Comparing Cross-platform Development Approaches for Mobile Applications

While smartphones are rapidly gaining popularity, they do not (yet) rely on a standardized platform. At least five operating systems are considered important. Developing mobile applications (apps) is thus challenging. Since native development for several platforms requires extreme effort, we designed criteria to assess crossplatform development approaches. We applied our criteria to Web apps, to apps developed with PhoneGap and Titanium Mobile, and – for comparison – to natively developed apps. Particularly the two frameworks are interesting from a Web developer’s perspective since they bridge the gap between Web development and mobile information systems. Our findings are presented as reference tables. Furthermore, we generalize our results. Our criteria have proven to be viable for follow-up evaluations. With regard to the approaches, we specifically found PhoneGap viable if very close resemblance of a native look & feel can be neglected.