Most Popular Mobile Application Tools and Technologies

The mobile app industry is an exciting area to keep an eye on. It has grown immensely over the last decade and it is likely to do so in the future as well, at an even faster rate, due to some of the latest mobile app development tools and technologies making their foray into the industry today.

The future of mobile app development will see more developers building specialized tools for other budding developers. The market of mobile app development tools is already showing signs of increased growth. Powerful tools, especially cross-platform tools that make it easier for developers to build mobile apps, are well on the rise. There are third-party tools for almost every step of a mobile developer's workflow, from cloud servers to app analytics. In this article, we will look at some of the more popular tools available at a developers disposal today.

Popular Mobile Application Tools and Technologies

The future of mobile app development will focus on shortening the life cycles of production. This goes hand in hand with the rise of mobile app development technologies that are meant to reduce the tedious work actually performed by mobile developers today. Here we have listed some of the popular tools and technologies which are used for mobile app development today:

Mobile App Development Frameworks

• CSS Frameworks

  These are software frameworks which use the CSS language that are meant for easier and more standard-compliant web design. Two notably used CSS frameworks include Foundation and Bootstrap.

  

• JS Frameworks

  This is a web application framework written in JavaScript and it differs quite a bit from the usual JavaScript library. JS Frameworks are usually based on the MVC architecture as they are also designed to separate the different aspects of a web application in order to improve the quality of the code and to make the development easier.

  

• DOM Framework

  This is a cross-platform and language-independent convention to interact with objects in HTML, XHTML, and XML documents. These are useful when there are a lot of DOM elements used and for network communication and animations.

  

• Android SDK

  

  The Android software development kit includes a comprehensive set of development tools which include a debugger, libraries, a handset emulator, documentation, sample code, and tutorials, amongst others.

• OpenGL ES

  

  OpenGL for embedded systems is a subset of the OpenGL computer graphics rendering API for rendering 2D and 3D computer graphics. It is designed for embedded systems like smartphones, tablets, video game consoles, etc.

• Appcelerator Titanium

  

  This is an open-source framework that allows the creation of mobile apps on platforms including iOS, Android, and Windows phone from a single JavaScript codebase.

• Apache Cordova

  

  Formerly known as PhoneGap, this is a mobile app development framework which enables programmers to build apps for mobile devices using CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript instead of relying on platform-specific APIs like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone.

• Xamarin

  

  This is a mobile app development framework which can be used by developers to write native Android, iOS, and Windows apps with native user interfaces and share code across multiple platforms.

• ASP.NET

  

  This is an open-source server-side web application framework designed for web development so as to produce dynamic web pages. Developed by Windows, it allows programmers to build dynamic web sites, web applications, and web services.

Mobile Application Development Tools

• Eclipse

  

  This is an integrated development environment which contains a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for customizing the environment. Eclipse is mainly written in Java and is used to develop Java-based applications.

• JSON

  

  This is an open-standard format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute-value pairs. It is the most commonly used data format for asynchronous browser/server communication.

• XCODE

  

  This is an integrated development environment containing a suite of software development tools developed by Apple for creating software for OS X, iOS, WatchOS and tvOS.

• Visual Studio

  

  This is an IDE from Microsoft which is used to develop computer programs for Microsoft Windows, as well as web sites, web applications, and web services. It can produce both native code as well as managed code.

  
  

Programming Languages

• Objective C

  

  This is a general purpose, object oriented programming language. It was the main programming language used by Apple for the OS X and iOS operating systems, and their respective APIs prior to the introduction of Swift.

• Swift

  

  This is a general purpose, multi paradigm, compiled programming language created for iOS, OS X, watchOS, tvOS and Linux developed by Apple. Swift is intended to be more resilient to erroneous code as compared to Objective C and is already seeing widespread adoption.

• Java

  

  This is a general purpose computer programming language that is concurrent, class-based, object oriented, and specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. Java is the backbone of Android development, the world's most popular OS.

• C

  

  This is a general purpose programming language which has imperative, object-oriented and generic programming features, while also provides facilities for low-level memory manipulation.

• HTML5

  

  This is a markup language used for structuring and presenting the content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and current version of the HTML standard.

• Python

  

  This is a widely used high-level, general purpose, interpreted, and dynamic programming language. It supports multiple programming paradigms, including object-oriented, imperative and functional programming or procedural styles.

• C#

  

  This is a multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented and component-oriented programming disciplines.

• XAML

  

  Extensible Application Markup Language is a declarative XML-based language developed by Microsoft that is used for initializing structured values and objects.

• JavaScript

  

  This is a high-level, dynamic, untyped, and interpreted programming language. Majority of the websites use this as it is supported by all modern web browsers without plug-ins.

  
  

Mobile Databases

• SQL Server Compact

  

  This is a compact relational database developed by Microsoft for applications that run on mobile devices and desktops. It targets occasionally connected applications and apps with an embedded database.

• SQLite

  

  This is a relational database management system contained in a C programming library. In contrast to many other database management systems, SQLite is not a client-server database engine.

• MS SQL Server

  

  This is a relational database management system which is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications.

  
  

Mobile App Testing Tools

• Ubertesters

  

  This is a comprehensive testing solution that offers a wide range of tools for distributing new builds and reporting bugs. You can even enable and disable specific builds for testing.

• HockeyApp

  

  This tool allows developers to distribute beta versions of iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Mac OS applications to people willing to try out the application.

• TestFairy

  

  This is a testing tool which offers some great features for app developers which includes client side video recording for the exact test including CPU, memory, GPS, network monitoring, logs, crash reports, etc.

• TestFlight

  

  This is a great tool for iOS developers and can be used to easily invite users to test your apps before release.

• Google Play Native App Beta Testing

  

  This is the tool provided by Google to the Android developer which is available along with the Google developer console.

  
  
  

Advantages of Outsourcing Mobile App Development

There are many advantages of outsourcing mobile app development, especially when you do not have access to the necessary resources, nor the expertise to develop a high-quality app. Some of the advantages include -

• By outsourcing mobile app development you can get the apps developed for a wide range of platforms such as iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows, etc.
• The apps can be developed by professionals, who have the relevant experience in different fields such as gaming, business, entertainment, etc.
• The cost of outsourcing app development is far lesser than developing mobile apps in-house
• Outsourcing helps developing enterprise mobility solutions that increase productivity and improve business processes
• Mobile app development companies can develop customized mobile apps and cater to every need of yours

Leverage the Best Tools & Technologies by Choosing Flatworld Solutions

At Flatworld Solutions, we develop mobile apps with high-quality user interface and superlative user experience. Our team of highly qualified mobile app developers has enough experience to develop apps on different platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, etc. We have been providing mobile app development services for over a decade now to clients around the globe at very cost-effective prices.

If you wish to leverage the latest tools and mobile application technologies and develop high-quality apps, then feel free to get in touch with us and we will get back to you within 24 hours.