There are around 18,494 startups in the UK. The UK’s startup system is ranked #2 worldwide, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025. Naturally, this environment of thriving innovation requires cost-effective, fast, and scalable solutions. This is where cross-platform app development comes in.
There are many startups in the UK that come up with good app ideas. But how quickly and realistically those ideas can be turned into high-performing apps tends to remain a challenge.
What Is Cross-Platform App Development?
In short, in cross-platform app development, a single codebase is used to build applications that run across multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, and Linux. This applies to all apps, whether mobile, desktop, or web.
Developers write the core logic once, then adapt it to different operating systems using specialised frameworks.
What does that mean?
It means startups avoid building separate apps for each platform, which saves time and effort. With this in mind, a UK startup building a customer-facing app can reach wider audiences without duplicating work, which aligns well with how the UK is actively investing in scalable digital infrastructure.
What is the difference between cross-platform and native app development?
Native app development requires separate codebases for each platform, while cross-platform development relies on one shared codebase.
The reason why this matters is cost and speed. Native apps use platform-specific languages, that is to say, Swift for iOS or Kotlin for Android, which increases development effort.
Cross-platform apps, although they may rely on abstraction layers, allow teams to share most of the logic.
To put it another way, startups would essentially be trading a small amount of platform control for faster delivery and simpler maintenance.
The State of Startups in the UK
Seeing as the UK startup ecosystem is maturing rapidly, technology choices now have real commercial consequences.
According to research by The House of Commons Library, over 90 percent of UK startups operate with fewer than ten employees. This obviously puts pressure on budgets and delivery speed.
What is important is to recognise that the government has increased funding for digital innovation, particularly in AI, fintech, and health tech. Because of this, startups are expected to move fast while remaining compliant and scalable, not to mention efficient with limited technical resources.
What Are the Advantages of Cross-Platform App Development?
The value of cross-platform development is often misunderstood as purely a cost-saving tactic.
The best part is that its real advantage lies in flexibility. In fact, a report shows that teams using shared codebases reduce development time by up to 30 per cent.
Beyond speed, startups gain consistency across platforms without multiplying effort. All things considered, cross-platform development services are vital for UK startups that are operating in an environment where innovation funding exists, but efficiency still determines survival.
1. One codebase for multiple platforms
If you notice how early-stage teams operate, maintaining multiple codebases becomes unsustainable quickly.
A shared codebase allows developers to implement features once and deploy them everywhere, despite this requiring careful architectural planning.
This means fewer inconsistencies across platforms, equally important for user trust.
Suppose a startup needs to fix a security issue quickly; one fix applies everywhere.
This approach fits well with how UK startups aim to stay lean while benefiting from national support for digital transformation.
2. Faster launch for new startup ideas
It has been found that speed often determines whether a startup survives its first year.
Cross-platform development shortens build cycles because teams are not repeating the same work.
You could just focus on product logic and user feedback instead of rewriting code.
Besides speed, faster launches allow founders to test ideas earlier. This means decisions are based on real user behaviour rather than assumptions, which is critical in competitive UK startup markets.
3. Lower development and long-term maintenance costs
During cross-platform development, you need to consider the long-term maintenance. Maintaining a single codebase reduces bug-fixing overhead, in particular when apps evolve.
Although it may be true that the initial setup requires planning, long-term costs drop significantly.
App owners should know that updates and fixes do not require full-time teams to work on them. Your budget can be routed to your core business needs, rather than app maintenance.
4. Easier updates and feature changes
If you run an app, changes never stop. Bug fixes, small improvements, policy updates, and new features are constant.
With cross-platform development, changes are made in one place and then applied across platforms.
This means when you update a payment flow or fix a login issue, you do not need separate teams repeating the same task. This reduces delays over time and lowers the chance of inconsistent app behaviour, and helps your product stay stable as it grows.
5. Smaller teams can manage the product
Early-stage startups rarely have large engineering teams.
Cross-platform development allows a smaller group of developers to handle the full app instead of splitting work between Android and iOS specialists.
One team manages features, fixes issues, and supports releases across platforms. This keeps communication simple and avoids gaps where one version lags behind another.
For founders, this means fewer coordination problems and clearer visibility into what is being built and maintained.
6. Better fit for MVPs and early validation
When you are testing out an app idea, the goal is learning. You can’t expect perfection.
Cross-platform development supports this level of learning by letting you launch a usable app across platforms.
And, the upfront investment is affordable. You can collect feedback, observe how users behave, and adjust features quickly.
In case a feature does not work, changes are easier to make without rebuilding everything. This approach helps startups validate ideas early and avoid spending months developing features users do not actually want.
Now, let us look at the common mistakes people make when building cross-platform apps, and how to avoid them early on.
Mistakes to Avoid During Cross-Platform App Development
The following mistakes appear repeatedly across projects and slow progress unnecessarily.
1. Ignoring performance testing across real devices
Many issues only appear on physical devices in the real world and not on simulators during the testing phase. Older phones may struggle with animations, memory usage, or background tasks.
If performance testing is skipped, users may experience slow screens, unresponsive buttons, or frequent crashes. This damages trust quickly.
2. Choosing a framework too early
Some frameworks handle complex animations well, while others focus on business logic and speed.
If you pick a tool without understanding your app’s needs, you may face limitations during scaling or feature expansion.
3. Overloading the app with platform-specific features
Cross-platform apps work best when shared logic stays consistent. Adding too many platform-specific features increases complexity and weakens this advantage.
The app then becomes harder to manage and loses the simplicity that cross-platform development offers.
4. Underestimating long-term maintenance needs
Cross-platform development does not eliminate maintenance. Framework updates, operating system changes, and third-party libraries still require attention.
If maintenance is ignored, apps may break after system updates or develop security issues.
5. Assuming one design works equally well everywhere
App users expect the apps they use to behave in familiar ways. Navigation patterns differ between platforms, and ignoring this tends to confuse users.
Buttons placed awkwardly or gestures behaving unexpectedly reduce usability. A single design system still needs adjustments to respect platform norms.
With cross-platform app development services from a top IT company, you can certainly avoid these issues and, in fact, develop a competitive app for your business.
But first, you need to choose an appropriate framework.
Which Framework to Choose for Cross-Platform App Development
Frameworks like Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, and Kotlin Multiplatform are the most widely used options for cross-platform app development today.
Each framework approaches shared code differently and suits different types of apps.
Flutter
Flutter uses a single rendering engine, which gives developers strong control over UI (user interface) consistency.
The app you build would have the same appearance across platforms and handle animations smoothly.
This framework is a good choice for consumer-facing apps, like mobile banking apps and e-commerce apps, where design matters.
React Native
React Native is useful when your app needs to behave very close to a native app.
Common features such as navigation and gestures behave in familiar ways for users. This can reduce complaints about usability.
However, complex features may require extra adjustments later, which can affect timelines and costs if not planned properly.
Xamarin
Xamarin is often used for apps with structured workflows, dashboards, or business logic.
It suits apps that prioritise stability and long-term support over rapid design changes.
For app owners, this means predictable behaviour and easier integration with existing systems, though initial setup can take longer compared to other options.
Kotlin Multiplatform
If you use Kotlin Multiplatform, you get sufficient control over how your app behaves on each platform. There will be less repeated work.
Use this framework for your project if your app has strict performance or security requirements. It allows flexibility later but may involve slightly higher upfront planning compared to other frameworks.
While it’s important to choose a strong framework for your project, there are some challenges that are likely to occur during the app development process.
Challenges Faced During Cross-Platform App Development
Cross-platform mobile app development simplifies aspects of the development process, but challenges remain. Understanding them early prevents costly corrections.
Performance Is Not Always Equal to Native Performance
Apps built on cross-platform frameworks operate via a medium or a layer, positioned between the code and the operating system of the device. Thus, such apps may appear slower when operated, especially when the graphics and complex screens are involved.
Access to All Device Features Can Be Limited
Depending on the app that you wish to create, the functionality may be very specific. In such cases, you may not be able to access all the functionality that you wish. There may be additional adjustments required.
Consistent Look and Feel Is Harder Than It Seems
All these platforms have their own layouts and interaction designs. Therefore, making a consistent-looking and consistent-behaving application on both iOS and Android could be a problem. This may result in awkward-looking buttons on one OS or misaligned texts, and so on.
Debugging and Testing Require Extra Work
Because your app will have to perform on several other platforms, finding bugs becomes more complex than testing an app on only one version. This also means the testing process will have to include many other scenarios, and any patches have to be confirmed on all intended platforms.
To resolve some of these challenges and streamline the entire process, app developers are turning to AI and other advanced technologies.
AI in Cross-Platform Development
What’s impressive about that is how AI is reshaping development workflows. According to McKinsey, AI-assisted development can improve developer productivity by up to 40 percent. AI tools assist with testing, optimisation, and code suggestions. This reduces manual effort and improves reliability.
AI-assisted code generation
AI-assisted code generation helps speed up how an app is built behind the scenes. Instead of starting from a blank slate, AI tools help create the basic structure of screens, features, and app flows.
This mainly affects timelines and the cost of app development. Less manual setup means fewer billable hours spent on groundwork.
It also reduces early build errors, which lowers the risk of delays when the app moves from idea to usable product.
Automated testing and bug detection
AI-powered testing tools check how an app behaves across different phones, operating systems, and screen sizes.
They simulate real user actions, such as signing in or making payments, and flag issues like crashes or broken screens.
Before the app launch, the problems are caught earlier rather than after users complain. This reduces damage to user trust and avoids emergency fixes after the app is already live.
Performance optimisation insights
AI tools can monitor how fast an app loads, how smoothly screens respond, and where delays occur.
They highlight specific areas where users may experience slowness, freezes, or battery drain. Instead of guessing what feels wrong, teams get clear signals about what needs improvement.
Without much trial and error, the app will feel responsive and stable across different devices and usage conditions.
Smarter framework and architecture decisions
Some AI tools support early planning by analysing app requirements such as expected users, feature complexity, and future growth.
They help identify whether the chosen approach will scale well or cause problems later.
For app owners, this reduces the risk of rebuilding the app after launch. Better early decisions lead to clearer budgets and a product structure that supports growth instead of limiting it.
Right now, the UK is aiming to solidify its role as a global tech leader. Read more in UK’s AI Ambitions: What AI for Business Means, Trends & More.
Webskitters- An Experienced Name In Cross-Platform App Development
When you are building an app, what primarily matters is whether things get done on time and whether problems are handled without any issues.
Webskitters works with startups that want a cross-platform app built properly, without unnecessary features or inflated timelines.
If you are planning to build an app and need cross-platform app development, you can partner with Webskitters.
Our specialists in cross-platform app development will handle everything, planning, development, testing, and ongoing support.
Let’s talk about your project details. Connect with our expert consultants.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is cross-platform app development?
It means building one app that works on Android and iOS using mostly the same code, instead of creating two separate apps from scratch.
2. Is cross-platform better than native apps?
It depends on your goals. Cross-platform is faster and cheaper, while native apps suit complex features or very high-performance needs.
3. Does cross-platform app development save money?
Yes, because one codebase reduces development and maintenance costs. You pay for one build process instead of managing two separate teams and timelines.
4. Can cross-platform apps perform well?
Yes, for most business apps, they perform reliably. Modern frameworks handle speed, security, and user experience well when built properly.
