{"id":395,"date":"2014-06-10T00:06:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T00:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkapps.wpengine.com\/?p=395"},"modified":"2015-01-20T17:15:19","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T01:15:19","slug":"cross-platform-or-native","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/discovery\/cross-platform-or-native\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI want to fail on both iOS and Android\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I hear when a scrappy first-time appreneur insists on launching a cross-platform app<\/h2>\n

I talk to hundreds of mobile enthusiasts every year. One specific variety is the first time entrepreneur with an interesting app idea looking for help to create his mobile app. He is sure of impending success and wants to launch for both iOS and Android users from day 1. Since both iOS and Android user community is huge, he doesn\u2019t want to miss out either one.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t a developer (mobile or otherwise), nor has he created a successful app with external help before. However, in his research he has read about the magic<\/em> of cross-platform frameworks such as Phonegap, Sencha, etc. He is enamored of the simplicity of the build-once-launch-everywhere approach suggested by these platforms. If only he could find somebody to build his sure-fire idea into a mobile app using, say, Phonegap, he would launch on both Android and iOS App Stores in one go. And, hopefully, conquer both audiences.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong with this approach?<\/p>\n

In most cases, it is a recipe for failure. Cross-platform frameworks have their place, but they are not very suitable for launching a first app across multiple platforms by a scrappy entrepreneur. The fundamental reasons are two-fold:<\/p>\n