Apache Cordova : To Speed Up Cross-Platform Mobile App Development

There’s no demurral that performance is an important factor that can influence the mobile app development process sorely. Therefore it is must to choose an efficient framework that can enhance the performance of software without leaving any questions behind it. Most of the newly updated versions of frameworks are amazing in terms of efficiency and cost but still, it’s tempting to make your decision purely based on performance as there are quite a bit more to weigh.

One of the biggest recent advancements in mobile development framework has been the proliferation of Apache Cordova framework. This framework allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3 for cross-platform development. It also offers an appealing user experience and simply loads whatever new data the user has requested. Let’s discuss more specifically what exactly Apache Cordova is?

What is Apache Cordova?

Apache Cordova, also known as PhoneGap is an open-source mobile development framework, originally created by Nitobi, but in 2011 it was purchased by Adobe Systems and later released as Apache Cordova. It enables mobile app developers to use web technologies instead of depending on platform-specific APIs. Apache Cordova also enables wrapping up of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code based on the platform of the mobile device and widen their features to work precisely with the devices.

You can use Apache Cordova for:

• To extend an app across multiple platforms, without having to re-implement it with each platform’s language and toolset.
• To deploy a web app that’s packaged for distribution in various app store portals.
• Combine components of native apps with a WebView that can access device-level APIs.

Insights

• On the basis of appbrain study, Cordova is reported to be used for development of Events (16.81% of all Cordova apps), Business (16.80%), Healthcare (15.33%), Finance (15.25%), Shopping (13.23%), Travel (12.07%) and Sports (11.94%) apps.
• Its latest software allows mobile app developers to compile a mobile application with a license that prevents web audit because it is not possible with the app documents, local storage, source code and through web directory.
• Recently,  Apache Cordova has evolved significantly in hybrid mobile app development as its performance capabilities are augmented via plugins that are continuously delivered by the community.
• Mostly the Cordova is preferred by small businesses, though it’s share in the app market is not great but it received quite positive reviews from developers especially for complex industries like healthcare and finance.

Benefits of Apache Cordova

This amazing cross-platform framework is full of enormous features, it allows developers to use a single set of code for multiple mobile platforms. Its benefits include:

• Easy To Learn – No need to learn special languages for the implementation of  Apache Cordova as it works on the most common browsers. So, it’s easy for developers to avail this framework in a most cost-effective manner.
• Cost Effective – The Apache Cordova is a prodigious cost-effective framework that contains the set of proven and efficient features as well as offer the tools to reduce development time frame. And the best part of this framework is that developers can deploy it at any time from anywhere. So, it directly saves a development time, efforts and money by building the native apps using different programming language for each platform.

• Support Multiple Platform – Cordova app development is one of the most popular mobile app frameworks that solves the problem of developers to write different code every time for different platforms. It’s  UI completely matches all mobile platforms such as iPhone or Android and also compatible with JavaScript toolkits like Sencha Touch, Dojox Mobile, and jQuery Mobile. Finally, no more hazy text commands that are difficult to tweak as  PhoneGap mobile app code makes it possible to instantly see changes on the connected device. It is also recommendable for its large plugin library, thriving community, and third-party tools.
• Robust Mobile Development – PhoneGap mobile app development allows developers to develop a mobile application with the help of native features and makes work of developers easier without compromising user experience. It offers a wide range of templates to work with and accept third-party plugins which help in embedding more functionality to the apps.  Some of the Cordova’s plugins are dated, so developers often have to write custom ones from scratch.

Hope now you got an idea about the benefits of Cordova mobile app development. It’s time to discuss its estimated cost.

Cost of Apache Cordova Mobile App Development

According to Medium, “Apache Cordova, Xamarin and Unity account for 70% of the total cross-platform app development tools’ market”.

Apache Cordova mobile app development boasts various advantages including simple API and facility to employ JS framework. Though it’s not easy to estimate the actual price of Cordova mobile app let’s try to figure out its cost.

The development of one full-fledged mobile application requires a strong conceptual foundation, an excellent ecosystem, good planning, and talented designers and developers. Skimp of any of these elements may cause risk to the  ROI of your dream product. Let’s discuss each factor more closely and estimate the cost of Cordova mobile app

The Process Involved in App Development are:

There are four phases involved in the development of an app:

• Idea – For designing any app first you must have a solid idea of its blueprints otherwise you wouldn’t able to build a successful app. After identifying the type of mobile application that you want for your business, shift your mind to developing the vision behind the idea.
• Functionality layout – In this stage, your idea starts transforming into a more tangible concept. A software developer or Business Analyst team prepare an architect that will show how the Cordova mobile app will function. At this point, you can also suggest your inputs related to the app and to make it more useful to your market.
• Design – “Design is thinking made visual.” This is one of the most important stages because mobile app design decides its future. It includes both the backend and frontend design and management of user experience, data integration, synchronization of data, caching of data and various modules of testing.
• Launching – This is a crucial phase mixed with both excitement and nervousness. If you want to capture the attention of customers, your mobile application must be more engaging than the existing one.

Once you have decided and identified your target market, it’s time to focus on platform i.e Android or iOS. Though it’s good to choose both platforms to cover a large portion of users but if you have budget restraint than go with Android because “There are now 2 billion monthly active Android devices globally.”

Now let’s Estimate the Cost of Cordova Mobile App:

The cost of Cordova mobile app depends on its complexity. One simple app takes roughly 10 weeks to build, with 90 hours for designing and 800 hours for backend development. On the other hand, the complex app takes around 28 weeks to build including approx. 370 hours for designing and up to 2,200 hours for backend development.

For Android Cordova mobile apps, the cost ranges as follows:

For iOS Cordova mobile apps , cost ranges as follows:

There are some hidden costs are also included in the app development, therefore, it’s not possible to estimate the exact cost of Cordova mobile app development.

Summing Up

A Cordova mobile app framework is a great way to enhance the mobile app development process. It helps businesses to gain more adherence and better brand recognition without burning extra money. Though we know that app releasing time is important but you should not rush through the development phases and the cost of building Cordova mobile application will hardly matter in the long run if it takes off and gains a large market of users.