Xamarin vs React Native for Cross Platform App Development

The app development market is quite volatile in terms of technological advancements. This exhibits the fact that the industry is open for change, when it comes to developing robust and productive applications, which are cost-effective as well.

While native app development marked commencement of engaging and performance oriented mobile applications, they make an indispensable call for platform dedicated resources and high investment.

To rescue, cross- platform, native app development frameworks like Xamarin, React Native were introduced. They not only simplified the development cycle, but proved to be cost-saviour for businesses. While both of them serve the same purpose, a few differences make them superior over one another. In the upcoming segment, we will discuss them to make an informed decision for mobile app development framework.

Introduction to Xamarin:

Xamarin was founded in May 2011 and was later acquired by Microsoft. It is considered to be the first product launched to resolve the problem of disconnected technology stack for native app development. It’s an open source and is free to use.

This framework for mobile app development uses C# for writing native UI codebase for multiple platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows). In the first quarter of the year 2017, over 1.4 million developers were reported to be using Xamarin products.

Currently, this cross platform app development framework is being entrusted by various renowned brands and their mobile apps built using Xamarin is a proof. It not only offers an edge in building native app interfaces but also enables to overpower the limitations of hybrid apps.

Introduction to React Native:

React Native was officially introduced by Facebook in the year 2015. What made this cross platform app development technology a game-changer in the industry is its facility to develop a native mobile app using Javascript.

Currently, React Native has got 1,526 contributors, who have committed 12,166 times in 54 branches with 231 releases on Github. Popularity of this JS framework can be estimated through React Native app examples.

In an annual survey conducted by Stack Overflow (participated by 64,000 developers), results report that Javascript is one of the most popular and adopted technologies by developers. One of the reasons why React Native could be developer’s favorite is because they can get started with mobile app development, without any steep learning curve.

Xamarin vs React Native: Which one to Opt When

Both React Native and Xamarin for cross platform native app development have got an edge over each other. However, when it comes to choosing one from the available options, it is important to understand how they actually work. Let’s do a comparative study for Xamarin and React Native.

• Development Environment: Amongst the various benefits of Xamarin for cross platform app development, flexibility with development environment is the one. With Xamarin, you can can write a code for iPhone app on Windows and later compile it on Mac. A different platform is needed only for the build. On the other hand, React Native does not perform similar development. However, you can make this possible via Expo, but it is not as powerful as Xamarin (as Expo does not support everything that React Native does).
  
  
• Existing Skills Utilization: If your existing team has web developers, then opting for React Native is a great move. Since React Native is a Javascript framework for app development, web developers can utilize their existing expertise of Javascript for building mobile apps.
  
  
• Easy Testing and Recompiling: React Native is nothing but Javascript. Therefore, it gives relaxation from rebuilding the entire app, in order to reflect the changes. The time thus saved can be utilized in productive processes and development logics.

ALSO READ: 7 Reasons Why React Native Is the Right Choice for Mobile App Development

The Ball is in your Court Now

Xamarin by Microsoft and React Native by Facebook has got great reputation in cross platform app development market. Depending upon the available skillset, cost, development environment etc., a relevant choice can be made accordingly. And for converting your app idea into reality using any of the technologies, we have our mobile app development services to offer.