11 Popular Cross-Platform Tools for App Development (Updated Version 2022)

Picking up the right app development tools is important for building a good app. To help get you started, I’ve already conducted the research to give you the top options available for cross-platform app development tools.

When business firms think about building a mobile app, their minds go straight to cross-platform app development.

Today startups and SMEs find cross-platform as an excellent form of technology to develop an app on multiple platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows simultaneously.

This means by building a single app you can target both Android and iOS, thus, maximizing your reach to the target audience.

In fact, the cross-platform application development market surpassed the figure of $7.9 in 2019.

Ideally, cross-platform technology delivers native-like apps because of the advent of advanced tools and technologies that allow developers to build apps that may appear similar to native apps.

Also, in such a scenario when the number of apps in the Google Play Store was most recently placed at around $2.6 million apps in March 2019. Businesses wouldn’t want to risk missing their presence on Google play store or any other platform.

Budgeting always an issue for businesses if they go for native apps, this is where cross-platform technology has emerged as the premium choice for businesses that aim to build their app multiple platforms.

So, move onto the list of the best cross-platform app development tools to go for in 2019.

1. Adobe PhoneGap

PhoneGap — Best Mobile app development tool (Source: Google Images)

PhoneGap is owned by Adobe and is one of the best cross-platform development tools to use in 2019. It’s based on the open source framework Apache Cordova that gives you access to complete set of PhoneGap toolset which helps streamline the app development process and include the options:

Debugging tools allow you to inspect HTML, CSS, and debug codes in JavaScript. Here is the list of tools:

For iOS App Development

Safari Web Inspector Tool

Steps to Use:

1. Take your iOS device and connect to your computer.
2. Now, install and launch Safari on your system.
3. Make your PhoneGap application launched on iOS Device.
4. Open the menu of Safari Develop, and look for your iOS Device in the list.
5. Select “PhoneGap Webview” listed under your iOS device.

For Android App Development

Chrome Developer Tool

Steps to Use:

1. Make sure your Android test device supports all the developer options.
2. Now launch your Google Chrome web browser.
3. Look for chrome://inspect in Chrome.
4. Select PhoneGap Application on your device.
5. Developer tools will launch.

For Windows, visit the page Microsoft Visual Studio

One of the reasons why I am suggesting PhoneGap is because anyone can learn how to use their tools, even if you don’t have experience of using them. PhoneGap takes care of the development process by compiling all your work in the Cloud, so you don’t need to maintain native SDKs.

2. Appcelerator

Appcelerator — Most popular mobile app development tools (Source: Google Images)

Appcelerator is a cross-platform mobile app development platform that helps get your app ready in a faster way by simplifying the whole process. By using a single JavaScript code you can build native-like apps and mobile apps with cloud-like performance. Another top benefit of Appcelerator is their quality as it can be used for building apps for any device or operating system.

The tool also makes it easy for you to use and test your apps using the automated mobile tests that allow you to measure your app usage and results of your app project. You can detect bugs, crashes, and also make some adjustments to improve the overall performance of your app.

With Appcelerator, you will be provided with access to Hyperloop that is one of the best cross-platform APIs for the multi-platform application development.

3. Corona

Corona- Apps development Tool (Source: Google Images)

Corona is a cross-platform ideal for creating games and apps for mobile devices, desktop, and tv devices using just one code base. This tool speeds up your coding process and you can easily update your code, save the changes, and instantly see the results on real devices. With Corona, your apps are optimized for performance because of the lightweight scripting power of Lua that enhances your app performance at every level.

Corona is free to use cross-platform app development tool that primarily used in 2d games as it’s great to use for high-quality graphics and high-speed development of games.

4. React Native

React Native — Best app development software (Source: Google Images)

React Native allow you to create native applications and uses JavaScript as a programming language to build apps. The strong side of React Native is that you can write modules in languages such as C, Swift, and Java. The best part is you can work on image editing and video processing that aren’t possible with the other API frameworks.

React Native is unquestionably the best platform to use for cross-platform app development because it interprets your source code and convert it to the native elements in less time. Both Facebook and Instagram have used React Native to build their native apps that are the most used applications of the world. So, you can trust on React Native.

5. Xamarin

Xamarin — Best cross platform mobile app development tools (Source: Google Images)

Microsoft Visual Studio Xamarin’s allows you to build apps for different platforms such as Windows, iOS, and Android using a single .net code.

The best part of Xamarin cross-platform tool is that all the apps built on it look and feel like native apps that is because it uses the native interfaces that work the same way a user wants to use them.

With Xamarin, you can give your app a platform-specific hardware boosts to achieve the performance similar to native apps. Also, most of your coding approx. 75% will be the same, regardless of the platform you’re building your mobile application for. Xamarin works on a single code by identifying it and accelerates the process for cross-platform mobile app development.

Xamarin works on both Mac and PC systems and offers you tools such as debugging, UI design tool, and code editing.

6. Qt

QT: Cross Platform Mobile App Development Kit (Source: Google Images)

Qt is the best cross-platform tool for mobile app development. Why I’m counting this tool in the best cross-platform tools is because of its quality features that allow creating fluid, UIs, applications, and embedded devices with the same code for Android, iOS, and Windows.

If your app is not performing well and you want to rework on it, you can easily make changes to your app using Qt that will automatically make all the changes applied to your app. This software tool also allows you to see how your app is performing on different platforms. Moreover, it’s easy to use and don’t have a complex interface like some other cross-platform tools I’ve seen.

7. Sencha

Sencha: Easy Mobile App Development Tool (Source: Google Images)

With Sencha you will get all the modern Java and JavaScript frameworks that help you build your web apps easily for any device. It provides you 115+ fully supported and test UI components that you can easily integrate into your apps. It is one of the most comprehensive tools to perform end-to-end testing of apps on all the platforms.

In addition, Sencha provides you with the “Themer” to create reusable themes by customizing themes built on iOS, Ext JS, ExtAngular, and ExtReact. Sencha offers a data visualization table that makes it easier for you to track your app information. This also makes it possible for you to organize your app content and how your content is displayed on the browser, device, and screen size.

8. Unity3D

Unity3D: Open source Web App Development Tool ( Source: Google image)

This cross-platform app development tool is so popular because of its graphics quality that is absolutely incredible. It’s so easy to use this tool and you can use it for more than just a mobile app. With Unity3D tool you can export your app or games to 17 platforms that include — iOS, Android, Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Linux, Web, and Wii.

Unity3d can also be used to track user analytics and share your app on social networks. You can also connect with the network of Unity3D developers called Unity Connect to find help and get your questions answered if you’re having tech issues with coding or something else.

9. 5App

5App: iOS and Android App Development Tool ( Source: Google image)

5App is a unique tool designed specifically for businesses into learning, HR consulting, and firms that want to organize and deliver resources to their employees or to the right people at the right time.

5Apps uses HTML5 and JavaScript for coding of apps and emphasis on the security of app data. The tool allows you to quickly create relevant content to support your employees’ learning and performance.

The finished app is compatible with both Android and iOS devices, so you can choose accordingly as per your company’s needs.

Final Thoughts

Today, businesses face tough competition and their main focus is on the target audience. That’s why businesses need to take advantage of cross-platform app development tools as possible.

In my list of top 7 cross-platform mobile development tools, you can find a tool that can manage all of your mobile app development needs. This isn’t always easy to choose the best development tool because of so many options available on the market. So refer to my list of top cross-platform app development tools to build your mobile app.

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