2023, the global AI market will reach $70.94 billion. So, future applications may integrate different AI features like text, image classification, voice recognition, predictive maintenance, face detection, etc.