In the era of mobile app development, developers and companies have great frameworks to support their digital journeys. React Native and Xamarine are the two most popular tools for developing reliable and innovative mobile apps. However, it is a constant fight to consider Xamarin vs. React Native and check which one is better? In this post, you will get your answer!
Many entrepreneurs and software developers want to launch their apps on both Android and iOS platforms. They choose cross-platform app development for creating mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms. Currently, React Native and Xamarin are gaining popularity in terms of cross-platform development frameworks. So, which one should you select for your game-changing app development?
In this post, you can select the right cross-platform app development framework that will help reduce costs and enhance your audience reach. But, first, let’s understand each in brief.
What is React Native?
React Native is an open-source, cross-platform mobile application development framework developed by Facebook in 20215. It lets developers use JavaScript and React with native platform functions to create mobile apps. Plus, It combines the best parts of native development with a best class JS library for developing attractive UI design – React. Many popular companies such as Microsoft, Software Mansion and Expo use this framework.
Now let’s focus on understanding Xamarin.
What is Xamarin?
Xamarin is an open-source framework for developing cross-platform apps. Founded in 2011, It is used to build robust and high-performance apps for Android, iOS and Windows with a .NET framework. What’s more, it also helps manage the collaboration of shared code within platform code.
As you have now understood about both frameworks, it’s time to get back to the main concern – Xamarin vs. React Native; which one is better for cross-platform mobile apps.
Xamarin Vs. React Native: Side-By-Side Comparison
Comparison #1 – Availability & Cost
When considering availability & cost as factors to choose the right framework between Xamarin and React Native, Latter is the winner undeniably as it’s free. React Native is a very flexible framework, so allows developers to pick the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) as per their needs. In addition, they can use this framework and all of its libraries without spending a penny.
Whilst Xamarin has a free version, it has a very limited feature-set and limited resources. Plus, It is free but with Visual Studio, it comes at a cost.
Comparison #2 – Technology Used
React Native supports JavaScript – One of the most popular programming languages in web development. That’s why developers with extensive experience with using JS will have no issue building a mobile app using React Native.
Xamarin uses C# programming language and .NET framework. Microsoft provides a set of powerful tools, including debuggers, rich editor and native platform integration. Keep in mind that one is not better than the other in respect of underlying technology. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.
Comparison #3 – Development Environment
With React Native, developers can see the impacts of the code changes thanks to its Live Reload Feature. It ultimately helps you in terms of time management. Its Hot Reload features allow the app to keep running even when developers insert new features or versions. This feature is useful when adjusting the UI design as changes can be implemented without completely reloading the app.
On the other hand, Xamarin has a more friendly development environment than React Native. This framework allows developers to write code that is designed for iOS applications on Windows and compile it for Mac. It leverages Visual Studio or Xcode IDEs to design Mac apps.
Comparison #4 – Community Support
A survey conducted by StackOverflow shows that React Native came to be the 6th most beloved cross-platform app development framework on the market. In the voting polls, Xamarin didn’t fare better than React Native. Xamarin was voted 10th most popular framework for cross-platform mobile app development. So, without any doubt, developers prefer to go with React Native.
Comparison #5 – Overall Popularity
Selecting the popular product or service is an excellent choice that customers enjoy. When it comes to choosing the cross-platform application development frameworks, online search trends are the best metric to measure which is the best. As per Google Trends, React Native is more popular than Xamarin. It’s expected that most developers will be leveraging this framework in the future.
The Final Thought!
Xamarin vs. React Native: Picking the right framework can get you a winning edge for your digital journey. If you are still unsure which framework can help your business, contact a dedicated mobile app development company such as Appventurez. They can help you select the right platform for your business growth in today’s competitive-edge market.
