Choosing the Right Tech Stack for Mobile App. How to choose the best technology for mobile app stack? You will get the answer in this article! The most important part of any work is the beginning. When it comes to 2s, you have to start its development by choosing the most suitable mobile application technology stack. You can dive right into the massive list of programs, or you can invest your time into searching for the most convenient options according to the type of your mobile application. Finding a correct tech stack for a project will help to save a lot of time and money in the future. It will make maintenance and support easier, will decrease the number of bugs and issues, will improve the speed, and more.
There are millions of ways to create a mobile or web application. You can select different programming languages, various databases. You can connect third-party libraries that will help you to save time, and much more. If tech-stack was selected right - it would help the project grow and save money. If tech stack for a mobile app was chosen wrong - it will result in varieties of problems, starting from occasional crashes and bugs, to issues with maintenance, scalability, or even can result in a complete project rewrite. You should explore modern market needs before you start mobile app development technology stack in any sphere.
Table of contents
What is a Tech Stack? Native App Development Hybrid Technologies Cross-Platform Stacks Additional Tips Summary
What is a Tech Stack?
What is exactly a development technology stack? Professionals know that the success of the project highly depends on it. To simplify, we can divide every project into the next four parts:
Frontend – user interface, visual part of the application that is used by your customers;
Backend – part of the project that actually makes all the calculations and heavy-lifting;
Database – a place where all the data is stored;
Additional Services – audio-calls, messaging, or any other custom features;
These parts of app development technology are very important, that is why choosing the right stack is one of the main questions while working on a project, especially complicated one, such as social media app. Everything is possible if you have a team of professionals!
There are different ways of analyzing which mobile application development technologies fit your project. The easiest one is choosing a stack according to the platform. Basically, there are a few types of development tools for different platforms: Native mobile app technology stack, Hybrid, and Cross-platform stacks. Native application tech divides on tools created for the Android or iOS platform. Apple and Google officially support them, and you can be sure that they won’t disappear after some time. Hybrid technology develops apps with basic web instruments like HTML, JavaScript or CSS. Basically, Hybrid tools show a web-page inside the application with. Cross-platform means that the code can be written once, but can be used on various platforms.
Let us take a closer look at each technology.
Native App Development
If your primary goal is performance and excellent user experience, you should go with Native applications. Native apps can use absolutely any possible feature of the platform without any limits. It results in a high speed. Besides, the developer can use official platform elements (for example tab bar, navigation controllers, data pickers, and others), which will result in better user experience. The user will know how each element works, how to use it, and what to expect from it.
If you invest in native tech stack, your business expectations would definitely meet the reality. However, it means that development will take more time. If you make a native app - it will work only on one platform: iOS or Android. So, if you plan to target both platforms - you will need developers who can develop for both of the mentioned platforms. However, it does not mean that the price for application will be doubled in this case. Some parts of the applications can be reused, which will save some time.
Android
Let us consider that your application fits better for the Android platform. Commonly programmers usually use Java or Kotlin languages for developing native apps. They are quite different – Java has more libraries that could save a lot of time. But Kotlin is a newer language with more interesting features, that allows developers to write “safer” code. If Kotlin is used right, you will have fewer bugs and crashes. Also, Kotlin has become an official programming language for this platform in 2018.
Android is a wildly popular operating system. It will be wise to choose a native tech stack for an Android application development services with the right combination of services and libraries for Android app stack. This will help you to ensure a low number of bugs and problems, great performance, and very high levels of user experience.
iOS
If you want to start developing apps for the iOS platform, you might want to stick to the languages like Swift or Objective-C. Swift is a relatively new language and becomes extremely popular. Most of the developers prefer to start new projects with Swift because it allows us to write the code faster and more efficiently.
Objective-C, on the other hand, is a more mature language. It is used to support older applications or used by people who prefer Objective-C syntax.
From the user’s perspective, there won’t be any difference between Swift and Objective-C.
If you are looking for iOS application development services , we would suggest choosing Swift over Objective-C for new projects. This is a newer language that is made and widely promoted by Apple so that it will be a #1 choice for developers for a very long time.
Of course, creating a Native app has its own pros and cons. While it integrates with the device and provides a secure and responsive experience, one codebase can run only on one platform. If you would like to support iOS and Android - you will need to write code for each of them. The result is completely worth it – fast performance and well-designed interface usually guarantee good user experience. Many companies choose this type of application development stack to create a brilliant solution for a specific customer audience.
Portfolio: Crave Halal
One of examples from our own portfolio that works on both platforms is Crave Halal. Give it a try! It is a popular halal restaurant finder with lots of intereting features and integrations. Made with Swift and Java, works perfectly on thousands of devices! If you are thinking to develop something like Crave Halal, just let us know at mail@mova.io
👉 read more...
If you are ready to invest money in your application, make sure that you hired a professional team that can deal with all the tasks. Our mova.io specialists can offer a responsible approach to the implementation of your idea. We are proud of our skills – we worked and successfully completed almost any type of project. From dating apps to enterprise services, and from language dictionaries to complex social networks.
Hybrid Technologies
Generally, you can say that hybrid technology consists of two parts – a web view, and a web-page inside of it. Usually, hybrid apps are developed with simply using JavaScript, CSS or HTML. There are a few frameworks that work well with this technology:
Ionic
If the creation of a hybrid application that is similar to native is your choice, this AngularJS-based framework is perfect for you! The abilities of Ionic are impressive. It has a range of tools that make interactions faster and mask flaws of hybrid technology.
Cordova
This framework can be called one of the best open-source concepts for hybrid apps. Mobile devices usually use JavaScript for writing algorithms and support its functionality, while many applications are based on HTML. Cordova creates a special environment on a gadget to run the app.
Hybrid applications can run on various platforms and provide access to some of the device capabilities: device’s storage, gallery etc. Of course, this development technology is controversial. As we said earlier, unlike the native application, it runs on all platforms. On the other hand, usually such apps suffer from lack of the positive features that native development can be proud of.
This mobile app development stack shows slower interactions and lack of performance in general, which leads to poor User Experience. It also gives limited access to the device’s features like camera, fingerprint scanner, GPS and other features that are provided by a specific platform.
Another problem is the user interface. When working with Native tools - you have access to the library of native elements: buttons, data pickers, tab bars, and so on. When using Hybrid solutions, all elements will be custom. It means that the developer will have to make each new element from scratch. Or he can use existing libraries that could mimic some of the native components.
On the contrary, it makes hybrid applications easy to build. You can hire a smaller team of developers and use this inexpensive technology stack for mobile application. However, maintaining an application can become a very difficult process. Because hybrid application development requires lots of third-party libraries, it means that some of them can become outdated, and the developer will have to rewrite a feature from scratch completely.
If you need to figure out best technology for mobile app development with high level of data security, especially if you want to know how to make a successful travel app , our professional team would be glad to help you.
It is very common that people do not know how much work it takes to set and manage a project. Even the easiest ones require a full team of professional developers. That is why on our official mova.io website we have decided to show some examples of apps to let our future customers know the approximate cost and time.
Portfolio: MenuPoint
If you would like to see how a Hybrid app performs in the real world - you can check on from our Portfolio. MenuPoint is a very complex application that connects restaurants, users, bartenders, and managers. It is written with Cordova on Front-end and Node.js on Back-end. If you would like to develop something similar - just write to us at mail@mova.io
👉 read more...
Cross-Platform Stacks
The most significant factor about this type of technology is that developers write code once for several platforms. Many companies choose an option to make a cross-platform application. Usually, for making these apps, programmers use one of these frameworks:
Xamarin
This tool is able to adapt code to any iOS and Android. Xamarin is using C# programming language to generate an app that can be opened on iOS and Android. Xamarin is also a Microsoft-owned company, so basing your technology stack for Android app or iOS on Xamarin can be a safe choice.
React Native
JavaScript framework that is able to make native apps for Android and iOS. In theory, the developer writes code once, and the app can run on both platforms. All the algorithms are written and managed in the JavaScript programming language. Applications use all the native elements, and users will not be able to guess whether they use a native app written in Swift or Kotlin, or a cross-platform app written with React Native. Even though React Native is a cross-platfrom tool, some developers use it as their main Android or iOS tech stack.
Many popular apps use this framework, so if you want to know how to make a social media app with React Natvie, just let us know.
Cross-platform stacks make application easy to develop and upgrade. However, they limit the access to the device’s features, which delays a performance and leads to the poor User Experience. Thanks to the reusable code, developers can upgrade the project and try to fix problems, but usually, such apps have tool limitations and lack of flexibility.
The main problem that cross-platform apps are trying to use native elements. However, not all native components are available across all platforms. This results in code duplication. A developer writes one part of a code for iOS, and another - for Android. On the other hand, it is still faster (and cheaper!) then real native development.
How Much Would App Development Cost?
Curious how much it takes to develop an application? We've got a whole section on our site with interactive estimations. Just select the app you would like to develop, choose a number of platforms you would want to target and choose the features. In a moment it will show you costs and timeframes needed to make an app as you have chosen! And if you are ready to start - write to us at mail@mova.io
👉 read more...
You might expect that writing code once will decrease development time twice comparing to native applications for iOS and Android. However, in our experience, it is not true. Issues with a user interface, custom features, and integrations will take additional time. On average, making one React Native app is 30% faster than making two native applications.
Additional Tips
Now when you know some information about different technology stacks, it is time to choose one of them. Before making this vital decision, you should analyze some facts about your project:
The goal of the project
Every app is created for a certain audience. What do you want to achieve with this application? Is it some kind of advertisement or maybe you want to make an online-platform which helps clients with their orders? Find a connection between the future app and your company. Is it going to help you gain clients that are more loyal to your platform? Or the main task is to make a maximal profit? In most cases, the application has to represent the type of company, whether it is a ticket booking company or a huge business corporation.
Type of the application
You decided to create an application for certain tasks solution. That is why you have to think about the devices where it would work, whether it needs the Internet or not etc. The priorities of the development team depend on the type of app – while a social media app’s primary goal is to run on as many platforms and devices as possible. Besides, it has access to the storage, application for ordering food does not need images or music from the phone.
Suitable platform
When you have finally defined the main goal and the type of the app, it is time to think about the compatibility of the platform. Android and iOS can seem to be almost equal in their popularity, but they have various unique opportunities, they use different programming languages and influence on the User Experience. It would be better if your program could be used on both platforms, of course, and that is why it is vital to choose the right technology stack.
Development
One of the most important parts of the work on the project is assembling the team of professionals, who can unlock the potential of your app. Our company offers different types of programmers, but all of them know how to work with all the frameworks and platforms. You have to decide the deadlines and other factors – the faster you launch finished project, the better.
Summary
If you want to develop an application, no matter which mobile tech stack you use, you have to plan your future actions thoroughly to get success. There is no such thing as the best technology stack for a mobile app - it all depends on the purpose of the project, its goals, niche, and so on.
Everything starts with the idea – do not be afraid to hire professionals. We are sure that team skills can lead to the right results. Just make some investments for the future incomes!
Our team, mova.io, can do all our best to create a unique, high-quality application for your company. We work hard on every project, considering every aspect of your future app that makes it outstanding. Our developers can take pride in their skills and experience. We’ve been working on different types of apps, and we know how to choose a fitting mobile stack. We will be happy to help you with selecting the right technology development instruments. Feel free to come to our website, contact us and get a consultation on all your questions!
Have a question? Just write to us at:
📮 mail@mova.io
