3 Different Ways To Build Mobile Applications

By Author: Maulik Shah
Total Articles: 91
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Customers love shopping from a mobile app because of its convenience and ease. When businesses have a mobile app, it works as a trust factor for customers. It makes them feel that you care for them and try to provide all possible ways for them to purchase from your brand.

A certain category of customers prefers to shop from mobile apps only. So, if you have one, you directly add a new category of customers to your business.

But many businesses don’t know enough about different ways to develop an app. Mostly, business owners know the native development process. A lot of them drop the idea of developing an app because native app development is expensive.

There are other ways that you can use to develop a mobile app if budget and time are the main constraints. Let's find out these ways and which one you should choose.

Native App Development

Native app development is the oldest, as it is how apps were initially developed. Two major service providers, Google and Apple, developed platforms to build mobile apps. They are called Android and iOS.

The native apps automatically inherit any updates ...
... in OS and OS’s inbuilt functions. They work as extra features for the app. 

Android has more users, but if you want to offer service to all your customers, it is better to have apps in both Android and iOS.

Android uses Kotlin or Java, whereas iOS uses Swift for app development. If you want both these apps, you have to hire two teams to get your work done. You can either outsource the project or have an in-house team.

It would be ideal to choose native app development only if you have any complex requirements or processes. Otherwise, there are other development options that you can choose from. However, hiring developers for two different apps is expensive.

Cross-platform Development

Cross-platform development allows developers to code using frameworks like Flutter and React Native. With one code base, you can have two native apps.  

These reduce the requirement of two different teams for development. One Flutter team can develop both native apps.

Parallelly, the time required to test two apps reduces. Only one code needs to be updated to make changes in both apps. This means the cost of development also reduces.

Mobile App Builder

Mobile app builders changed the mobile development game. The app builders are ready-to-use frameworks. Users can follow step-by-step guidelines to develop both native apps. The steps are so easy to use that anyone from non-technical background can also use them.

Users have to drag and drop the widgets simply. They can choose what and how many features go on the home page and other predicted pages. It is easy because you get what you see. When you place the widget on the screen, once you build the app, it will be seen exactly on that screen and place.

The other major advantage is that we can build both Android and iOS apps using a mobile app builder. You have to design only once, and at the end, you will have two apps. The development process is easy and fast. You can have ready to use the app in less than a week. 

The apps work best for ecommerce stores and owners. They have predefined flow and all the features that an ecommerce store would require. When we compare it to other development processes, mobile app builders are the most affordable way to have a mobile app.

Conclusion

Now that you know different types of development processes, it will be a lot clear to choose the process. Also, it means mobile apps are not necessarily expensive to build. Even small business owners or startups can consider it. It will help you boost sales from the initial stage of your business itself—especially the mobile app builder. Different app builders are available in the market, like Magento 2 mobile app builders. They are affordable and fast. It eliminates the need to spend time and money searching for a good team of developers.

Maulik Shah is the Founder and CEO of AppJetty, a fast growing software add-on store selling extensions and plugins for various technologies, including Odoo themes and odoo apps Magento 1 extensions and Magento 2 extensions. Maulik is a tech enthusiast and writes about the various aspects of ecommerce technology.