A growing portion of developers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of Cross-Platform Tools (CPT), and leading vendors have made significant progress in the rate of adoption by app developers. This is one of the results of research2guidance‘s second global benchmarking report for CPT and services, which undertakes a detailed comparison of some 40 CP Tools, with a survey of  over 2,100 such users sharing their experience of the 150 tools covered. Zuzanna Pogorzelska, mHealth Project Manager at research2guidance shares some of the findings.

The CPT Benchmarking report is the largest and most comprehensive evaluation of tools that support cross-platform app development. Awareness of CP Tools among the global app developer community has increased  as compared to last year. Tools like Adobe AIR, PhoneGap or Unity have managed to increase their market visibility even more. Still, the majority of CP Tools is hardly known or unknown.

In addition, the market for CP Tools and services has become more crowded. With more than 150 tools available in the market, it is now increasingly difficult to identify the right tool for a specific app project.

The CPT benchmarking uses 10 criteria e.g. platform supported, compatible programming languages and costs to give guidance to app developers who want to select the right tool for their app project. Thanks to user ratings, The Top 10 lists reveal the best CP Tools according to a number of criteria e.g. app performance, vendor support and time savings. The report also discloses the popularity of specific CP Tools for publishing on particular mobile platforms e.g. iOS, WP8, BB10 Ubuntu and Tizen.

CPT vendors put increasingly more emphasis on targeting enterprises. By providing more pre-installed APIs than standard ERP, CRM and shop systems do, they aim to gain the appeal of the sector. Other CP Tools may be more sophisticated, but excel in proving the most up-do-date development possibilities for their target app categories (mainly games). Still other tools come as “drag & drop” solutions with industry-specific templates that require no programming skills (App Factories).

Android and iOS continue to be the most supported mobile platforms. WP8 is the platform which tops the wish list of CPT users. 36% state that they wish their CP Tool supported WP8.

Overall, users of CP Tools are satisfied with their choice. This becomes evident in the way they have rated the CP Tools they use. 93% of all CPT users would recommend their tools to other app developers.

One of the main reasons why app developers make use of CP Tools is to save time. 30% report they have realized 50%+ time savings thanks to their CP Tools.

Find the right tool for your app project. For more information, download the 50 pages Cross-Platform Tool Benchmarking 2014 report for free.