Why Would You Choose Xamarin As Your Cross-Platform Mobile Development Tool?
Summary: What makes business owners from all four corners of the world use Xamarin for cross-platform app development? After all, numerous other frameworks are also available right now. The answer to this question is in this write-up.
Experts describe Xamarin as one of the best cross-platform frameworks for app development projects, especially for iOS, tvOS, Android, macOS, watchOS, and Microsoft. It combines and utilizes C# and .NET.
Back in 2019–2020, Xamarin ranked among the top five cross-platform app development frameworks for mobile devices. Naturally, business owners chose to hire xamarin developers for their projects.
[Cross-platform frameworks used by development agencies in 2019–2020]
However, the popularity of Xamarin didn’t plummet in 2021, either. World-renowned business houses, such as Siemens, Bosch, Pinterest, Slack, Outback Steakhouse, Aggrego, UPS, and many other organizations are still using it.
This topic will attempt to elucidate why you should hire xamarin developers for your cross-platform app development projects now and in the future.
A new platform — old app: a case study
You probably know that it’s possible to shift obsolete applications to new platforms. This example should make it easier for you to understand.
Of course, even the best developers may encounter problems while doing so. They may notice that it’ll take a lot of time, money, and labor to update an old app or add new features to it.
Also, there may be a lack of the necessary documentation or specialists with knowledge of the codebase necessary for supporting the activities mentioned above.
During times like these, the only option is to transfer the obsolete app to a new tech stack. In simple terms, if you hire xamarin developers, they’ll have to write the code of a new app from the beginning while utilizing the UI and logic of the existing one.
One app development agency received a consignment where it had to transfer an obsolete app to a new tech stack. The creators of this old app used LabView to build it. When the company launched the project, it had already been around for a decade. As you can guess, the documentation of the project had become obsolete.
The app development agency didn’t have the necessary support experts. Furthermore, porting the app to a new OS turned out to be pricey and resource-hogging.
Here are the primary requirements for a new application.
- Windows and iOS support with full-fledged reproduction of the old solution’s UI/UX
- Finishing the development work within stringent deadlines
- Scalable and easy to support for improvements in the future
Xamarin came to the rescue of those developers. After conducting the necessary research, they concluded that Xamarin is the perfect solution. If you continue reading, you’ll learn why.
The reasons
So, why should you consider hiring a remote xamarin developer? Why the developers described above choose Xamarin for the project?
Multi-platform support for native
Xamarin gives developers full-fledged access to tools and native APIs used for iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. Naturally, developers can use it to give cross-platform apps a level of performance and design matching native applications.
It’s one of the main reasons why Xamarin solutions are better than their hybrid competitors.
Adhering to tight deadlines
Whether it’s about creating a new app from scratch or simply transferring an old one to a new platform, deadlines will always be there. In that regard, the services of a remote xamarin developer will come in handy. These perks deserve your attention.
- Reusing one codebase for both Windows and iOS reduces the time needed for development
- The ability to utilize recognizable and easy-to-contemplate .NET and C# that further increases development speed
- Installing Microsoft Visual Studio should be enough to start with
Surveys conducted by experts prove that almost a quarter of all developers rely on this IDE when working with code or debugging purposes.
Xamarin is convenient and powerful. It lets developers create the prototype of an application in just one day and inspect it without devices in Visual Studio via simulation models. It also saves a lot of time.
Maintenance and training
Numerous guidelines and tutorials for Xamarin are already available. By using them, developers will be able to stick to the best practices of development. These materials can also help new developers learn the tricks of the trade, as well as how to complete projects faster.
Apart from that, there’s an online education platform called Xamarin University. It’s perfect for those who recently began exploring the package. This platform is suitable for those with just a bit of knowledge of C# or anyone else with little experience in programming.
The particular resource contains all the necessary info for developers using Xamarin or associated products.
Additionally, Xamarin makes it easy for developers to conduct app maintenance tasks. Developers only need to change or update the source file. As soon as they do it, the changes get applied to the apps of Android, iOS, and Windows.
Just remember that this approach works for apps using Xamarin.Forms only.
Priorities
When it comes to Xamarin, there are two approaches you need to know about. These include Xamarin.Forms and Xamarin.Native. The figure below should clarify things further.
This figure shows the crucial criteria for selecting between the approaches to development.
Now, if you hire one of the best mobile development companies for porting an application, your developers will use Xamarin.Forms. After all, performance isn’t important here.
Therefore, you should pick Xamarin.Forms to create,
- Minimum Viable Product applications
- Simple apps with functionality limitations
If you select Xamarin.Native, you can create,
- Apps connected with other services
- Systems bearing high loads
- Apps where code reusing isn’t as important as the UI
Wrapping it up
Usually, business owners or other decision-makers hire mobile development companies like Moon Technolabs with expertise in Xamarin for cross-platform development. It decreases the time taken to market, as well as development-related expenses by reusing code and using one tech stack.
The experiences of the best app development agencies using Xamarin prove that this framework has the power to build MVPs quickly at minimal expenses. Xamarin also allows developers to test the said application for viability.
FAQs
Q1. Is it easy to implement cross-platform systems on Xamarin?
A1. A developer just has to write general code for iOS, Windows, and Android. Xamarin ascertains it without external support and links the code to native APIs for every platform.
Q2. Are there any drawbacks of Xamarin?
A2. There aren’t any significant disadvantages of Xamarin, but the size of the written application is large. As a result, it does affect download speed and disk space at times.
Q3. Where can you find experienced Xamarin programmers and developers?
A3. Today, Xamarin developers and programmers are available just about everywhere in the world. However, if you want a reliable agency to oversee your project, you can hire Moon Technolabs.
