Mobile Apps
What is a cross-platform app?
Quick answer
A cross-platform app is a mobile app built from a single codebase that runs on both iOS and Android, using a framework like React Native or Flutter. You write it once and ship to both app stores, which usually cuts development time and cost compared with building two separate native apps.
One shared codebase means features and fixes ship to both platforms at once, and a smaller team can maintain the app — which is why cross-platform is popular with startups and businesses watching budget. Modern frameworks like React Native and Flutter are mature enough for most mainstream apps.
The limits show up with very performance-heavy or deeply hardware-specific apps, where native code can still edge ahead. For the majority of business, commerce, and content apps, cross-platform delivers near-native quality at noticeably lower cost.
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