5 Best Mobile App Development Tools

Creating a mobile application is a must for businesses of any scale. Companies realize the fact that they should keep up with the customers’ needs to remain competitive. It’s not so difficult to create an app, as one may think. You don’t need to employ a whole developer team and spend a lot of money on it. Tools for mobile app development allow us to build an application quickly and at an affordable price. We offer you our list of the best mobile app development tools.

What are mobile app development tools?

An application development tool is a software that assists in building mobile apps. They are divided into two types: native and cross-platform app development tools.

Native development tools help you build specialized applications, which involve a platform rich in various features. Such high-quality apps operate smoothly and give access to push notifications. They let developers build an app for a specific system, such as Android, iOS, or Windows. Another benefit is access to native features of a particular phone. However, their disadvantages are the high price and consumption of resources. It is quite challenging to support such apps. Delivery and launch may also require much time.

Cross-platform mobile app development tools enable creating an app for multiple platforms. It is a great solution for those who want to reduce costs and time for app development. One code may be reused many times. However, the app quality may not be as high. Such apps typically have more issues with user experience. These tools can be classified into several groups: hybrid, rapid, low-code, or codeless tools. Another disadvantage is that these apps have limited access to native phone features.

However, you shouldn’t choose between quantity and quality by selecting the type of development tool. You need to select the most suitable tool for the requirements of the app you are about to build. If your aim is to take the most advantage of features and reach maximum functionality, the first variant is perfect for you. If you are on a budget and want to launch within the shortest time, cross-platform development would be more helpful in your case.

To avoid confusing our readers, we will divide the best mobile app development tools for 2021 from our list below into these two groups.

Top 5 best mobile app development tools for 2021

Native Mobile Dev Tools

1. Xcode

Xcode implies an innovative scripting language Swift. It provides a fresh programming experience. Its features include:

• live picturing of your User Interface on your design canvas:
• instantly demonstrates the code changes;
• broad functionality to develop an application for various Apple devices;
• includes managing such processes as UI design, code creation, application testing, and bug fixing.

Initial price: free

Demo version: not included

Free trial: not included

2. AppCode

This tool is also implied in iOS development. AppCode works with many coding languages (Swift, C, C++) and software technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML, etc. AppCode features involve:

• built-in support and other beneficial integrations:
• task automating, detecting, and correcting errors:
• IDE (Integrated Development Environment) support:

Initial price: €8,90 a month

Demo version: not included

Free trial: 30 days included

Cross-platform mobile development tools

1. Xamarin

Xamarin is a powerful open-source tool introduced by Microsoft. You can make applications for many operating systems: iOS, Android, and Windows from a unified codebase. Its highlights include:

• available for web, desktop app-building;
• supports the C# code language;
• provides Visual Studio tools to build native apps;
• you can learn app building with the help of Xamarin university content;
• includes API tools;
• covers such processes as altering code, fixing errors, testing and publishing;
• gives access to multi-platform, external libraries;

Initial price: $25 a month

Demo version: not included

Free trial: included

2. Ionic

Ionic is considered user-convenient and easy-to-learn. It is free to employ and is a perfect opportunity for quickly creating a prototype. The primary scripting language is HTML5, but it also supports CSS and SASS. Key Ionic features include:

• open-source, absolutely free tool;
• enables creating applications for each app store;
• possesses a wide variety of tools necessary for making highly interacting apps;
• a single code base for various app stores;
• employs native SDKs and native User Interface guidance for high-quality products;

Initial price: free

Demo version: not included

Free trial: not included

3. Sencha

Sencha is a tool for developing apps not only for mobile phones but also for desktops and tablets. Sencha provides various instruments and services for creating incredible applications with high functionality. Let’s have a closer look at Sencha’s features:

• apps of various types;
• is supported by WebKit browsers;
• allows customizing the resolutions to reach compatibility with the maximum number of devices;
• animation support;
• translatable code building;
• no need to set up;
• Systematized Configuration System;

Initial price: $1.195 a year

Demo version: not included

Free trial: not included

Conclusions

The market offers a wide variety of application building tools to choose from. Building an app from scratch is quite outdated. Some of them are based on native functionality; others employ a single code for various systems. They are applied to different user needs. The tools, which are recommended by us, are top-notch and enable making high-quality and feature-rich products. The main thing you should do is define your needs and pick out the most suitable tool.