> all the software companies I know hire separate Android, and separate iOS developers, tripling the frontend cost
I think there is a mistake here, that management unfortunately systematically makes: writing one cross-platform app is not equivalent to writing one native app. The cost difference will depend a lot on the product. If your cross-platform devs spend double the time because they need to debug on the other platform they don't know so well, then... well it costs double the money.
Cross-platform never has the same kind of community for a specific platform. Android experts tend to write native Android apps, and so do iOS experts. My experience with cross-platform is that they are written by people who are experts on neither.
The mobile devs companies I know favor native apps, because in their experience it's not cheaper to use cross-platform frameworks, and the resulting apps are worse. Just like you seem to confirm:
> The one exception I know used React Native, with an emphasis on iOS, the Android experience being terrible.
The experience I have had in companies going cross-platform is that the employees they hire are not mobile devs, the app doesn't feel native at all, the debugging experience is terrible, and overall they struggle a lot. The only advantage I have seen (again, in my experience) with cross-platform frameworks is my "I told you so" moment with management, where whenever they complain about something I can say: "well you wanted cross-platform because you thought it was a fraction of the price, now you live with your choice". Hint: usually they don't like it.
I think there is a mistake here, that management unfortunately systematically makes: writing one cross-platform app is not equivalent to writing one native app. The cost difference will depend a lot on the product. If your cross-platform devs spend double the time because they need to debug on the other platform they don't know so well, then... well it costs double the money.
Cross-platform never has the same kind of community for a specific platform. Android experts tend to write native Android apps, and so do iOS experts. My experience with cross-platform is that they are written by people who are experts on neither.
The mobile devs companies I know favor native apps, because in their experience it's not cheaper to use cross-platform frameworks, and the resulting apps are worse. Just like you seem to confirm:
> The one exception I know used React Native, with an emphasis on iOS, the Android experience being terrible.
The experience I have had in companies going cross-platform is that the employees they hire are not mobile devs, the app doesn't feel native at all, the debugging experience is terrible, and overall they struggle a lot. The only advantage I have seen (again, in my experience) with cross-platform frameworks is my "I told you so" moment with management, where whenever they complain about something I can say: "well you wanted cross-platform because you thought it was a fraction of the price, now you live with your choice". Hint: usually they don't like it.