Unlocking the full potential of your mobile app across diverse platforms is no longer a choice — it’s a mandate.
The demand for apps to deliver optimal experiences has reached its zenith as users seamlessly shift between devices and operating systems.
If you’re an entrepreneur or a small-scale business wanting to launch an application to smoothen your business operations then a cross-platform app is perfect for you.
Cross-platform frameworks can easily create hybrid apps which can reduce the app cost and allow users across different platforms to seamlessly use your app.
However, you’ll need to partner with a reliable mobile app development company that can develop your cross-platform app with elements of scalability and smooth operability.
In this article, we’ll discuss the best practices for cross-platform compatibility in mobile app development to give you an idea of the techniques that can enhance user experience.
So without any further ado, let’s get started!
1. Choose the Right Framework
The first best practice for a compatible mobile app is to choose the right framework. It is the path that offers distinct advantages but challenges come with it too.
React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, and Ionic are the top framework contenders that can seamlessly develop cross-platform mobile apps.
And while all these frameworks have the ability to render both, Android and iOS with a single codebase, there are some drawbacks that you should know.
The most popular React Native has slight discrepancies in performance and it needs native modules for complex functionalities.
However, it boasts an impressive community and a learn-once-write-anywhere philosophy which makes it the best choice for any Android or iPhone app development company to build hybrid apps.
Next comes Flutter, which is a strong rival of React Native. Flutter is Google’s brainchild that captures attention with its visually stunning UI and hot reload feature. However, there is a hefty learning curve for this framework as this technology is still young.
Coming on to Xamarin, which is backed by Microsoft. Xamarin uses the programming language C# which allows smooth integration with the native APIs of iOS and Android. However, this framework might require a deeper understanding of C# for maximum effectiveness.
Lastly, Ionic is focused on web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It allows swift development through a web-to-mobile approach. However, achieving a truly native experience with this framework is a challenge.
Looking at all of these amazing technologies, how can you make the right decision? Well, for that, you need to first gather your app’s requirements.
Evaluate your app’s specific needs. Consider factors like design, complexity of features, and performance demands.
That’s because if you’re developing a gaming app then it might require you to choose a framework like Flutter that offers captivating visuals. However, if you’re trying to develop a data-driven enterprise app then you might need Xamarin’s performance-oriented approach.
Nonetheless, another factor that affects your choice of framework is the expertise of the development team.
It is important to check whether the development team you’re hiring is familiar with the languages that run the framework.
And once you’re sure about that, the framework that you chose will perfectly align with the development team’s skills which will eventually benefit you with smoother development processes.
2. Design Responsive Interfaces
A responsive design will allow users to seamlessly transition from smartphones to tablets which helps your app to achieve the factor of optimal user experience.
Your development team needs to design fluid layouts that can effortlessly adjust their proportions to fit any screen size.
Fluid designs allow buttons, text boxes, and images to dynamically scale irrespective of the device at hand, which results in an optimal user experience.
Moving on, you can use Breakpoints, which are a series of predefined screen widths where the layout transforms to accommodate different devices.
These strategic breakpoints guide the app’s appearance to ensure the aesthetics remain intact across diverse screens.
Other than that, you can use other techniques like touch-friendly elements, navigation menus, gesture support, and more to achieve responsive elements for your interface design.
3. Manage Platform-Specific Features
Each platform boasts its own set of standout features and you need to manage the platform-specific features exclusive to iOS and Android.
Analyze your target audience and prioritize features that resonate most with them.
Keep in mind that users desire a consistent experience, regardless of the device they’re using. So make sure your development team creates a core interface that retains uniformity in terms of layout and navigation.
Moreover, use a modular codebase which is the golden rule for managing platform-specific features.
It structures your code to accommodate platform-specific code snippets which makes it easy to implement features exclusive to each platform.
Lastly, before releasing your app, conduct beta testing on both iOS and Android. That’s because real-world trial provides invaluable feedback that helps in eliminating platform-specific bugs and issues.
4. Manage Performance and Efficiency
Your app’s speed and responsiveness define the user experience. So you need to make sure your app stands as a paragon of performance across different platforms.
The first step as we discussed before is to optimize the UI rendering performance. You can only achieve this by using techniques like efficient layout algorithms, hardware acceleration, and asynchronous rendering.
Other techniques that you can use include efficient data and loading management. You can implement techniques like in-memory caching and persistent storage that ensure that frequently accessed data is readily available.
Lastly, you can reduce the app startup time by various other techniques. One of them is code optimization, which removes unnecessary code.
Secondly, you can use parallel initialization, which allows you to initiate multiple tasks simultaneously to utilize available processing power.
Moreover, you can also use smart dependency management, which minimizes unnecessary dependencies and uses lightweight alternatives that lead to improved performance.
