There is no best technology available in the digital world; only different features are accessible among which you have to decide what suits you best. In this blog, we will compare the two most buzzing mobile app development platforms. Native vs. Xamarin to help developers in understanding the basic differences of both technologies.

Let’s start with a brief introduction of what Native app development is all about?

What is a Native Mobile App?

Professional developers already know about native development. However, if you are a newbie, then you can read the details to understand things better. Native applications are platform-specific apps. It means that native applications only support specific platform/device. In native mobile development, developers can execute a program for a particular platform, i.e. Apple, Android, and Windows phone.

Native apps are a great way to go.  It offers incomparable performance and user experience.  Not every mobile app development agency develops platform-specific applications. Only companies like Cubix are well-versed of delivering intriguing native mobile apps. Such companies can easily execute result-driven native applications because of the expertise, experience and bulk technology resources.

There are more benefits to go for the Native mobile app development. Let’s dive deep to know more about Native application development.

Benefits of Native Mobile Development

Often clients ask developers for the platform suggestions. If this is the case, then a developer must recall all the potential benefits of each platform to help the clients’. Each app development type has its benefits. Depending on the clients’ requirements, and budget, you can select the development type that best fits into the clients’ requests.

Here is a shortlist of native apps’ benefits that a developer should consider for the client.

1.      Optimum Performance

Native apps are platform-specific applications and offer incredible responsiveness for the particular platform. Also, native applications are faster performing because all the content and visual elements are already stored in the device. It means that the load time of the native apps is also reduced, provides a faster user experience.

2.       Work without Connectivity

Another remarkable benefit of the native app is that it works without internet connectivity. In case, if you are at a place where internet service is limited or no service available, then you can still use the native app.

3.      Easy to use

Native apps are integrated with the devices, hence such apps inherit the device’s OS interface. Native apps offer a user experience that is specially designed for the specific operating system. It means that while using a native app, users are no longer required to face the learning curves. Users can get the app concept quickly and easily delete an element when needed without any hindrance.

Disadvantages of Native App Development

Everything has a set of both pros and cons. We have mentioned all the potentials of the native app development. Now, it’s time to get a glance at what is the disadvantage of native app development, and why developers should not stick to it.

1. Lengthy Downloading Process

The process is quite lengthy and involves several steps, including going to the app store, searching for the app, accepting the terms and finally start downloading it. Various users don’t prefer to invest this much time and skip the process in between.

2. Time-taking Development

Each platform has its own requirements, including an entirely separate set of codes. It means that a developer needs to invest more time on the development. A separate set of codes is equivalent to coding for two different apps. Typically it almost takes up to 18 months for developing a high-quality native app, however, the time may increase, depending upon the complexity of the project. These were the top advantages and disadvantages of Native app development. Now, it’s time to explore what Xamarin is all about.

What is Xamarin Development?

Xamarin is a cross-platform software. It is developed by Xamarin Company acquired by Microsoft in 2016. Xamarin is responsible for creating native apps with platform-specific user interfaces. Xamarin hoards the app’s codebase and UI code by retrieving native APIs for each platform, i.e. Android, iOS, or Windows.

Why Should Developers Choose Xamarin Development?

Xamarin development enables developers to create mobile apps for all the major platforms at once that is almost Imperceptible from native apps. Moreover, Xaramin apps are considered as the native apps, but it takes the complete leverage of the platform-specific APIs, native user interface controls, and platform-specific hardware acceleration.

Difference between Native App and Xamarin Cross-Platform App

The major difference between a native app and a cross-platform app is native apps support one platform and written in a platform-specific language. On the other hand, Xamarin cross-platform apps enable developers to use one source code for an app using common web technologies. Later, the platform alters the code for the native environment. It means that the developed app performs very much like a native app.  Moreover, developers are allowed to reuse the pre-written code and let the platform manage to compile. It makes the whole process gets faster and cost-effective.

What are the Basics of Xamarin?

Here is a list of the basic elements of Xamarin cross-platform software:

1.      Programming language

C# supports Xamarine cross-platform software. The Xamarine cross-platform enables developers to do anything in the C# which they can do in Objective-C, Swift and Java.

2.      Platforms

iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry

3.      Xamarin Test Cloud

Test Cloud enables developers to build, test and monitor the developed app in the cloud, once it is developed.

4.      Hockey App

It allows developers to receive live crash reports, users’ feedback and helps to analyze test coverage.

5.      Xamarin.Forms library

It helps to create native UIs and reduce the usage of native controls of a single platform.

6.      Design patterns supported

MVC (Model View Controller), MVVM (Model View ViewModel)

Play with your Best Option!

With Xamarin, developers can use a shared C# codebase among three platforms, leaving the rest of the efforts to creating the platform-specific UIs.

Meanwhile, with the native app development, developers are required to write one set of native code for each platform, with that platform’s programming language and frameworks.

The best way to select your development option is to understand your clients’ requirements in terms of the budget, timeline, and scope. It will help you to choose your development option either it is Xamarin or native app development.

Author Bio

Olivia Marie is the Digital Content Producer at Cubix, the top mobile app development company, helping startups and enterprises in leveraging latest technologies. Olivia loves to write on topics that cover modern technologies including, Blockchain, AR/VR, AI, Digital Marketing, and more.

The very fact that you are reading this article means you have either decided to build a mobile app or have already got one developed for your business. Congratulations! You have made the right decision.

Here are a few statistics that tell you why your decision is correct:

Number of smartphone users worldwide from 2016 to 2021 (in billions)

App Store Revenue Forecast

By 2021, global consumer spending in the global app market will hit a mammoth $139.6B. These are some massive figures.

Also, as per Statista, in the second quarter of 2019, the number of apps on Google Play and the Apple app store, totaled 2.46 million and 1.96 million respectively.

But, with the popularity of apps, comes a huge problem for app makers and businesses. How do you compete? The number of apps on app stores will grow exponentially, so how do you ensure, it is your app that grabs eyeballs and users?

The answer lies in devising and implementing a mobile app strategy. Let’s look at some strategies that should be a part of your app promotional arsenal in 2019 and beyond:

1. Get Market and Competitive Intelligence

There is a tremendous amount of data available out there regarding your competitors and the market; getting this information to chart out strategy will be a big plus.

Research and evaluate the competition your app has. In this case, competition refers to apps that are targeting the same audience as your app. The idea is to get a perfect understanding of the kind of already available app features and usability you are competing against. This will help you identify app functionality that is yet unavailable, and which will differentiate your app from its competitors.

Market intelligence is yet another key aspect of drawing out a successful app strategy. The market in this case refers to the target demographic for your app, the number of users, their interests and preferences, their ability to pay for your app and more.

2. Pre-Launch Hype Generation

Now that you have business intelligence at your disposal (market intelligence + competitive intelligence), it is time to implement your findings.

If you are still in the process of developing your app, get started on generating some hype for it keeping your competitors in mind. E.g. make sure you hype up interest for that ‘one feature’ that can act as the game-changer for your app even in a crowded market.

Begin with creating a landing page for your app and start promoting this page across social networks. Also, implement a content marketing strategy that aligns with your app marketing goals. Begin with some blogs on your website about the app, with a link to its landing page. Also, publish some guest posts that focus on the various functionalities that the app brings to the table; but take an informational approach in this regard, rather than a sales-centric one.

3. The Launch – The News Must be Everywhere

Do you know that around 85% B2C marketers use social media publishing to get their message out there? So, clearly, it must be doing something right. It is imperative that you use social media to share news about your app launch.

Ideally, your social media strategy should also include paid promotions to ensure your message reaches your target audience. Also, make sure you have a PR strategy in place for your mobile app launch. Talk to leading publishers to check how you can get the news of your app launch published on their site.

You also need to double down on the promotion of your landing page, through SEO, content marketing and even SMM. Add a bit of PPC to the mix as well.

4. App Reviews Do the Talking for Your App

With the number of apps available on app stores, it makes infinite sense for potential users to first read an app review or rating on the app store or elsewhere, before they download the app. A good app review ensures your target audience will at least try your app.

Irrespective of the huge amount of storage space available on contemporary smartphones, this space is still limited. And, your target users are also suffering from what can be called ‘app saturation’.

So, start approaching app review sites when your app is published. The more the number of good reviews your app gets from independent reviewers, the better it is for your app.

5. Sustained Engagement

Even if your app is grabbing eyeballs, it is important to understand that app users are notoriously fickle. When a new app enters the picture, they will stop using your app. So, make sure that your app engagement strategy is on point.

Keep incentivizing app usage. Allow users to earn points or rewards that they can exchange for goodies or which allow them to access new app features. How you go about engaging users is your call, but you need to engage users consistently and continuously. Keep piquing their interest all the time.

6. Nothing will Work if the App is Bad

Bad apps don’t do well. Period. The key to a successful app is its build quality. Don’t build an app, just because it’s the in thing. Your goal should be to get a good app out on the market. Everything begins from there.

The app failure rate is very high, but most of the apps that fail aren’t built right. There are problems with prototyping, UX, UI and bugs. So, get this part right.

7. App Monetization

How are you going to earn money from your apps? What is the earning model going to be? Even free apps make money for you, provided you have integrated some app monetization strategies. E.g. in app advertising, in-app merchandising, paid features are just some of the many ways you can earn money from free apps.

Or you could take the paid app route, but in this case, your app needs to be really good. The choice is yours. But you need to think about the various ways to monetize your app at the development stage itself.

Conclusion

As you must have seen, these strategies are primarily about promotion, but we have included some other key strategies as well. These will have a bearing on app success. When you build an app, it is important to understand that development is just the start. To maintain app longevity, takes a lot of effort. If you are serious about your app, you will need to make this effort.

Author Bio

Vimal Shah is the Co-Founder of Agile Infoways Pvt Ltd, a web and mobile app development company. He has 15+ years of hands-on experience mobile app industry and heads the key technical and management operations at Agile Infoways.

Whether you’re a business owner trying to go mobile, an app developer or a marketer, one of your primary objectives should be increasing the exposure and visibility of your application. An increase in your apps’ number of monthly active users will naturally lead to a boost in revenue, and profitability is the ultimate goal here.

For an application to reach its maximum potential, it should have the capabilities demanded to serve users from different regions. As great as the functions and characteristics of your app might currently be if the app is not designed for a global market, achieving the level of success you are targeting won’t be possible.

Mobile app development should be followed by app localization. This process will allow you to extend your reach to international markets and attract more users from different countries and with different preferences. Increasing sales, boosting the number of downloads, exceeding competition – app localization comes with a variety of appealing benefits.

Because you need to take several important steps here, familiarizing yourself with the topic is critical. Here’s how you can handle this project successfully:

Understanding the concept – what exactly is mobile app localization?

First things first, you need to obtain a full understanding of what mobile app localization actually means.

What does this concept stand for?

To put it in simpler words, app localization refers to the process of customizing an application to properly function in other languages than your default choice. Localization can also imply dialects or variations of the same language, known as locales. An example here would be English variations for Canada, the UK, and the United States.

Application internalization

Without extensive knowledge on the subject, you could end up confusing localization with internalization. These two processes depend on one another but aren’t the same time.

Mobile app internalization is the process of customizing your code for localization – preparing it to be modified, and after, releasing it in other languages.

Before you can begin your localization approach, you need to handle internalization. Your application should already have the capacity to handle content localization before you actually start creating that content.

So, the first step is preparing your code and taking care of app internalization.

Choose target markets

One of the first and probably most important decisions is choosing target markets.

In which languages will you customize your content?

Through app localization, you can reach out to all international markets, but that doesn’t mean you should actually do that. Expanding just anywhere isn’t always advantageous, involving money and time you may not afford to waste.

Market research is demanded here. Find out which countries or regions come with a promising status, where it makes sense to expand. Based on the data you gather through your research, you can then decide on the language or locales to use in your customization process.

Think about the specifics of your app, its features and the users who might take an interest in it – some countries might have a higher demand for certain apps than others.

Check app reviews and analytics

Because going in one direction or another with the expansion of your app’s reach means doing research, you should use app reviews and analytics to your advantage. If you have released the application already and have an established base of users, you can use your app’s analytics to figure out where most of your users are actually coming from. Once you figure out the countries where most downloads are generated, you can cater to that group of users further through localization.

Going over app reviews is also useful here. Discover what users from different demographics have to say about features and functions.

What do they like and what needs improvement?

If more users from the same country have left positive feedback, it means you should expand the capacity of your app in that region.

Research competition

Analyze the development and global growth of apps with the same profile, or with similar characteristics.

What are your competitors doing?

See what international markets they have accessed (use statistics for that), and explore in-depth the countries where they are currently most successful. The answers obtained here can provide you with the direction needed.

Incremental growth

Each new international market you will extend to will demand a financial investment from your part. Because the costs involved might exceed your budget, it’s safer to focus on one version at a time.

Incremental growth will make your localization more successful.

It will give you the possibility to master each language or locale instead of compromising on localization efficiency just because you’ve headed towards too many directions.

Be thorough with translations

Next comes the step where you actually start working on your content. Successful and reliable localization isn’t something you can achieve just by using google translate. Collaborating with professional translators will help you obtain the outcomes targeted.

Note: Put together brand-specific style guides and glossaries, so the translators can maintain the same tone of voice and app personality across all languages used.

Be thorough with translations, search for services that actually rise up to high-quality standards. As suggested by PickWriters, regardless if you’re seeking Vietnamese translation services, Chinese translations or professional translators for other languages, review their work before handing out this project to a particular translator.

Besides your app-related texts, translate your marketing materials as well. App name, app description, audio files and any other element related to digital marketing should be localized as well.

Keep in mind cultural nuances as well.

Go over app store content

Even with your app customized for international markets, if your app store content isn’t updated, you could end up losing users. An app store is where people will interact with your application for the first time, so the content found here should be appropriate for that specific market.

Include the customization of the following app store content elements: text, app previews, keywords, videos, screenshots, in-app purchases.

Test before and after launch

Just as you would test an online platform an after extensive website designing project, implement the same approach when you are launching a localized app version. This will allow you to find potential errors in presentation, formatting, and text. Choose a variety of commonly used devices.

Based on the results obtained from your first test, update the application. Release a beta version and make it available to a small target group. See what feedback you receive, make further adjustments if necessary and proceed with the official launch.

Keep a close tab on download stats and post-launch ratings. Some issues could appear, so address the problems that are affecting the users.

Market the app internationally

With your asp ready to be used in other countries, spread the word out. Implement a localized marketing campaign. Use the materials and resources you believe will work for an exposure boost. Increase your app’s discoverability by attaching a download button to your website, and use SEO techniques to increase your visibility in search engines.

Final thoughts

App localization can help you reach global popularity. Follow each important step to handle the entire process in a resourceful and productive manner. With your application available in countries where interested users exist, your application can become an international success.

No one is unaware of the fact that mobile apps have shaped the way we live our lives currently.  The world is changing dramatically because of the speed the mobile apps are accelerating.

Users are finding accessing mobile apps more beneficial than the web. It is no longer a trend but a brand awareness. Mobile Applications Development have a bright future in business growth. 

If you own a business and is not using mobile apps for your brand awareness, then surely you are lagging behind.  It is an essential marketing tool for small and large enterprises to build a remarkable impression in the competitive web market.  

Business applications are developed in almost every industry, and every business owner must understand the benefits of companies that use mobile apps. 

We are here to give you all the significant advantages of mobile apps for business. If you are desiring to grow in this competitive world extraordinarily adopt these benefits and expand the business.  So, let’s get started!! 

Why Apps Are Must? Benefits Of Mobile Apps For Your Business

ATTRACT CUSTOMERS

More Engagement

Create more brand awareness with more customer engagement using mobile application management. Many customers will have access to updated promotions or discounts. You can also interact with the customers as per their requirement is an added benefit of using mobile app development services.

More Traffic

In the past few years, mobile apps have been the leading traffic provider. It is known that people are more active on their phones than on laptops. 

The percentage of the users that are using the web for searches is only 5%. One of the main factors that are making mobile apps more demanding is the secure payment gateways.  Now, it has become easier to purchase and buy online on phones.  

Promotional Benefits

The businesses are using mobile apps to promote their business with special offers and discounts to their customers directly. Using an application can bring in more flexibility to the business. Usually, it is considered as an employee as it has the ability to deliver efficient results. 

BUILDS MARKET CREDIBILITY

Builds More Valuable Brand

Including a mobile application to improve your brand awareness is significant. The companies which are using mobile apps are building a never-ending trust with the customers. They are offering useful information, selling the products with secure gateways, Home delivery options, promoting special offers, assisting the customer in their problems, and decision making. 

Providing exclusive deals results in more customer engagement. Achieving the right process (Engagement-> loyalty->sales) will lead you to a successful future. 

New Product Showcase

When you release a new product or service, you can deliver that efficiently to your customers immediately. And, opens the much faster purchasing opportunity for your customers.

INCREASES REVENUE

More Monetization

Creating more monetization opportunities is also one of the main reasons a business owner should consider. Responsive and appealing application opens more channels for sales and for more monetization opportunities. 

Instant Mobile Payment

Being in this digital world, everyone prefers to go with the applications to shop and pay accordingly. So, why to waste valuable time by standing in a queue with other customers.

The shopping website gives a detailed description of the product and services with customer support availability. Customer can review your product, promote your services by clicking on the “share” button. Mobile applications will help you to make the report of products purchased by the customers. 

If you are only accessible to your local customers,  then the customized development features could be used to maintain the debt of the customer. This app allows you to manage the activities, sustain trust amongst customers and seller. This increases customer retention and can also be checked easily from mobile applications. 

Increases Profit

When the customer’s satisfaction increases, the sales also increase. The satisfied customer will always come back, and with regular availability, the mobile app will reach them.

So, offering a product that has several advantages of having a mobile app has of significant importance. The valuable and reliable brand enjoys a strong relationship with the customers. 

MARKETING

App Store

The users are using mobile phones to find a new application that can fulfil their needs in any way. When you update your mobile app on the app store, the users will use it after finding. More intelligence lies in making your application available for different stores such as Google pay, blackberry, iOS, AppStore, and many more. It is essential because people are using a varied type of smartphones. 

Use as Direct Marketing

Now mobile phones are one of the biggest service providers. The applications differentiate with the features and design that attract its customers. So, you need to be smarter and develop something which your competitor has not. Also, the call to action (CTA) does its job using concise and actionable buttons. 

Branding

Attaining a brand name but not available on the internet!!

Do you find it a smart decision?

So, do not let your business to wait for more to reach success. 

Brands are now opening their accounts on social websites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for more brand awareness and marketing. And, they are executing it well. So, you can also opt this fashion as it will lead directly to more customer engagement. 

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

More Mobility

Create a comfortable and easy conversation with your customers. As your business apps are meant to be more mobile. It is the best way to be with your customers anytime and sort their issues if persists.

Be available to your customers to assure them that you care for them. It will surely increase the customer satisfaction level and can give you more leads and conversions. So, if you have a desire to increase the revenue of your business, then go mobile.

 24×7 Availability

The customer will prefer to use mobile application management to attain information of your brand. Available to your customers every time is one of the best benefits of mobile apps. Better customer service, more customer engagement will add more profit to your business. 

Availability in Overseas

So, now if you have decided to create a mobile application for your company, then you can make it accessible in overseas as well. It allows you to be seen in the world. Don’t you want this to happen? Obviously, yes? When you appear on the internet, the online market is definitely yours.

 For instance, America, Europe, and Asia are said to have a greater proportion of technocrats. If you can make your application accessible in these parts, then, the traffic that you will get will be massive.

ADDITIONAL BENEFIT

Data Collector

Mobile app benefits with the product and services sellers are offering, they also work as a data collector.  The data collector collects the data you need or provides to your customers on your smartphone.

For instance, if you own a salon, and you need to notify the latest offers and the services you are offering.  Then you will obviously use the mobile application instead of promoting through the printed papers. All you need is to update the information on your app, or you can opt the SMS or email option.

Wrapping Up

Use the mobile app to generate more profitable opportunities for your business. Expand your reach and gives your customers the best experience. The importance of application development is critical for online marketing.

Do share your thoughts with us. Give us your kind reviews (queries or suggestions) in the comment section below. Thank you for reading!!

AUTHOR BIO: Morris Edwards is a Sr. Web developer and hobby writer at Awebstar- Singapore Mobile App development Company. He has created websites for more than 750+ small to large scale companies. He has influenced may junior developers with his managing and creative skills. 

We are constantly moving towards a sphere of modern technology, where it’s no longer a necessity for developers to separately write code for an application to make it work on different platforms. Developing an application for different platforms has become a lot easier with the introduction of cross-platform development tools. Cross-platform mobile developers make use of these advancements to create multiple applications in quick time,

However, things are not that easy as they look from the outside. Managing cross-platform mobile app development is a hell lot of a task in itself. This could really push you to the end of the rope, but don’t worry as we are here with the perfect solution for you. Here are top 7 tips for Managing Cross-Platform Mobile App Development that can help you manage cross-platform app development with ease.

Platform Specific Development

Platform-specific development must be your primary goal when you are working with a cross-platform development tool. Why? Well, if the application you are developing is not platform-specific or platform-oriented then what’s the use of even going for cross-platform development. There are certain standards and features that users expect while using an Andriod or an ios application. As there are things which you can do with Andriod but not with ios and vise-Versa. So you need to make sure that your application has been properly customized accordingly with respect to the platform-specific features. 

UI Frameworks

When you are working with a cross-platform development tool, trying to create the same application for two different platforms, its not easy to manage things especially the UI components. You have to work with tons of patterns, styles, animation, etc and developing all of these without a UI framework is probably something every developer would want to avoid. So it is recommended that you make use of the UI framework and get things done more quickly and smoothly. As a matter of fact, there are a number of frameworks available in the market that you can use such as Kendo UI  a commercial framework, Open source framework Ionic, jQuery,  Sencha Touch, etc. Whatever you do make sure to choose your frameworks wisely this can really affect the flow of your work in the future. 

Performace

Performance is a major issue with apps developed using cross-platform development tools. Although cross-platform really saves a lot of time it does make things a little slower with all the animation, high pixel images, themes, and most important backend compatibility, etc.  So you have to be a little extra careful with this and take care of things like backend javascript code, Optimizing DOM and CSS, reducing rendering time, cache, etc. This will really help you improve your application performance. 

Native Header Bar

It is the small bar that allows the users to simply navigate within a section of your application. Now every platform uses different header bar and this creates a major problem for developers, as most of the popular cross-platform development tool does not have pre-built header for different platforms. However, this does not mean you cannot customize your application header as you can do it through HTML and CSS. This does require a little work where you will have to add minimal DOM and a few lines of CSS code for each mobile OS platform. 

Manage System Fonts

Android, Windows, and ios all use a different font system and scheme. So you have to manually customize your font system for each of these or else it’s going to cause a major problem. 

Touch Gestures

Make your app compatible with the different gestures a platform provides. Especially ios as they have a different set of gestures that can really improve your app UI and UX. 

Monitor Feedback

You can’t hope to make a perfect application in the first try. And it’s not about making it perfect it’s about improving the existing one. User feedback plays an important role here, so make sure to constantly monitor your application feedback and improve accordingly.  

Author Bio:-

Merry Waren is a Marketing Manager at AIS Technolabs which is Web design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Node Js Development Services. I would love to share thoughts on cross platform mobile developer and Game Design Development etc.