History of smartphones
Before going into how to choose the right platforms or frameworks for smartphone application development, let’s review the important historical milestones of smartphones.
The history of smartphones began in 1992 when the IBM Simon was first introduced. As of 2024, smartphones have existed and developed for 32 years. Here are some important milestones in the history of smartphone development:
- 1992: IBM Simon introduced at the COMDEX Computer Trade Show in November 1992 and officially sold in 1994. This was the first mobile device to combine the functions of a phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).
- 2000: Ericsson R380, the first phone to be called a smartphone, running the EPOC operating system (later Symbian).
- 2007: Apple iPhone, first launched, marking a major turning point with its multi-touch interface and App Store.
- 2008: HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1), the first Android phone, opening the way for the strong development of the Android operating system.
- 2009: Samsung Galaxy I7500, the Samsung’s first Android smartphone, starting the Galaxy product line.
- 2010: Samsung Galaxy S, the Galaxy S product line became one of the most popular and successful smartphone lines.
- 2010: Windows Phone 7, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 with Metro interface and Live Tiles.
As of 2024, smartphones have had about 32-year development journey with many great advances in technology and design.
Popular mobile operating systems
It can be said that throughout the development of smartphones, we have seen the birth and decline of many different smart phones and mobile operating systems. Up to now iOS and Android are almost the 2 popular operating systems used in almost smart phones.
Below is a chart of the market share of mobile operating systems provided by Gartner. It can be seen that Android devices capture the majority of the market, followed by iOS, the rest is a very small part for others.
Why Android and iOS are so popular?
The reasons that we can think to explain for the popularity of Android and iOS are that both have created a very rich and diverse ecosystem of applications and games from entertainment to learning, health, etc finance. It is very easy for us to access these types of applications through the online app stores AppleStore and PlayStore, just like we go to the supermarket to buy daily necessities.
Creating such a diverse ecosystem has spurred growth in the developer community. Create a win-win between software developers, vendors and users. This helps in long-term and sustainable development.
While both have a diverse ecosystem and strong support from the community. Android is more extensible than iOS, allowing users to change the interface, install applications from sources outside the Google Play Store, and the special thing is that Android is open source, this allows many manufacturers to customize according to their own needs as well as develop new features. However, iOS has higher stability and stricter control over publishing an app on the store.
Android
Develop by Google, it is the most popular mobile operating system in the world with a wide range of device configurations and highly customizable features. Supports a wide range of applications from the Google Play Store and other app stores. Widely used on devices from many different manufacturers such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OnePlus and many others.
iOS
Develop by Apple, it is an exclusive operating system of Apple, running only on their devices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod. Known for its stability, high security and rich application ecosystem from the App Store. Deeply integrated with Apple services such as iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Pay.
Common applications on smart phones
On smartphones, there are many popular applications that are installed and used by users every day. Here are some common types of applications:
- Social media applications: Social networks that allow users to connect with friends, share statuses, photos and videos.
- Messaging and calling applications: Messaging and calling applications over the internet.
- Entertainment applications: Online movie and TV show viewing service.
- Shopping applications: Online shopping platforms that allow users to bid and buy goods.
- Banking and finance applications: Online payment and money transfer services.
- Health and fitness applications: Applications that track fitness activities such as running and cycling.
- Map and navigation applications: Provide guidelines, routines, places via Map and navigation applications.
- Smart Home: Control smart devices in the house such as lights, fans, temperature, and entertainment systems via voice.
- Remote unlocking: Allows users to unlock the door remotely via mobile phone, even when they are not at home.
So it can be said that with a phone in hand, we can almost access most services from entertainment, education, health, finance, game, IoT, … And the phone has become an indispensable item for daily activities.
How to build mobile apps
Building a mobile app is a complex process and involves many different steps, from ideation to implementation and maintenance. Here is a basic guide to the steps required to develop a mobile app:
Ideation and planning
Define the goal of the app: What problem will your app solve? Who is your target audience?
Market research: Look at similar apps, user needs, and market trends.
Develop a detailed plan: Include key features, user interface, and development roadmap.
UI/UX design
User interface (UI) design: Create wireframes and mockups.
User experience (UX) design: Make sure your app is easy to use and provides a good user experience.
Design Tools: Use tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, Figma to design UI/UX.
Platform and Technology
Development Platform:
Native: Swift or Objective-C for iOS, Kotlin or Java for Android.
Cross-platform: React Native, Flutter, Xamarin/.net MAUI, or Ionic.
Development Tools: Xcode for iOS, Android Studio for Android, or cross-platform IDEs like Visual Studio Code.
Development
Set up the development environment: Install the necessary development tools and environments.
Coding: Start writing code according to the plan and design.
Integrate external APIs and services: If your app needs to use external APIs or services, integrate them into the app.
Testing and Debugging: Use testing tools and techniques to ensure the app is working properly and is error-free.
Testing
Functional testing: Make sure all features work as intended.
Performance testing: Make sure the app runs smoothly and is responsive.
Security testing: Make sure the app is safe from security vulnerabilities.
User experience (UX) testing: Make sure the app is easy to use and user-friendly.
Deployment
Prepare for release: Make sure your app complies with app store (App Store and Google Play) guidelines.
Create a developer account: Sign up for a developer account on the Apple Developer Program and Google Play Console.
Publishing the app: Upload the app to the store, including descriptions, images, and demo videos.
Promoting the app: Use marketing strategies to introduce your app to users.
Maintenance and updates
Performance monitoring: Track your app’s performance and user feedback.
Update and Fix Bugs: Regularly update the app to fix bugs and improve performance.
Develop new features
Listen to user feedback and add new features based on demand.
How to choose correct technical approaches
One of the important steps after brainstorming, planning, and designing the interface is choosing a method to develop the application. Choosing a method requires taking into account the criteria.
When choosing a platform and technology for mobile application development, there are some important criteria to consider ensuring that you choose the tool that best suits your project’s goals and requirements. Here are the main criteria to consider:
1. The type and purpose of your future app:
Understanding what app’s features and purpose. A complex application with many features will require a lot of programming (UI/UX, specific hardware functionalities such as camera, GPS).
User base and market scope: Determine which platform your target audience primarily uses (iOS, Android, or both). Research the market share of each platform in the geographic area you are targeting. For example, Android is dominant in many developing countries, while iOS is more popular in developed countries.
2. Features and technical requirements
Performance and user experience (UX): If your app requires high performance and a customized user experience, native development (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) may be a better choice.
If your app needs deep access to hardware or operating system features for special features, native development is easier to implement.
3. Development time and cost
Development time: Cross-platform development (React Native, Flutter) can reduce development time by using the same source code for both platforms.
Cost: Considering the project budget, cross-platform development is often more cost-effective because it does not require two separate development teams for iOS and Android.
4. Maintainability and scalability
Maintenance: Assess how easy it is to maintain and update the app. Some platforms may have more robust documentation and a more robust development community.
Extensibility: Consider the extensibility of the chosen technology to ensure that it can meet the future needs of the application.
5. Development Team Skills and Experience
Existing Skills: Assess the skills and experience of the development team. If the team already has experience with a particular platform or technology, this may be an important factor in choosing.
Documentation and Support Community: Choose a technology that has good documentation and a strong support community so that it is easy to find solutions when problems arise.
Should have enough experience and expertise to work with particular frameworks.
Pay close attention to what programming skills and languages the development tools require
6. Integration with External Services
APIs and External Services: Make sure the platform and technology you choose can easily integrate with the external APIs and services your application needs.
Ecosystem: If you use Google or Apple services, native development can be advantageous due to better integration with each company’s ecosystem.
7. Security
Evaluate the security capabilities of the platform and technology. Some applications require a higher level of security, so choosing a platform with good support for security standards is important.
8. Popularity and future of the technology
Technology trends: Consider the trends and popularity of the technology. A popular and well-supported technology is likely to continue to grow and has a large support community.
Future of the technology: Evaluate whether the technology has the potential to grow in the future. Avoid choosing technologies that show signs of being forgotten or no longer supported.
Native mobile app development
iOS: Based on iOS frameworks, developed by Apple, provide closely communication with iOS platform APIs. Using Swift, Objective-C programing language with IDE is xCode for development.
Android: Based on Android SDK, developed by Google, provide closely communication with Android platform APIs. Using Kotlin, Java programing language with IDE is Android Studio for development.
| Benefits | Limitations |
| High performance | High cost: native app development requires two separate teams with different sets of skills, which adds to the time and cost of the development process. |
| The core programming language and APIs used to build native apps make them fast and responsive. | Big development team: managing large teams of multiple specialists can be challenging. The more people you have working on one project, the greater the effort required for communication and collaboration. |
| Intuitive user experience. Mobile engineers develop native apps using native SDKs, which makes the UI look consistent. | Risks of having different logic on Android and iOS apps. With native app development, the code written for one mobile platform cannot be tailored to another platform. For instance, Android and iOS apps might show different prices for the same item because of a mistake in the way the discount is calculated. |
| The interfaces of native apps are designed to work well with a specific platform, which makes them feel like an integrated part of the device and provides a more intuitive user experience. | More errors in code can leave more room for bugs. |
| Access to the full feature set of a particular device. Native apps built for a particular operating system have direct access to the device’s hardware, such as camera, microphone, and GPS location support. |
Cross-platform app development
React Native: Based on JavaScript, developed by Facebook, allows the same source code to be used for both iOS and Android.
Flutter: Based on Dart, developed by Google, allows the creation of applications with near-native performance and highly customizable interfaces.
Xamarin/ .net MAUI: Developed by Microsoft, uses C# and allows the sharing of source code between iOS, Android and Windows.
| Benefits | Limitations |
| Shareable code. Developers create a single codebase without the need to write new code for each OS. | Performance issues. Some developers argue that the performance of multi-platform applications is low compared to native apps. |
| Faster development. Developers don’t need to write or test as much code, which can help you accelerate the development process. | Difficult to access native features of mobile devices. Building a cross-platform app that needs to access platform-specific APIs requires more effort. |
| Cost-effectiveness. The cross-platform solution can be a good option to reduce development costs. | Limited UI consistency. With cross-platform development frameworks that allow you to share the UI, applications may look and feel less native. |
| Shared logic. Because this approach involves using a single codebase, you can be sure that you have the same application logic on different platforms. |
Hybrid app development
Ionic: Uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript, combined with Angular, React or Vue to develop cross-platform applications.
By considering these criteria, you will be able to choose the mobile app development platform and technology that best suits your project.
| Benefits | Limitations |
| Reusable code: One of the main benefits of hybrid apps is the ability to code once and deploy across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, web). | Slower performance: Because hybrid apps often have to run through an intermediate layer to interact with device-specific features, they can often have lower performance than native apps that are better optimized for each separate platform. |
| Rapid time to market: Because hybrid applications allow developers to leverage existing web technologies (such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript), they can therefore be developed faster than native applications | Inconsistent, non-customizable UX: The use of web technologies for hybrid app development can lead to an inconsistent user experience across different platforms. |
| Broad audience reaches: Hybrid apps can reach a wider audience because they can be deployed on a variety of platforms with little adjustment. | Restricted hardware access: Hybrid apps often don’t have deep access to the device’s hardware features like native apps. |
| Greater cost efficiencies: maintaining a single source code simplifies updates and minimizes the associated maintenance costs. | Increased security configurations: Because hybrid applications often have to operate on multiple platforms and use web technologies, this may require higher security configurations to ensure the safety of data and applications. |
| Easy Maintenance: Updates and bug fixes can be applied uniformly across all versions of the app, ensuring consistency and reducing work for developers. | Always One Step Behind: Despite the rapid development, hybrid applications often have to wait for new technologies and features of the operating system platform before they can be deployed. |
Summary
Choosing between Native, Cross-platform, or Hybrid development is an important step in the process of building a mobile application. This decision greatly affects the performance, cost, development time, and user experience of the application. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, what we need to do is to make a detailed analysis based on the main criteria from determining the type of application, user base, cost, integration, scalability, performance, security as well as the capacity of the development team. In this article, we have gone through the history of smartphones, the operating systems running on smartphones, the things to keep in mind when developing mobile applications and finally choosing a reasonable technical approach. Hopefully, the article will add more perspectives to help us make appropriate decisions before starting to develop applications on smartphone platforms.
FUTURE OF MOBILE DEVELOPMENT?
