Building separate iOS and Android apps doubles much of the work. Cross-platform frameworks promise one codebase for both, and today they deliver on that promise for most business apps. The choice between them, and the cases where native development is still worth it, comes down to your product and your team.
React Native
React Native, maintained by Meta and the community, lets you build mobile apps with React and JavaScript or TypeScript, rendering real native components. Its New Architecture, which improves performance and the way JavaScript talks to native code, became the default in React Native 0.76 in late 2024. The Expo framework and tooling now cover builds, updates and much of the native configuration.
- Strengths: shares skills and sometimes code with a React web app; large ecosystem; native look and feel by default.
- Consider: complex native features still require native modules, and dependencies need regular upgrades.
Flutter
Flutter, from Google, uses the Dart language and draws its own interface with its own rendering engine, Impeller, rather than using platform widgets. The same code can also target web and desktop.
- Strengths: pixel-identical design across platforms, smooth animation, and a single, consistent UI toolkit.
- Consider: Dart is less widely known than JavaScript, and matching each platform’s native look takes deliberate effort.
Native: Swift and Kotlin
- Choose native when the app depends heavily on platform features: advanced camera or audio processing, AR, Bluetooth hardware, background location, widgets and watch apps, or when it needs every millisecond of performance.
- Native also gets new operating system features first, which matters for apps competing on the latest capabilities.
- Kotlin Multiplatform is a middle path: share business logic between platforms while keeping native user interfaces.
How we help clients decide
- What does the app mainly do? Forms, dashboards, content and commerce suit cross-platform very well.
- Who maintains it? Pick the stack your team can hire for and support for years.
- Is there a web app? A React web team often makes React Native the natural fit.
- How custom is the design? Highly branded, animation-heavy interfaces play to Flutter’s strengths.
- Which device features are essential? List them early and confirm each is well supported.
Plan for store requirements either way
Apple and Google regularly raise their requirements: newer SDK versions, privacy declarations and, on Google Play, a higher target API level each year. Whatever the stack, budget for ongoing maintenance so the app is not removed from sale or blocked from updates by a missed deadline.
