Cross-platform mobile development trends of 2020 – 2024
Mobile development went through multiple transformations since the inception of the iPhone in 2007.
And while for many years, cross-platform mobile development frameworks were not up to snuff with native mobile development, it’s safe to say things have changed in recent years and interest in building high quality applications with a techs like Flutter or React native is at an all time high.
Let’s explore recent trends in the space.
Cross-platform apps development has made a comeback
While on the low at the beginning of the decade, cross-platform apps development interest is high once again thanks to an uncertain economic climate and much improved outcomes for cross-platform apps.
Beyond savings, tech companies are also looking for ways to keep their product behaving the same across all different platforms instead of implementing the same business logic and user interface multiple times.
As we’ll see below, Flutter is now dominating the mobile side of the market while JS/React has become undethronable for web first technologies.
source: google trends
Flutter is eating the mobile market
source: statista
According to Statista, over one third of mobile developers use cross-platform technologies or frameworks while the rest build natively.
Not only that but Flutter has taken the market by storm, representing the majority of cross-platform mobile development, while React Native, Cordova, Ionic, Xamarin and other have all decreased in popularity.
And it’s no surprise why. While native Android and iOS apps are still the leading technologies to build the best possible mobile apps, Flutter comes close second with a native feel other frameworks are lacking, as well as mobile, desktop (Mac/Windows/Linux) and web support.
It’s safe to say that Flutter will continue to be the leading cross-platform framework in the coming years.
Cross-platform pays less for developers
While jobs are an all time high for Flutter and other cross-platform technologies, salaries are yet to follow. Mobile Developers were earning $163,000 on average in the US in 2023. Dart/Flutter developers on the other hand seem to make closer to $110,000 (ranging from $70,000 to $130,000) according to recent data from DevJobsScanner.
There are two major causes for this salary trend
- Companies who go cross-platform tend to do it primarily for cost saving reasons or come from markets where building a larger engineering team is cost prohibitive, therefore leaning on technologies like Flutter.
- Many Flutter talents tend to come from outside of the US. The remote work culture has allowed US companies to tap into a larger pool of engineers which is driving Flutter salaries down.
In 2024, it is best to combine cross-platform development skills with more specialized expertise in order to differentiate yourself. Flutter engineers who also know Swift or Kotlin tend to be better positioned to land higher paying jobs in the field.
