What does it take to make a cross platform (macOS, Linux, Windows, Android and iOS) application in 2018? Insanity, mostly. It’s a little bit nuts.

Nuts

Read on for what I found while researching options for the upcoming Buckets mobile apps. Keep in mind that I have specific requirements that might not be your requirements.

tl;dr

My desktop app is currently in JavaScript. If I have to move away from JavaScript, I’d rather move up the portability continuum, not down. C is one of the most portable languages there is. But JavaScript is a safe bet—it isn’t going anywhere. So I’m going to try a combination of C (via Nim) and JavaScript.

Here are the top contenders ordered by my preference (though there are many, many more).

Framework Desktop Mobile Language Comment
Wiish ⭐ ⭐ Nim + JS I might spend more time working on Wiish than on Buckets if I go this route. But it’s fast and has great potential. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll also still have a portable C library.
ReactNative - ⭐ JS I spent too much time digging into native Android/iOS (getting the right version of SQLite). I feel like the promise of easy will never actually be easy with this. If I have to spend a lot of time digging down into the native layer, I might as well just do a native app. I’m also doubtful about FB continuing to support it.
Electron ⭐ - JS For desktop, this works fine.
JUCE ⭐ ⭐ C++ If Wiish doesn’t work out, this is another favorite option, though the watermark in the free version is annoying. The lack of accessibility is also a problem.
Flutter - ⭐ Dart I have high hopes for Flutter. Once it supports C libs through FFI, I’ll consider it.
OpenFL ⭐ ⭐ Haxe This is great for games, but not so much for text-heavy productivity apps.
webview ⭐ - C This could one day be a great alternative to Electron. It’s just missing some of the auxiliary features that make Electron shine.
Android native - Android only Java Maximum flexibility on the platform. But Java…
iOS native - iOS only Swift/ObjC Maximum flexibility on the platform. Good C integration. Might not be a bad idea.
QT ⭐ ⭐ C, QML Licensing is too onerous for a single dev. Not even a real option.

And here’s some subjective scoring:

  • Accessibility - For those with disabilities
  • Sunk Cost - If I choose this option, how much will I regret it if the project is abandoned or I otherwise want to use something else? Will I have to start over or will I get to use/port parts of what I’ve done?
  • C Interop - How well does it integrate with C libraries (e.g. SQLite).
  • JS Code Reuse - How much of my existing JS code do I get to reuse?
  • Shared Code - How much of the code gets shared between platforms?
Framework Accessibility Sunk Cost C Interop JS Code Reuse Shared Code
Wiish ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
ReactNative ⭐ ⭐ meh ⭐ ⭐
Electron ⭐ ⭐ meh ⭐ ⭐
JUCE ❌ meh ⭐ ❌ ⭐
Flutter ⭐ ❌ ❓ ❌ ⭐
OpenFL ❓ meh ⭐ ❌ ⭐
webview ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Android native ⭐ meh meh ❌ ❌
iOS native ⭐ meh ⭐ ❌ ❌

Detailed Blabbering

Wiish

Wiish is a Nim library that can make desktop or mobile apps. The UI layer is swappable, so you can use webviews (and JavaScript) or SDL2/OpenGL if that’s more your thing.

Pros:

  • Can be speedy
  • Very lightweight
  • JavaScript reuse
  • Generates C
  • Nim is pleasant to use

Cons:

  • Maintained by me :)
  • Nim is pre v1
  • A bit buggy at this point

ReactNative

ReactNative lets you use JavaScript to build native interfaces. It provides access to native APIs.

Pros:

  • Speedy
  • Native widgets
  • JavaScript code reuse

Cons:

  • Integrating with C libs is non-trivial
  • Bug fixes not super speedy
  • I don’t trust Facebook’s longevity

Electron

Electron has been a game-changer for desktop app development. You can write your application in JavaScript (including the never-ending JavaScript ecosystem):

Pros:

  • Easy to get started quickly
  • Built-in automatic updates
  • Heavy code reuse (JavaScript, in this case)

Cons:

  • Massive application file size
  • Heavy memory consumption
  • Lackluster speed in some cases

JUCE

JUCE includes a full IDE for making applications in C/C++. It has primarily been used for audio applications and is optimized for that case, but could be used for other types of application.

Pros:

  • Great UI builder
  • Very cross platform
  • Speedy
  • Some hot-reload capabilities for UI development

Cons:

  • No accessibility
  • You write in C++
  • Licensing/cost

Flutter

Flutter is a Google project that has its own versions of native widgets. You use the Dart language.

Pros:

  • Speedy
  • Looks pleasant to use
  • Hot code reload

Cons:

  • Dart language. If I choose Dart, it won’t be easy to move to something else later.
  • Google projects have short lives
  • Lacks good C interop (but it’s coming!)

OpenFL

OpenFL is an open implementation of Flash and lets you write apps using the Haxe language (which compiles to C).

Pros:

  • Very cross platform
  • Haxe is a fun language
  • Good C interoperability

Cons:

  • Not great for text-heavy applications
  • Some quirks involved in Flash API

webview

webview is a C library that provides you a window with a browser in it. There are various language bindings if you don’t want to write C.

Pros:

  • Very lightweight
  • JavaScript reuse
  • Speedy

Cons:

  • Browser differences
  • Not feature complete yet

Android native

Pros:

  • Full, unlayered access to APIs
  • Good UI builder

Cons:

  • Java
  • Little to no code reuse for iOS app

iOS native

Pros:

  • Full, unlayered access to APIs
  • C interoperability is nice
  • Great UI builder

Cons:

  • Little to no code reuse for Android app

Conclusion

And here’s a little tease to end with :)

iPhone showing Buckets launching
Android with Buckets icon

Comment below if you have had good success with other options for mobile/desktop app development.

Happy budgeting!

— Matt