This is the era of apps. Applications are everywhere. What makes smartphones so irresistible are interactive mobile applications. As a result, the ability to build apps has become one of the most sought-after qualities to look for in an engineer.
Modern-day mobile application development involves many platforms such as Android, iOS, Pi, etc. Therefore, a software development company needs to build applications that can function across all major platforms. Hence the cross-platform applications feature is becoming a bare minimum.
There are several programming languages suitable for mobile application development.
For instance, Python, Java, Raspberry, Pi, Kotilin, Android, C, C++, and more. Apart from that, web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more are used for mobile application development.
Per the TIOBE index, Python has emerged as the top choice for application development.
Python has emerged as one of the top contenders for mobile app development. Python mobile app development has been gaining steady momentum over the years.
However, just a few years back, Python application development was not much regarded by an enterprise software development company. But today, using Python for mobile app development is a prevalent practice. Moreover, the Python phrase “Write once, deploy everywhere” has given confidence to developers to use Python for app development.
Things have changed over time. The number of Python development company are on the rise. But is Python good for mobile app development?
Ask any engineer in a random crowd, and they will vouch for the brilliant comfort of use and readability of Python. Another thing in favor of Python is the rapid development capability of the language. This makes it ideal for the time-critical app development market.
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Why Should you use Python for Mobile App Development?
Python for mobile development is a great choice since it provides great comfort through easy use and readability which leads to less development time. This is what makes it suitable for the mobile market where time to market is critical to securing market share.
The two prominent frameworks, iOS and Android do not support interpreter-type languages. Since both do not support interpreter-type languages, Python applications can not run natively. Therefore, Python-based application building was not a trend earlier.
However, over time several Python mobile development framework emerged. Such frameworks bridge the gap between making the Python app work natively on mobile devices. Kivy and BeeWare are two such Python libraries that help in rapid mobile app development in Python.
What is Kivy?
Kivy is an open-source library for Python. It is used for the development of cross-platform GUI applications. It enables a Python web development company to write pure-Python graphical applications that can run on leading platforms like Android, Java, Windows, and more.
It is known for its custom UI toolkit, which works the same between Android, iOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi, and more without using any native features of any of those platforms.
While this guarantees consistency and portability of your app from one platform to another, on the other hand, it also means that your Android or iOS app may not look like the other native apps.
The users tend to prefer a native look in most applications. Therefore, a unique UI design can be a powerful design choice that allows users to seamlessly utilize your app on various platforms.
Features of Kivy
- Single Code:
- With Kivy a Python web app development company can use single codes for the same application across different platforms. This cross-platform capability helps companies save development time and use it for marketing the app.
- Business Friendly:
- It has no hidden cost and is available with an MIT license. The Python and mobile app development companies prefer it because of the stable framework and the excellent API documentation.
- Getting started with Kivy is easy once you have gone through the document.
- GPU accelerated:
- The framework is accelerated by GPU. The OpenGL ES2 is adapted to build the graphics engine.
Pros of Kivy
- It is an open-source library that assists in fast application development
- It allows running the same code on different platforms.
- Programming is more organized and precise as compared to other frameworks.
- Just like Python, it offers a clear representation of all the functionalities in the program.
What is BeeWare?
The framework works on the theory of ‘Write once. Deploy everywhere. This fantastic framework offers tools and an abstraction layer that an enterprise software development company can use to write native-looking mobile and desktop applications using Python.
Unlike the Kivy framework, which uses the custom UI toolkit, BeeWare enables mobile app development with Python using the native UI toolkit of their platform.
The advantage of using BeeWare is that all the font buttons in the applications are almost the ones the user is probably already using. The feel and behavior of the Python mobile app are distinctly Android or iOS.
Features of BeeWare
- One Code Base:
- It has a single codebase for all the platforms. This helps the mobile app development process give a consistent user experience across devices.
- It also enhances the chances of code reusability and reduces the cost of any future upgrade.
- Native Look and Feel:
- It helps to give the application the native look and feel of the platform on which it is being built.
- This helps provide consistency across the applications and makes the user experience less jarring.
- Community:
- BeeWare has a massive community of developers. These developers are continuously engrossed in BeeWare development actively and successfully.
- This keeps the young BeeWare platform agile and receptive to changes.
Pros of BeeWare
- It is open source framework that supports building robust applications
- It helps to provide a native platform-like look to the application.
- It is backed by vast communities of developers who help in documentation, design, and bug solving.
- The set of tools in BeeWare is BSD licensed, and anyone can modify and use them.
Kivy Vs BeeWare: Which is Better?
| Kivy | BeeWare |
| It provides custom styles in rendering widgets hence they don’t look native. However it manages to give a consistent look across the platforms. | BeeWare uses a native user interface; therefore, the controls appear native on their respective platforms. |
| Kivy has been available since 2011. It has aged well in terms of its growing reputation and trust. It is a tried and tested framework. | Beeware is comparatively a new framework. It is still evolving and has shown great potential to become the best Python framework for mobile app development. |
| It is fast and straightforward. This allows the Python mobile development companies to develop simple apps for various platforms from one code. | It is a complex framework that is maybe better suited for more sophisticated Python development projects. |
| It is an excellent choice if you expect the users to operate the app on different devices and need its look and controls to be consistent. | It operates from a codebase to produce different code versions for other platforms. This allows it to support native UI fully, so your app will use things like native buttons and behave according to the platform. |
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Conclusion
Python is amongst the most versatile and easy to use programming languages. The origin of various GUI frameworks has enhanced the capabilities of mobile app development in Python.
With the available diverse and flexible resources and tools, Python mobile development has become faster, which helps to save time and money.
BeeWare and Kivy are the two best Python mobile application development frameworks. Both frameworks have acceptable GUI frameworks. However, the real difference appears in the look and feel of the final product.
Kivy is a mature framework, whereas BeeWare is young and still in the development phase. While BeeWare supports development in native style, Kivy may give a different look and feel in terms of the widgets and controls.
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