iPhone and Android run on different operating systems and therefore, must be natively coded and even designed
differently. Through either native or cross-platform development, an app can be designed and coded for
both platforms to match your needs and budget.
Native development works by building an app best
suited to the desired mobile platform, right from square one. The application is coded using a purposefully
chosen language targeted at the particular mobiles operating system and its functionality.
Cross-platform
development takes a ‘write once run anywhere’ approach. This allows developers to build the app for different
operating systems on one software, effectively lowering development costs. As a result, the apps code can
be shared and adapted to the devices operating system when it otherwise would have been incompatible.
However,
there are pro’s and con’s of both approaches to development. Here’s a more in-depth look at
native vs cross
platform development.