In the last article we talked about the pros and virtues of cross platform tools. Now it’s time to take a step back and see things through the developers’ needs and choices.
As CPT’s are mainstreamed, what influences decision making when choosing the right tool and what reasons do developers give for not using or even dropping a tool?
Besides primary selection criteria, there are other requirements devs expect of CPT’s.
We’re not going to enter the web vs. native debate but one of the major conceptions is that CPT’s are a good step behind native. Native applications are expected to be dominant on the market for at least the next couple of years and CPT devs should focus towards those areas if they are to survive and thrive in the digital struggle.
In response to this, cross-platform vendors have been hard at work in demonstrating that CPT’s will complement native SDK’s by adding hundreds of new APIs.
Another key inflexion point is that in order for CPT vendors to become successful they need to target the entire application lifecycle (develop, integrate, publish, deploy and manage) and start targeting enterprise rather than just consumer apps. By providing as much as possible, (e.g. from cloud hosting, to security policies and push messaging) CPT vendors will expand to new frontiers of service and affirm higher values of fidelity and maturity.
Just as smartphones were once geek and business-only features, cross platform tools will soon become the standard norm for propelling the development process and integration after overcoming the natural skepticism that comes with what many may call a ,,I’m not sure” product.
One crucial proof of reliance CPT vendors will have to give to ease public reluctance is to solve the fragmentation problem and as Christopher Kassulke, CEO of Handy Games notes, “Fragmentation is now a 4D matrix”and developers now have to deal with fragmentation across software platforms, billing platforms (and pricing models), advertising platforms and social platforms.
The major twist in this story is developer volatility (irrespective of cross platform tools merits or flaws). Besides the major reasons outlined above, perceptions are slowly surpassing the nascent phase and as such, some time will pass before canon CPT’s will be consolidated.
Despite all things, cross platform tools have passed their trial by fire and are forecasted to become more than business as usual and will end up being key strategic differentiators in developing and creating applications.
We all know that the life of a developer is an ,,animated” one and in no way an easy tussle when it comes to creating and especially keeping up with various updates in OS.
To this end, cross platform tools will deliver an essential experince and that is finding your way at Mach 3.
Stay tuned, share a like and our newsletter is brewing coffee for you as we speak.
