Cross-platform mobile app development services, that enables building mobile applications to run seamlessly across platforms using a single technology stack has become immensely sought for. Instead of building multiple versions of one app – each to run on a different platform – developers can use the same code base to deploy the same app on multiple platforms at once, and this is possible using cross platform mobile app development tools such as the React Native framework or the Xamarin platform.
Xamarin Apps are immensely popular when it comes to sharing code and business logic across platforms and writing cross-platform applications in C# with Visual Studio. It lets developers share around 90% of the app across platforms, which renders a native look, feel and performance on each platform without having to code in multiple languages. Xamarin apps can be built on a PC or Mac and then be compiled into native packages, such as .apk files (for Android) and .ipa files (for iOS) respectively.
Using React Native app development, developers use JavaScript and React along with native platform capabilities to build robust mobile apps. React Native app development implements native UI components to render high-quality native UIs, has a vast library of UI components, reduces development time, and gives complete access to native functionalities like camera, accelerometer, etc.
We look at some of the important aspects of each framework to see which is a better fit for cross platform development.
Performance:
React Native app development provides near-native performance, as a result of which apps built with it are fast. It allows developers to use native code, because of which parts of the app are in native code and the remaining parts are built with React Native, that greatly improves the overall performance.
Xamarin apps also have a near-native performance as the Xamarin platform uses native hardware acceleration to support higher speeds.
Environment
React Native app development provides developers a lot of flexibility, with a wide choice of IDEs and text editors.
Developers who build Xamarin apps can do so only in Visual Studio, which kind of limits the options, but does provide many useful tools, controls, and layouts that make these Xamarin web apps simpler and smoother.
Speed
The Hot Reload feature in React Native leads to shorter development time, as developers can reload the app at once without compiling it. There are also other pre-built components that reduce the development time.
Visual Studio tools such as its pre-built controls, layouts and plugins help boost the Xamarin development process.
Popularity
The React Native framework is popular amongst established institutions and start-ups alike. Some popular mobile apps that use this framework are Facebook, Uber, Tesla, Walmart, Skype, Instagram, Pinterest, and Discord.
On the other hand, companies such as Honeywell, Cognizant, Slack, and Bosch have leveraged the features afforded by Xamarin web apps to further their business.
Community
Any React Native app development company can receive strong support from the active community that this platform boasts of, in addition to the extensive learning material readily available.
Xamarin also receives immense support from a flourishing community, along with a vast library of reading material.
Conclusion
To answer which framework is better depends on the type of business and project that has to be built.
One thing to look at is the availability of experts in each field as a lot depends on the developer’s ability to work with the languages. As per recent data, there are about 10.7 million JavaScript developers (who would be more proficient with the React Native framework) in the world as compared to 6.2 million C# developers (more proficient with Xamarin).
It follows that if any business is looking to hire a React Native app development company to build an app, it would be ideal if they have developers proficient in JavaScript.
If you are looking for app development services to build a cross platform app, contact the expert developers at Smart Sight Innovations today for a free quote.
