The AndPlus Software Development Blog

“We need to build a mobile app!”

“Sure, boss. What exactly should this mobile app do?”

“Doesn’t matter! All our competitors have mobile apps, so we need one too!”

This is exactly the wrong way to launch a mobile app project.

Yes, you probably do need a mobile app because an increasing number of people do a majority of their computer activities on mobile devices. And yes, most or all your competitors have mobile apps available on app stores. These are necessary but not sufficient conditions for building a mobile app.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a good, cross-platform mobile application. It can be built in a few weeks, however, if you have the right tools and experience. When you need a quality, high performance app that works seamlessly on Android, Windows and iOS, Xamarin is a good option to start with. As a fairly young tool, Xamarin uses .NET/C#, native libraries and is based on the Microsoft technology stack. The existing community of more than 1.4 million developers (and growing dramatically!) makes it a safe bet that it’s not going away anytime soon. Quality output begins with quality input, however, which means following the right steps is essential for a successful Xamarin project.