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How to Convince Management to Use NativeScript for Mobile App Development

August 14, 2019 — by Rob Lauer

Have you tried NativeScript at home? Ready to make the push for your company to adopt it as well?

Here are seven reasons that you can share with your management team today:

Reason 1: Mobile App Performance

NativeScript apps are truly native. This means native UI, native API access, and native rendering on the device.

Why does this matter? If an app is laggy in its user interactions (or even perceived to be laggy), your end users will abandon the app, and your business.

importance of app performance

Even if you're not providing an external-facing consumer solution, you want to keep your employees happy (and productive) with an engaging and performant user experience.

Reason 2: Open Source and Backed by a Trusted Partner

Progress is the company behind NativeScript. Progress invests a lot of resources in the development of NativeScript, yet licenses it with the business-friendly Apache 2.0 OSS license. Why? What's in it for Progress?

To learn more about why Progress supports NativeScript, consult this article.

NativeScript isn't just a side project for Progress. NativeScript is a core component of multiple solutions provided by Progress, most notably Progress Kinvey. One component of Progres Kinvey is the drag-and-drop app building solution, Kinvey Studio:

kinvey studio

Kinvey Studio enables professional developers to build cross-platform mobile, web, chat, and wearable apps, leveraging a secure and performant backend, from a shared JavaScript codebase.

Did you know Gartner named Progress a Leader in their 2019 Magic Quadrant for Multiexperience Development Platforms?

This guarantees Progress's investment in NativeScript is not dependent on revenue created directly by NativeScript (although yes, we do offer paid enterprise-level support!), so you can rest assured NativeScript is here to stay.

Reason 3: iOS, Android, and Web for the Price of One

Management cares about productivity. And today the definition of an "app" has evolved into supporting iOS, Android, and the web. Few companies have the luxury of separate teams for each platform (and when they do, they complain about aligning app features and releases across teams).

This is where NativeScript shines. With our built-in code sharing strategies for Angular and new possibilities with Vue.js, teams can build for multiple platforms from a single, shared JavaScript codebase.

multiple devices

Reason 4: Web Skill Re-Use

Developer productivity FTW!

NativeScript was built by web developers, for web developers. Not to say traditional native developers can't use NativeScript (they do!), but when you support technologies like:

  • TypeScript
  • CSS
  • Webpack
  • npm libraries

...you're meeting web developers where they are already comfortable.

For IDE support, we also provide a robust Visual Studio Code extension and there is a popular community-supported WebStorm plugin.

You can also re-use existing native CocoaPods, Android JARs, and tap into our never-ending list of native plugins 🔌

Reason 5: Support for Major JavaScript Frameworks

Since NativeScript is built on JavaScript, it's critical for us to maintain official support for some of the most popular JavaScript frameworks available today.

Case in point: NativeScript provides support for Angular and Vue.js out of the box. No third party plugins or installations required.

nativescript frameworks

Not a framework fan? No worries! NativeScript also supports framework-free development with plain JavaScript or TypeScript.

The community is hard at work on integrations with React and Svelte!

Reason 6: A Replacement for Traditional Native Development

One of the primary reasons NativeScript retains its popularity is its support for 100% of native device APIs.

With NativeScript you aren't waiting on a new framework release to access new or obscure device APIs. You can write native expressions directly, with JavaScript or TypeScript. No time is wasted writing boilerplate wrappers around native APIs - allowing you to focus on your business objectives and nothing more.

android code

ios code

Don't want to write the code to call device APIs? You don't have to! Check out the NativeScript Marketplace and see 1000+ cross-platform plugins that are ready for you to use, for free. Not to mention numerous pre-built sample apps that can be quickly cloned and re-purposed.

Reason 7: Proven in the Real World

Did you know that SAP uses NativeScript as a core component of their mobility strategy?

How about Portable North Pole and its millions of app users over the holiday season? AND a real world example of iOS + Android + Web code sharing!

portable north pole

Take a look at the numerous NativeScript showcases that continue to prove this point.

NativeScript has proven itself in the wild, both for consumer-facing apps and for enterprises creating employee-focused productivity apps.