The number of iOS and Android apps being developed and downloaded is exponentially rising every year and there is no sign of its slowdown. So, countless businesses have started developing outstanding apps to serve users and gain enormous profits. If you too want to build an iOS and an Android app for your project and bring them to the market faster while being cost-efficient, React Native App development is the best approach. It offers multiple benefits like the below:
- Cross-platform functionality
- Speedier development
- Time efficiency due to code
reusability
- Faster time-to-market
- Performance similar to Native
apps
However, there are some noteworthy
differences in the development, features, testing, release process, etc. of
both platforms. In this article, we have outlined those differences which will
be quite helpful to the React Native developers. So, let’s analyze them.
Differences between Android and iOS
that are observed while developing the React Native apps:
Tools Required for Development and
Testing
Android:
For creating Android applications using
React Native, the toolset that is required includes- Android Studio, Java
Development Kit (JDK), Android SDK, and related configuration. Also, Android
applications can only be tested using this official tool- Android Studio.
Though there are some more tools available, they aren’t official and are
limited in numbers.
iOS:
For creating iOS apps using React Native,
Xcode is required. Xcode installs the essential tools and the iOS simulator and
thus helps in iOS
app development. Additionally, MacOS is also required to work with Xcode.
When it comes to testing the iOS apps, you
won’t find any official operating tool. Some other tools are available,
however, since they aren’t developed or approved by Apple, they aren’t
considered much reliable.
Native Components or Elements
React Native developers will experience
that several components or elements will appear differently on iOS and Android
for the same app. This is so because the React Native framework translates the
components into the respective native component for any specific platform. As a
result, these cross-platform differences will always persist. To consider an
example, there is a date picker component. This component appears differently
in an iOS simulator and an Android emulator.
Platform-specific Style Elements
The React Native framework supports styling
depending on the particular platform, so the styles that are employed in
Android and iOS apps look different in both. For instance, let us consider the
shadows feature. This feature will be visible in iOS apps but in Android, it
won’t be visible, as Android doesn’t support this shadow element in React
Native. Here, the developers will need to use the elevation property.
Linking Third-party Libraries
If you want to integrate React Native
third-party libraries in your Android or iOS app, there are some differences
between both these platforms that need to be considered. Though auto-linking
can be used for adding native dependencies to most of the projects, but at
times, manual intervention is required for linking these libraries. For doing
this, the React Native developers need to have good knowledge of coding with
Java and Objective-C. Usually, these libraries have strong documentation, but
in some cases, there is no proper documentation available, causing issues while
app development.
Differences in OS Designs
React Native may be used for faster and
easier development of cross-platform applications, but, it does not allow
complete code reuse in Android and iOS apps. Variations in the design structure
of Android and iOS systems are somewhat responsible for this. For instance, iOS
apps are very minimalistic, on the other hand, Android apps have extravagant
design patterns. So, the React Native developersmust be aware of this and they
should ensure that the apps are well-designed to suit the respective operating
systems they are developed in.
Release Process
Android: The Android apps have to be released on Google Play and the release
process for Android apps is pretty straightforward and easier.
iOS: If compared with Android, the release process for iOS apps is quite
stringent. Security is of the utmost importance when it comes to iOS. Hence,
App store guidelines are stricter and their review process is critical. So,
before releasing the app, test the apps thoroughly to meet all the guidelines
for the App Store, and get it approved.
Wrap-up:
We have seen the major variations in the Android
app development and iOS app development process using React Native. Most of
these differences are related to app appearance, tooling, styling, etc.
Knowledge of these variations is a plus for a React Native developer. So the inference we can draw from the above
information is that only about 10 to 15% of the code needs to be written
separately for both the platforms, the rest of the features can be handled using
a single codebase.
If you are looking for the creation of
top-grade React Native apps in Android and iOS, get in touch with
Biz4Solutions. We are a promising React
Native app development company and have a track record of developing
modern-day applications for diverse business domains. We have 9+ years of
experience in serving global clients and helping them achieve their goals
through our React Native development services. Reach out to us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com
To know more about our other core
technologies, refer to links below:
Angular App
Development Company
