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Aniruddh Agarwal for Extern Labs Inc.

Posted on • Originally published at externlabs.com

Top 14 Mobile App Development Tools For Building Apps

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It has been estimated that by the end of the year 2023, the mobile application market will generate revenue of over $935 billion from in-app advertising and paid downloads. Therefore, organizations are heading towards the path of building mobile apps to grow their business.
However, having an idea for building a mobile application or software development is not enough. You also have to figure out the mobile app development tools for building a top-notch app.

So, before you invest in any application development tools, you should have knowledge about them.
And so to help you, we are writing this blog today to cover every type of app development tool with a detailed evaluation.

Let’s have a look at the top 14 mobile app development tools for building apps.

Mobile Application And Mobile App Development Tools
Mobile applications are software applications that are built to work on wireless and small devices, and so are termed mobile applications.
These applications generally work on mobile phones and tablets, not on desktops. Although mobile apps can be native, hybrid, and HTML5.
Some of the popular mobile applications are- Google Maps, Uber, Zomato, and WhatsApp.

The tools or solutions that are required to build, test, launch, and update any mobile application are known as application development tools. These tools help programmers in developing flexible and highly ascendable apps by offering useful resources.
Some of the most commonly used mobile application development tools are- Flutter, React Native, Xcode, and Android Studio.

Top 14 Mobile App Development Tools

It is becoming more and more habitual for brands these days to develop mobile applications for their users. However, developing mobile apps is not as easy as it seems.
Mobile applications are built with the help of application development tools. The software development tools are utilized during development, deployment, association, testing, and more.
And so there is an abundance of mobile app development tools to develop high-quality, feature-loaded applications.
Let’s have a look at our software development guide to acquire knowledge about the development tool for building mobile applications.

These are the best mobile app development tools:

  • IntelliJ IDEA
  • Android Studio
  • Xcode
  • AppCode
  • React Native
  • Flutter
  • Ionic
  • Xamarin
  • Unity
  • OutSystems
  • Appian
  • Alpha Anywhere
  • AppSheet
  • BuildFire

Native Mobile App Development Tools
The Native mobile app development tools are used when someone wants to build an app that is planned to work on only one platform. It means Native app development tools will perform only for the Android platform or iOS platform.

Native App Development Tools For Android

Android Studio
Android Studio is very useful to develop android apps. It is fast, and it also offers tools to build apps for all types of Android mobile phones. This will make sure that you build a dynamic and efficient application to work on.
It makes use of a highly consolidated Gradle build system, which escalates the experience of an Android app developer. It also provides a graphical user interface.

IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA is another application development tool that aims to enhance the efficiency of app developers. Generally, it is for the JVM language and assists developers in code completion, static code administration, and self-managing of all the tasks. Plus, it is a multi-platform IDE, so it becomes easy to develop an app on different platforms like Windows and macOS.

Native App Development Tools For iOS

Xcode
One can create applications for several OS platforms through Xcode, like iOS, macOS, and iPadOS. If you fancy developing an iOS app, then it could be a perfect choice for you. You can easily develop and publish the app on the iOS app store.
Xcode also comes with a debugging tool that can resolve problems faster. It includes all the essential things that are required to create an app, along with a text editor, a compiler, and a build system. The very famous Uber app was built using the Xcode tool.

AppCode
AppCode is one more IDE that is utilized for various computer languages, such as Swift, Objective-C, C, and C++.
AppCode is developed on the IntelliJ IDEA platform and can run by installing plug-ins. In addition to this, it automates some routine tasks and error fixing. This way, it will increase the productivity to develop native iOS apps.

Cross-Platform App Development Tools
Cross-platform tools are also considered hybrid app development tools. These tools are destined to work on various platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows. This is one of the reasons why people are accustomed to using cross-platform tools to build mobile applications.

React Native
Today, React Native is the best choice to develop mobile apps. The main reason behind this is that it supports several languages, like Java, Swift, and C++. although, React Native uses 80 percent of a single code base.
And up till now, this is the maximum sharing percentage that any programming tool can offer besides React Native. In addition to this, it offers Over The Air (OTA) updates to make things easy for the programmers to share the updated versions. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are some of the popular apps that are built through React Native.

Flutter
Flutter is also a mobile application development tool that will allow you to design the same UI for multi-platforms. Plus it allows the developers to use its suggestive and versatile UI toolkit.
Alternative to sharing a code-base, one can develop applications using dart languages that have a similar performance as the native apps.
Moreover, you will get affluent UPIs and will let your apps use data from other applications on any device.

Ionic
Ionic is an open-source tool that you can use for free to develop a mobile application. It has an extensive library of mobile-utilized elements of UI. This way, it becomes convenient for you to get a responsive and better UI than the native apps.
Ionic is considered a perfect tool for developing web, iOS, and Android apps.
Mcdonald's and MarketWatch are some popular apps that use the Ionic platform.

Xamarin
Xamarin is a product of Microsoft and is one of the most popular tools at present. It is also an open-source mobile app development tool or platform that builds top-notch Windows, iOS, and Android with. NET.

Xamarin includes various tools, computer languages, and libraries to make things simple for you. You can also make use of the pre-existing data access and business logic layers on various platforms.
The Alaska Airlines and The World Bank applications are built on the Xamarin platform.

Unity
Unity is an amazing tool to develop gaming applications because it offers premium quality graphics to provide a rich user experience to the end-users. It comes with a visual and node-based graph that a non-developer can also design the final logic. Nonetheless, it can be stationed on around 17 different platforms. With Unity, you will get extensive benefits and easy to access push notifications.
This is the reason, the Unity tool is the first choice of programmers to develop 2D/3D games.

Low-code Mobile App Development Tools
By the year 2021, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of low-code mobile development tools. And the reason behind this increased adoption is that they are easy to use, proficient, efficient, and highly responsive while creating an application.

OutSystems
OutSystems is a rapid mobile app development tool that accelerates the delivery of mobile apps. This platform has several tools to create an app and also employs mobile and web applications.
Some of the prominent companies like Warner Bros and Hewlett Packard (HP) use OutSystems to design applications because it allows fast and continuous development and delivery of the apps.

Appian
Appian is the blend of an intelligent automation platform and a low-code platform. Through this, it lowers the complex challenges and makes the application development faster. With this, you can build highly functional mobile apps to improve the competence of your business. When the design part is complete, you can station the enterprise apps across all mobile devices with the help of Appian.

Alpha Anywhere
Alpha Anywhere is a link-up development of mobile and web applications, which comes with various elements. With these features, you can develop mobile apps in less time as it offers TransForm’s in-built programming language.
No-Code Mobile App Development Tools
For all the non-programmers who have no-coding experience, there are some tools that don't require coding.

AppSheet
AppSheet offers users a no-code tool through data sources like Google Drive, a Cloud-based spreadsheet, and database platforms. This platform is used to manage complex challenges like managing projects, field inspection, and personalized reporting.
With this tool, you can easily design apps without any prior experience in coding.

BuildFire
Build fire is an in-built and simple app builder that requires no coding to build an app. It is the best DIY tool for app development, especially for non-programmers. The users can effortlessly build a customized app without investing much time.

Final Thoughts!
Every single day, new mobile application development tools are launched in the software industry. And all of them come with unique features and their pros and cons.

However, it has always been suggested to build and run your mobile application using one of the best mobile application development tools.
I Hope our listed tools will assist you in making a knowledgeable decision.
Moreover, if you want any assistance from professional developers to build a distinctive high-quality app, then get in touch with our team of skilled developers.

Being a leading mobile app development company, we have good experience in developing mobile applications for our clients. We will assist you in finding top-in-class solutions for your business needs.

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