What is the latest technology for mobile app development?

Mobile apps are constantly bringing change in the business as well as the consumer landscape. Most people rely on their smartphones, instead of desktops and laptops. The reason is obvious: convenience. Businesses are also leveraging the benefits of mobile apps to access product data, compare with the competitors, and perform market research online. If the SEO and marketing efforts help you boost your online presence, opting for mobile app development can push you a step ahead by transforming the way you interact with your customers. Today, mobile apps offer a convenient platform to share information, collaborate with vendors, and personalize with customers present in any part of the world. Undoubtedly, from basic apps like Calendar, Contacts, and Messages to advanced ones like Amazon, Netflix, and WhatsApp–we have come a long way!

Statistics on Mobile App Usage 

• 88% of time spent on mobile is on mobile apps
• Mobile apps generated more than $935 bn revenue in 2024 
• 49% of people open a mobile app 11+ times in a day
• 21% of Millennials open a mobile app 50+ times in a day
• On average, the typical smartphone user spends time on 10 apps per day.
• Interestingly, there are approximately 80 apps installed on an average smartphone, some of which come pre-installed.

Type of Mobile Apps Development Frameworks

In general, there are three frameworks- 

1. Native Apps: Native mobile app frameworks allow for a specific platform’s app development. It is designed to develop applications for a particular operating system. For example, Java and Kotlin are most popularly used to develop native Android applications. While objective-C and Swift are used to develop native iOS apps. Native applications generally take advantage of the device’s hardware and software to offer optimized performance. 
2. Hybrid Apps: Hybrid frameworks combine the functionalities of both native and cross-platform frameworks, where the developers can integrate the codes written using standard web technologies (like JavaScript) into a native web application. For example, Apache Cordova is a popular framework that offers plugins to connect its framework with native apps like GPS, Camera, and a lot more. 
3. Web Native Mobile Apps: This framework allows for cross-platform mobile app development. Developers can create mobile apps using the web languages they are already aware of. This reduces their learning time and ultimately the development cycle. For instance, Frameworks like Ionic, and  Flutter, enable businesses and developers to build native mobile applications for iOS, Android, and PWAs. 

Latest Technologies for Mobile Apps Development

• • Flutter- Consequently, Flutter is a trending technology developed by Google. It is an open-source, cross-platform development framework ideal for both Android and iOS platforms. It offers a wide variety of plugins to support developers in creating unique mobile apps. Flutter uses Dart as the programming language, which helps in rapid analysis. Moreover, it can even fix bugs in milliseconds, saving ample time for developers and businesses.
  • React Native– This technology uses JavaScript as the programming language and is an ideal option for developing native mobile apps. It offers a good set of tools to support IDEs and the development of native apps for both iOS and Android platforms. Developers can easily build native apps from scratch or upgrade existing ones using React Native. It doesn’t let you compromise on your users’ experiences. Native components like “View”, “Text”, and “Image” map directly to the platform’s native UI building blocks. 
  • Ionic– Ionic is a popular, cross-platform, and open-source technology for building iOS and Android apps. It uses the most basic languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build high-performance apps, which are compatible across multiple platforms, and support UI functionalities, all from a single codebase. Specifically, Ionic can be combined with AngularJS and Apache Cordova to offer developers an easy way to build, grow, and scale cross-platform mobile apps. 
  • Xamarin- Xamarin is a free and open-source technology, ideal for cross-platform development. It uses .NET and C#. With benefits like code-sharing and extending functionality access to native APIs, Xamarin can create applications that deliver an exact native-like experience. It is considered one of the most time-saving technologies since you can develop iOS, Android, and Windows apps with a single codebase. Xamarin can be integrated seamlessly with the Azure cloud platform to offer your mobile app an efficient backend, with intelligent services. 
  • Native Script- Native Script has gained tremendous popularity amongst mobile app development trends. As a result, it has become the most demanded open-source framework in recent years. Angular integration, VueJS integration, and Native API reflection are some of the crucial advantages of using Native Script as the developing framework. The framework also allows developers to re-purpose third-party libraries from Maven etc into their apps.
  • Felgo- Felgo is a popular, cross-platform development framework, using which you can create mobile apps from a single codebase for Android, iOS, Web, and other platforms. You can even speed up your development process using the “hot reload” feature and its cutting-edge tools for almost all supported platforms. Furthermore, it can save up to 90% of code by utilizing cross-platform components, service integrations, and native UI/UX.
  • Mobile Angular UI- Mobile Angular UI, an open-source framework, offers some quintessential mobile components that are found missing in Bootstrap 3–switches, sidebars, overlays, and scrollable areas. Specifically, it relies on useful libraries like fastclick.js and overthrow.js to achieve the best mobile experience. Mobile Angular UI allows businesses to build hybrid mobile and desktop apps with minimal effort. It is also easy to convert an existing web application into a mobile application using Mobile Angular UI. Just embed a CSS file and you will get a super-responsive, mobile interface that can be used from almost anywhere.

Top Tools to Help You Get Started With Mobile App Development

1) Android Studio– It is the most desired Google’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing native Android apps, and it offers the most advanced tools for creating apps for all types of Android devices. 

• Android Studio offers an extensive toolkit for creating, evaluating, and debugging apps
• Moreover, it helps developers boost the speed of their apps by analyzing memory and network usage.
• Offers a feature-intensive emulator, integrated for testing apps seamlessly
• A code editor for intelligent code completion 
• Developers can even integrate an AI assistant like Gemini to help them generate codes, fix bugs, and answer queries

2) Apache Cordova– Apache Cordova is a mobile app development tool for creating hybrid mobile apps using standard programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 

• It is a free and open-source framework
• Target multiple platforms with one codebase
• It runs on Node.js
• Cordova has a plugin architecture. It maintains a set of core plugins along with some third-party plugins that provide additional features to the framework
• Cordova doesn’t provide any widgets

3) CodeRunner– CodeRunner is a popular, lightweight code editor designed especially for iOS. Furthermore, It supports multiple programming languages, from basic to advanced, and provides a streamlined developing environment. 

• Write and run code in any of the widely used programming languages 
• You can configure additional languages beyond the 25 languages available in CodeRunner.
• Additionally, it provides some documentation to support developers.
• An advanced code completion mechanism is provided by CodeRunner
• Built-in debugging features for a quick fix 
• Get instant feedback on your code as you write it using the “live errors” feature
• It has a lightning-fast editor to support your timelines 

4) Buildfire– Buildfire is amongst the top application building tools available for developers. In addition, its vast collection of ready-to-use templates makes it simple for even beginners to start developing mobile apps.

• Remarkably, you can build native applications without writing a single line of code.
• You just need to follow a 3 step process–sign up and choose a template, build your app using a visual editor, and hit publish
• Easy development of robust apps 
• Facilitates rapid prototyping, which ensures the creative head in you never dies
• As a result, the developed mobile apps achieve cross-platform compatibility.

5) Unity- Unity is a very popular tool for developing gaming applications because it provides HD graphics to give users a rich environment. Without writing codes, you can create logic for games using this modern tool. 

• Developers can create amazing games across 20+ platforms that can run on billions of devices using end-to-end tools and services 
• Enterprise support is provided to transform your data into immersive experiences
• Not only development, Unity facilitates growing your app by offering a complete set of powerful tools and services
• A vast and supportive community supports Unity, allowing you to connect, learn, share, and inspire.

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Final Thoughts 

In today’s fast-paced technology landscape, therefore, staying ahead of the competition has become crucial for businesses. Therefore, To sustain your position in the market, you must be aware of all the latest app development technologies, trends, and tools in mobile app development.

Our company, Brain Inventory is a leading Android app development company, with a proven track record in building exceptional mobile apps. We create apps that not only look and feel amazing but come loaded with functionalities. Our experts will discuss with you to find your vision and decide the right technology for building your app. Additionally, contact us to hire Android developers and to get more details!