Different Types of App Developers

Michaela Markley Picture

by Michaela Markley | Last Updated: Jun 28, 2020

Are you looking to become an app developer or looking for app developers near me for an upcoming project? There are a few different types of app developers to look into and they will have different expertise and skills. Whether you are looking into a future career as an app developer or looking for an expert for your next big project, we highlight the key characteristics and differences between the three types of mobile app developers. Native App Developers Native mobile apps are the most common type of app and what most people think of when thinking about a mobile app. Native mobile app developers are disciplined in a specific operating system and know the ins and outs of their specified operating systems such as iOS and Android.  Native mobile app developers are typically in high demand due to the complexity of each operating system and the fact that most native mobile app developers only specialize in a single operating system. Along with being able to take advantage of the features, each operating system is also built on different coding languages. For example, Android applications are built using mainly Java language. iOS is built heavily on Objective C and Swift language. To be one of the best mobile app developers within the native app development world, you need to be an expert on a specific operating system and stay up to date on changes and trends happening within your operating systems.  Web App Developers Web app developers are usually software engineers or designers working on web application-specific work. When creating web apps, the developer use a web programming language. These languages will range from HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C++, and many others. Web app developers will need to know a handful of coding languages to develop web applications.  Cross-Platform Developers A cross-platform developer is an individual that can develop an app that works across multiple operating systems. These developers may be creating hybrid apps or Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) that combine the web app components with native functionalities. Developers have started to lean towards PWAs to build cross-platform applications that work across most devices and operating systems. Oftentimes these types of applications will use frameworks such as Ionic, React Native, or Cordova. One of the benefits of being a proponent for cross-platform apps is you build the app once to work across operating systems.  In all of these app development functions, you can either work in-house or be a freelance app developer. There are some pros and cons to both but it is nice to have the flexibility as a developer to decide what will make the most sense for the type of work you want to do. App developers can always switch between the type of development work you want to do but it will be a little difficult as you need to learn a new language each time - but it is possible. 

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