Mobile App Development Tools

Mobile App Development Tools

Is your business interested in developing its own app? You're not alone. Most modern businesses want some type of app, whether it's to drive sales or connect with its customers. Customers have become accustomed to using apps to self-service — and having an app means a greater level of visibility to the customer on a day-to-day level.

Today, organizations are able to take app building into their own hands through the use of easy-to-use mobile app development tools. With low-code and no-code app development software for beginners, companies can develop their apps quickly with a WYSIWYG interface. These mobile app development tools even support advanced features, such as accessibility features and cross platform app development.

But when companies consider developing an app, they first need to consider whether they're going to buy it or build it themselves. There are many advantages to an organization building an app themselves: they get complete control over the process, can often develop it cheaper, and are able to maintain it in the future on their own. For most app development companies, the cost of maintenance alone averages $10,000 a year.

That's a lot of money — and if a company is able to internally develop and maintain its app, it's money that can be spent in other places.

For the most part, businesses (especially small businesses) want some very similar features for their apps. Developing a simple app, with social media integration, customer support, and other standard features doesn't need to be difficult, especially if the mobile app development tool already comes with plug-ins or extensions for all the features that are desired.

Of course, there are pitfalls as well — it generally takes longer to develop an app in-house than it does to purchase one, with 95  percent of organizations experiencing some amount of challenges during the process. But for some organizations, the positives may far outweigh the negatives, especially if they are able to save money long-term on maintaining and scaling their app moving forward.

The Best Technology for Mobile App Development

If you're looking into mobile app development, you may have noticed that there's a lot of technology out there. But much of this technology isn't developed for beginners, or if it is, it may not have the features that your company needs to design a slick, professional app.

If you want to know how to create an app without coding skills, the answer is Lumavate. Lumavate is the only no code app builder for building Progressive Web Apps. With no code platforms, your developers just need to know how they want the app to look and act. They don't need specialized knowledge or a computer background: these are app development tools for non programmers.

What are Progressive Web Apps? In many ways, they're the best technology for mobile app development. Native apps are entirely separate applications that live on your users' devices. They need to be separately programmed and maintained. Progressive Web Apps can link directly to your organization's existing website. It looks like an app and functions like an app, but it's accessed through the web. And if you want, you only need to maintain a single content channel.

If you're looking for the best mobile app development tools 2019, check out Lumavate. Not only does Lumavate come with an easy, no code interface, but it also comes with a built-in library that includes some of the most popular features you might need.

Choosing the Right Mobile Tool

There are many tools available for organizations looking to take app building into their own hands, but it's important to take a look at what your real goals are for your app. Appzio, PhoneGap, and Apache Cordova all offer low cost app development, but they require some level of expertise. If you want no code, low code mobile app development, Lumavate can help.

Lumavate is the only platform built for marketers, rather than engineers. It's the only no code platform for Progressive Web Apps, and while there are other low code platforms, they don't give your organization the rich, mobile-first platform that Lumavate does. Through Lumavate, your organization can easily launch an app without any code at all, and can maintain it with ease. Rather than having to push a native app to the app store and force your users to download it, you can instead control the app through a domain.

That doesn't mean that you need to use Lumavate as your mobile tool. There are many tools out there. But most of the tools have been created for designers and developers, rather than being created with a focus on marketing. That's what you get from Lumavate: tools that can help you market your business through an app, rather than tools that are centralized around app development in general.

No More Separate Development for Android and iPhone

Historically, one of the most frustrating parts of app development has been porting from one platform to another. If you use Android development tools, you need to port over to iPhone, and the opposite is also true. The best mobile app development tools can port out to multiple platforms, but you still need to troubleshoot each platform individually.

If you build a native app, you have to develop for both iPhone and Android. But if you develop a Progressive Web App, everything is accessible through a URL, viewed in a browser, and available to users on any type of platform. Lumavate can help an organization replace its platform-centric software, because every app built with Lumavate works on all platforms at once.

Your organization can take a look at an android app development tools list, or look for mobile application development tools for Android, but ultimately it's going to need to port a native to both Android and iOS if it's going to have enough reach. But while not everyone has Android or iOS, everyone does have a web browser, and everyone can view Progressive Web Apps.

Develop a cross-platform solution in a single system, rather than having to develop, test, and maintain multiple systems — all within the no code platform of Lumavate.

The Best Mobile App Development Framework

What about a mobile app development framework? Mobile app development frameworks can get a development team up and running right away, by providing some of the most basic features for an app pre-built. But even the best mobile app development framework will generally require coding knowledge to use, which can make it more challenging than a no code web app builder like Lumavate.

Today, cross platform app development frameworks have become popular, making it possible for developers to quickly port from platform to platform — though not without some work and testing. The best cross platform app development framework includes Apache Cordova, Flutter, and Angular. Many of the app development frameworks today are open source. Open source cross platform mobile development has made mobile development more accessible.

As more businesses are interested in developing apps (and more amateurs are getting into app development), no code platforms are becoming more popular. But many no code platforms either do require some code ("low code"), or they are platform-centric and only port out to Android or iOS. Lumavate is a no code platform that is entirely OS independent, and consequently can produce applications that have significant mobile reach.

There are great tools out there for cross platform, open source development frameworks — they just require some programming knowledge.

The Trend Toward Cross Platform App Development

So, what is cross platform app development, and why is it so important? There are many platforms out there, though the most popular are Android and iOS. Cross platform mobile app development tools are designed so they can port out to multiple platforms. But there are still issues with even the best cross platform app development.

Most cross platform mobile app development frameworks are still going to produce multiple, native apps which then need to be tested and maintained, whereas Progressive Web Apps are truly cross platform because they're entirely platform independent. Progressive Web Apps are viewed through browsers, not native applications on a phone, and are consequently able to be viewed on any device. '

This is important: today, there are so many different iterations of operating systems that it's very difficult to test for them all.

The best cross platform mobile development tools 2019 are going to be able to easily export to Android and iOS, but then they still need to be accepted into the app store and downloaded by the end user. This is why the best cross platform app development 2019 is actually a web-based app. A web-based app is accessible via URL, rather than having to be downloaded.

Mobile is Worth the Investment

Free cross platform app development can cost an organization more money than it saves. While there is free mobile app development software available, it often won't come with the features that a company really needs to make their app shine. When you find mobile app development tools free, they're generally for hobbyists, and they are usually more difficult to use.

If you don't have the time to waste trying to learn a complex system, or trying to teach your employees to code, you need a no code environment.

Mobile is an important part of today's customer experience, which means it's worth the investment. Mobile apps are expected to reach $188.9 billion in revenue by 2020 and 42% of online shoppers use an online shopping app. Organizations should treat app development as an investment, instead of looking for free mobile solutions. The ROI of an app is significant; apps pay for themselves over time.

Lumavate's pricing structure is incredibly competitive with other mobile app platforms, and it's drastically cheaper than developing in-house. As a Progressive Web App, it can cut down on total cost of ownership, as there's only a single web app to maintain, and there's no code that has to be learned. Rather than having to learn proprietary code, or complex systems, such as you would have to do in other apps, you can instead just maintain a single no code project. Create a free account on the Lumavate platform today.

The Trend Toward Open Source Development

Why is there such a significant trend towards open source development? It's largely the proliferation of tools. Consider the sheer number of mobile app development tools open source available. When developers develop, they're able to tap into this surplus of development tools to create their own app. But they still usually need to know how to code.

While Lumavate isn't an entirely open source mobile app builder, Lumavate borrows from the idea of open source and still offers the advantages of open source. When programming in the Lumavate system, you can use elements from the Lumavate Library to add to your own design, just like an open source mobile app builder. And just like an open source mobile app development software suite, you can also contribute new elements for others to use.

Lumavate has many advantages over other app building solutions. There's no need for separate Android and iPhone platforms because every app is delivered as a Progressive Web App. Maintenance is drastically reduced, and the no code system of Lumavate makes it possible to easily launch a marketing-focused app without having to learn any programming.

Lumavate is the only Progressive Web App development solution that requires no code, as well as the only mobile app development solution that's built expressly for marketers. With the use of Lumavate, your business can have a web app up and running on all platforms within a fast time frame, and your organization can start reaping the benefits of a cross-platform app right away.