21 BEST Mobile App Development Tools & Software (2024)

Last updated on April 1st, 2024 at 05:46 am

Mobile apps have become helpful tools for people who go about their daily lives globally. Businesses have developed mobile apps to market their products or services because they know their importance. They have used the best development tools for making mobile apps that perform well. Choosing the right mobile app development tools is essential because they can make or break your business. If you choose your tools well, you can use their features to make a successful application. If you don’t do it, it will cost you a lot of time and money.

Some small and medium-sized businesses don’t think about the long term and only look for one-time solutions, while the choice of development techniques usually affects the time it takes to build something.

If you own a business and aren’t sure how to choose the best development tools for developing mobile apps, you’re in the right place.

We’ll cover the most popular tools for developing mobile apps here. After that, we’ll look for Android and iOS app development tools. Our tools will also allow us to make apps that work on multiple platforms. As a final point, we’ll discuss tools for making apps with no coding and low coding.

Before we are moving to next section of this blog, let’s start by discussing what mobile app development tools are all about.

What Are Mobile App Development Tools?

Mobile app development tools are software used to make both small and large mobile apps.

There are tools for making cross-platform, native, and low-code apps for mobile devices.

Before jumping down on next section, we will take a closer look on popular mobile app development tools. Which are:-

Buddy

Buddy uses the “set-based” deployment method, which is very effective. App development automation is horizontal because it uses services and actions that are already set up.

The mobile app development tools make it easy for the whole team to use the CI/CD workflow.

It gives designers, developers, and quality analysts ideas for what they need to do. So, we call it a “low-friction platform.” You can quickly build, test, and release websites and apps with this tool.

Key Features of Buddy

• The tool thinks it has the best build environment in its class.
• Additionally, its user interface and experience are spotless. The application has features such as parallelism, advanced caching, and inclusive automation.
• In addition to BitBucket, GitHub, GitLab, it can be used on other platforms as well.
• The tool thinks that the 150+ dedicated actions are good for making apps for Android or iOS.
• It helps you to use APIs in codebase.

Pricing: The price starts at $35 per month.

Integrations: Heroku, Digital Ocean, Azure, Netlify, Slack, AWS, Sentry, MS Teams, and more.

Platform: Windows.

Kobiton

It helps you to test on real devices and automate testing so that users have a great experience that keeps them for longer-term. The tool helps you to fix bugs and other problems before you release it by giving you continuous performance, user, and functionality testing.

It also supports you to make the app’s features and connections better.

Key features of Kobiton

• Real-device testing helps you to use all the physical systems in the cloud and do essential things like tap, scroll, and slide.
• Device lab management helps you to take care of private, public, and on-site systems.
• Videos and screenshots of the app are part of the tool’s real-time analytics.
• It makes easier to test native apps, web apps, and hybrid apps.
• With this app development tool, frameworks like Espresso, Selenium, and XCUI can automate mobile apps.
• Kobiton offers support by email, form, and chat.

Pricing: It starts at $75 per month, and you can try it for free for 14 days.

Platform: Windows, the Web, iOS, Mac, and Android are all platforms.

Integrations: Bitrise, Figma, Jira, Jenkins, Buildkite, and Testrail are integrated.

Jamf

It’s another popular tool for making mobile apps, and it lets you give millions of users an Apple-like experience. The tools also keep your systems and company data safe at the next level.

It helps you to design workflows, solve complex problems, and give the best value to users.

Key features of Jamf

• You can set up email contracts and Wi-Fi calendars to work well.
• It lets you use different profiles to build VPNs.
• The tool also supports different languages, such as Swift, Python, HTTP, and Java.
• It can help you to manage your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV systems on the same day.

Pricing: The price starts at $4 per month.

Platform: iOS

Integrations: Syncplicity, TeamViewer, Okta, Roambi, and Tableau can all be integrated.

Headspin

It is yet another world leader in AI platforms for digital experiences. Headspin enables mobile, web, and video/audio apps to test in real-time and gives AI-based insights.

You can use the mobile app development tools to check the app’s performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs) and understand the user experience from different points of view.

It helps the product, engineering, QA, and operations teams to discover performance problems before they happen. It also enables them to give their users the best possible digital experience.

Key Features of Headspin

• The code can be improved with the help of scalable and safe APIs.
• Thousands of real systems have been using in over 150 countries at worldwide.
• The AI engine takes care of performance issues.
• It also works with different frameworks for automating tasks.
• Headspin helps with FAQs, chat, email, and knowledge bases and gives you essential device logs and screenshots. It also updates your app.

Pricing: The first month costs $30.

Platform: Web

Integrations: Jira, Alithya GoTest, Slack, ServiceNow, and PagerDuty

Android App Development Tools

There is a list of the best Android app development tools that you can use to make apps for the Android platform.

IntelliJIDEA

It is another tool for android app development wherein, Java is also used to write it. It helps developers to make apps for Android that work well.

Key features of IntelliJIDEA

• Developers can evaluate the code using the smart code conclusion. Also, it helps you distinguish between different kinds of code, such as SQL and Java.
• “Refactoring” is another great feature. In a safe and quick manner, the developers changed the way the code was written.
• The tool gives users duplicate code fragments and suggests them to them.
• Shortcuts have been made as part of the development process. For example, content actions can be shown, quick selections can be made, and current files can be looked at, among other things.
• The IntelliJIDEA development tool makes it easy to search for and find anything. This tool works well with different app servers like WebLogic, JBoss, etc.

Pricing: Individuals pay $16.90, and organisations pay $59.90.

IntelliJIDEA-powered apps include App Vault, Samsung, Resso Music, and other apps powered by IntelliJIDEA.

Android Studio

It is Google’s official open-source integrated development environment (IDE) tool, which is beneficial for people who make apps for Android.

The main goal of the IDE is to speed up the process of making apps and let Android developers to make any app, no matter how complicated.

It is a single android app development software that can be used to test, develop, and package Android apps.

Key Features

• The layout editor lets you to make layouts quickly by dragging UI elements into the visual design editor.
• You don’t have to write XML code. You can also see how your design looks on different Android systems.
• Using the emulator with Android Studio, you must test your app on an Android phone.
• It thinks that the intelligent code editor helps developers to write good code quickly and easily.
• Once the app is installed on a running system or an emulator, the Android profiler gives real-time information about the app’s memory, CPU activity, and network.
• Android Studio usually includes the Android Debug Bridge.
• It is a flexible command-line tool that a developer usually uses to connect Android devices to other computers, especially for testing and quality reasons.
• Developers can also find information about how to log the code.
• This tool is essential to the Android Virtual Device (AVD) manager. The Android app can be run on the computer, so the developer can see the whole code.

Pricing: Free

Apps Built Using Android Studio: Evernote, Postmates, Pinterest, and more are among the free apps made with Android Studio.

WireShark

Wireshark is one of the best tools for making Android apps. The tool is always the best network protocol analyzer in the world,  Which allows you to see exactly what is going on in your network.

It is a standard development tool that many non-profits, businesses, government agencies, and corporations use to find and fix network problems.

Network administrators, QA engineers, security engineers, developers, and other people with different goals can use the tool in different ways.

Key Features of WireShark

• The tool works well to get live packet data and shows all of the packets along with detailed protocol data.
• When you import files, you should think about the packet data you got from WireShark, WinDump, etc.
• It enables programmers to find and sort packets based on different criteria.
• Send packets in different formats for capturing files.

Pricing: Free

LeakCanary

LeakCanary is the best tool for making Android apps that can find memory leaks. The tool is built with critical Android development knowledge and is mainly used to find and fix memory leaks.

It should be added to the codebase so it can be found immediately at runtime. It is a great way to find bugs and ensure the app’s development is going well.

“Application Not Responding” or “Out of Memory Error” errors can be fixed with this tool.

Key features of LeakCanary

• It finds where activity instances, fragment instances, view model instances, and service instances that have been deleted are still running.
• It lets you to know when there is a leak in the code.

Pricing: Free

Integrations: Kotlin, Bugsnag, and Java

iOS App Development Tools

Now, we’ll talk about some tools you can use to make mobile apps for iOS. Let’s check it out in detail.

CodeRunner

It is a well-known text editor and integrated development environment (IDE) for writing iOS apps. The tool for making apps for mobile devices is small and supports more than 25 languages. It also has advanced code compilation and a lot of features that are important for making iOS apps.

No matter what language you use, it is hard to fix bugs in the code. But the way it is built to make advanced apps while fixing syntax problems and fixing bugs.

Key Features of CodeRunner

• Error checking and linting give you immediate feedback as you write code.
• Auto-indenting makes sure that all processing code blocks are indented, that the editor is integrated, and that code is indented as you type.
• The tool also checks the whole document for mistakes and identifies any that it finds. It shows problems with the code.
• The improved debug console highlights the syntax, sorts the results, and fills in the codes.
• You can change all of the shortcuts and add new ones as needed.

Pricing: It’s free for the first 7 days and starts at $9.99 a month.

Xcode

It is possible to make apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS with Apple’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Our iOS developers can use all of Xcode’s features to write, test, compile, and put apps on the app store.

Swift is a simple programming language used for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch. When it works well with Xcode, it makes programming a dynamic experience.

Key features of Xcode

• It looks at the code checker, which looks for errors and suggests ways to fix them.
• It also looks at the command-line tools that allow UNIX-style development with terminal support and have built-in help for managing source code with Git version control.
• The asset catalogue editor can work with many different images because it can combine different resolutions of the same resource.
• The static evaluation helps to find bugs before the application is run.

Pricing: Free

Apps Built Using Xcode: Uber, Khan Academy, and Lyft

Xamarin

Xamarin is one of Microsoft’s well-known frameworks for making apps that work on different platforms. Using a single, shared C# and .NET codebase, you can make native iOS, Android, and Windows apps that run quickly and satisfactorily.

The framework is a typical IDE that lets you use tools from Visual Studio to make native apps for mobile devices.

Xamarin’s Key Features

• Developers can get started with Xamarin with the help of different on-demand tutorials, video courses, and detailed documentation.
• The tool has a better native user interface and controls, so developers can make apps that look like they were made on a native platform.
• It also lets you do amazing things like refactoring, editing code, testing, publishing to the cloud, and debugging. It also supports native APIs, native UIs, components, and so on.
• SQLite, MySQL, SQL Server, DB2, PostgreSQL, and other databases work well with the framework.

Pricing: The price starts at $25 per month.

Popular apps on Xamarin include Storyo, Microsoft News, and UPS Mobile.

Flutter

It is one of the world’s most well-known cross-platform app development frameworks. Statista says that more than 42% of developers worldwide choose Flutter is a key framework for cross-platform apps.

Flutter is a flexible UI toolkit that can make apps that run natively on iOS, Android, the Web, Windows, and Google Fuschia.

The development tool uses the Dart programming language to make mobile apps. It also lets developers use a single codebase to build and deploy iOS, Android, desktop, and web apps. Lastly, there are many reasons to choose Flutter when making a mobile app.

Key features of Flutter

• Hot reload gives Flutter developers the skills they need to change code. The user interface will change right away because of these changes.
• It also helps save as much time and effort as possible.
• Material Design and Cupertino Widgets are built into Flutter to help developers make better apps.
• Also, developers can make widgets from scratch to meet specific needs.
• It is the best tool for quickly and cheaply making a mobile app.
• Developers don’t have to change the UI content by hand. Due to the reactive framework, developers must change variables and other things that show up in the UI.
• Flutter has a large group of developers from all over the world who are always willing to help with the project.

Pricing: Free

Popular apps on Flutter include Alibaba, Google Stadia, Hamilton Music, and eBay.

AppCode by JetBrains

It is another IDE made by JetBrains that can be used to make apps for macOS and iOS. Also, the development tool works with different programming languages like Objective-C, JavaScript, C++, CSS, HTML, XML, Swift, and XPath.

It also works with testing units like Catch, XCTest, Quick, Kiwi, and Google Test.

It has a number of important integrations, like the CocoaPods manager and built-in Reveal support..

Key features of AppCode

• Using the tool, you can get to any class, file, or symbol in the project in a big way.
• It makes it easy to run the project and find bugs.
• It adds more detailed coding tests all the time and lets you know about offers, errors, and quick fixes so you can take care of them automatically.
• The tool gives you two ways to finish it, which speeds up the development process. It takes into account both essential as-you-type completion and advanced intelligent completion.
• Advanced refactoring shows you how to improve the correctness and safety of the code.

Pricing: The price starts at $199 per year.

Ionic

It is an essential framework for making apps that work on multiple platforms. It uses the JavaScript framework and Apache Cordova to work.

Ionic lets developers use common languages like CSS, Cordova wrapper, JS, and HTML to take advantage of the native platform controllers. Ionic supports JavaScript frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue in a built-in way.

It is possible to make reliable and secure cross-platform mobile, desktop, and web apps using a single codebase and tool. Ionic gives developers an entire library of built-in, mobile-optimized UI tools, elements, and gestures that can be used to make highly interactive apps.

The tool lets developers use JS to make great user interfaces and add new app features.

Ionic’s key features

• It looks at the command-line interface and gives a list of valid commands. Ionic developers can build, start, run, and test Ionic apps using the CLI.
• Developers can share, upload, and test their apps on native systems other than their own with Ionic View.
• Cordova plugins give access to features like GPS, camera, audio recorder, etc. and are used in the development process.
• The AngularJS MVC architecture lets developers make new apps with just one page that works well on mobile devices.

Pricing: Free

Popular apps on Ionic include JustWatch, MarketWatch, Pacifica, and Sworkit.

React Native

React Native is a UI framework made by Meta that is free to use (formerly known as Facebook). It is based on a technology called JavaScript. The main goal of the tool is to enable React Native developers to use JavaScript and React in a single codebase to create experiences that look and feel like they were made for native devices.

You can make changes to your iOS and Android apps with the cross-platform development tool. It is best to start from scratch when making apps for multiple platforms. It is possible to make apps for different systems and operating systems, like iOS, Android TV, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. There are many reasons to use React Native when making mobile apps.

Critical features of React Native

• The tool is easy to use and has better rendering capabilities. So, it makes sense to create interactive UI designs.
• It has a large group of developers from all over the world. React Native is compatible with many third-party libraries. The live reload feature enables developers to see changes to the code right away.
• It also looks at the different frameworks that work with React Native and are suitable for making apps that work on multiple platforms.

Pricing: Free

Popular apps on React Native include Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and Coinbase.

No-Code App Development Tools

We’ll provide the detail of tools you can use to make mobile apps without knowing how to code. No-code development tools are also helpful for people who don’t know how to code.

Let’s discuss it in details.

Quickbase

It is another well-known platform for making apps without writing code. It makes it possible for users to create and work together on secure, safe, and long-lasting apps of any level of difficulty without having to write any code.

With this way of building, you can see all the projects in one place. So, you’re always aware of any problems with your project and can do something about them. Companies use the tool on the Fortune 100 list.

Quickbase’s key features

• The development tool works well with other platforms because it supports pipelines. So, you can link the information you already have to the key contributors and eliminate duplicate data.
• It has essential features like active dashboards, team collaboration, task management, workflow automation, etc.
• The sandbox is viewed by the tool as a separate area for testing code where you can deploy or change the schema at any time without taking the app offline.
• It makes it easy to collect data immediately by giving you easy-to-use data forms, multiple data sources, point-and-click integration, strong APIs, and so on.

Pricing: The price starts at $500 per month.

AppSheet

It is the best tool for making apps without writing code, and it can be used for iOS and Android apps. It enables people who do not know how to code to create iOS and Android apps.

All new users can make apps for a platform by importing data from OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and other places. Spreadsheets and databases could be used to get the information.

Key Features of the AppSheet

• You can use the tool to manage the project, do field inspections, help people on different platforms, and combine data.
• It makes it easy to use simple and advanced editors to customise the app.
• The main editor has things like the app’s name, logo, sign-in, and level of security.
• You can use different themes, multiple spreadsheets, and fonts with the advanced editor.
• It has enterprise-level features like audit history creation, automated usage summaries, pre-deployment, etc.

Pricing: The price starts at $5 per month.

Low-code app development tools

With these app development tools, you can make apps of any level of difficulty faster and with less coding.

Let’s explore some low-code app development tools.

Zoho Creator

It is a growing platform for making apps that don’t require much coding and let users make apps that meet their needs.

Zoho, a company that makes products that help businesses do well in the digital world, came up with the low-code app development method. Using this method, you can make custom apps that collect data, plan workflows, and create rules that help your business grow.

Critical features of Zoho Creator

• The tool has many ready-made templates for IT, sales and marketing, HR, and education. You can choose any template and change it to fit the needs of your business.
• Its tool for moving data from old systems and spreadsheets is based on artificial intelligence (AI). After that, the intelligent import tool can significantly change the structured database’s messy data.
• Cross-functional analytics lets you get data from many different places and analyse it in depth.
• The tool also automates business tasks like updating CRM, collecting data, processing payments, sending emails and reports, etc.
• You can also change how your web and mobile apps look and feel to make them better for your users.
• It has better security features, like automated threat analysis and audit logs, to meet industry standards.

Pricing: The price starts at $25 per month.

Outsystems

It is also a powerful low-code app development platform that allows users to create simple to complex web and mobile apps quickly and easily. The tools have more than 140 UI patterns and templates to help speed up the UI-making process.

The mobile app development tools make finding any digital problems in an app easier, which is suitable for businesses with the target audience.

Outsystems’ Key Features

• The mobile app development tools makes it easier to make software because users can change the code and start using it immediately.
• This tool for making mobile apps uses advanced cloud technology to make them more flexible and give users a better experience. It also speeds up the development process.
• Also, it gives you complete control over the entire application development lifecycle. It also lets you keep track of the application and ensure the process goes smoothly.
• It also makes it easy to get help through different channels, such as email, webinars, and online training and tutorials.

Pricing: It’s free for the first 100 users. It costs $1512.50 per month to start.

Mobile App Design Tools

To make innovative mobile apps, they need to look and feel good. So, it would help if you had different tools to make mobile apps.

Let’s see what these things are.

Figma

It is the best interface design web app in the world. The mobile app design tool takes into account a modern and easy-to-use interface. The vector graphics editor and prototyping tool put a lot of attention on user interface and user experience design. It lets you work with your team in real-time to create user-friendly, creative, and professional designs.

Key features of Figma

• With the intelligent animation feature, you can easily add multiple transitions to an app.
• It lets you work on the main design and the design assets. All the people who worked on the project can also use this as needed.
• Figma helps operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and others.
• This tool lets you create up to 10 Figma accounts and manage workspaces, accounts, and community profiles from a single screen.
• It also looks at different versions of the intelligent component management module, which immediately rejects duplicate versions of similar components and merges them to manage the library.
• Figma thinks of the community library as a helpful resource where you can share your design with other members and get feedback. You can also find remote design sprints, Figma templates, a material design kit, and an open-source component library.
• The tool makes it easier to work together and get things done. It lets a group of users work together, get feedback, and ensure everyone is up to date. It also makes it possible to make changes to projects in real-time.

Pricing: The basic plan is free, but the paid plans start at $12 monthly.

Adobe XD

It is a prototyping tool that lets businesses of all sizes quickly design interactive user interfaces and user experiences for mobile and website apps. You can use the mobile app design tool to make a prototype, final screen design, and wireframe for a mobile app. Also, designers can check how their designs look on desktops, mobile phones, and tablets.

The most important thing about Adobe XD is that it helps you a lot as you go from an idea to a prototype to a final design. It also lets you create mobile experiences, share them with people who might be interested, get immediate feedback from users, and change the design.

Key Features of Adobe XD

• It has a variety of vector images, shapes, colors, and fonts that can be used to make graphics and visuals look good. You can also change the interactive prototype quickly and keep making it better.
• The tool can make the whole designing process more manageable by letting you reuse parts, use the same content over and over, and automate different tasks.
• It makes using the toolkit to make interactive websites and mobile apps more accessible. You can see what the user experience will be like before you move forward.
• The design can also be worked on simultaneously by other team members.
• By publishing the design and showing it to the right people, you can get the feedback you need.
• The Adobe XD app, available for iOS and Android, also displays all prototype designs.

Pricing: The first month costs $9.99.

Final Words

We have listed all the essential features of mobile app development tools. If you figure out what you need, you can choose the best tool among them to develop your mobile app.

Feel free to contact us if you still have questions or want to know how a good platform will be built.

eBizneeds is a company that makes mobile apps and has won awards. Using different mobile app development tools, we’ve made mobile apps for clients worldwide. So, we can help you find the best tool for making a mobile app and give you a solution that works for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why should you use a tool for building apps?

The mobile app development software shows a picture of what the app will look like. It also helps you develop a plan for app development and speeds up the whole process. Also, these tools have different functions and features that can be used to make secure, reliable, and scalable applications.

Q2. How do you select the best mobile app development tool?

Let’s talk about some things you must consider when choosing the best tool for making mobile apps.

Examine Your Requirements: Do you want to make an app that works on native and non-native platforms? You should know what your business needs and make a smart choice.

Check the features: Make sure you know everything about the business. You can also look at the features of all the mobile app development tools and put them in order based on what you need.

Usability: The development tool interface must be valuable and easy to use.

Integration: The development tool must work with the systems and processes already in place.

Cost: You can find out how much the development method costs. Also, make sure to find out if there are any extra costs.

Security: All security actions must be part of the development tool.

Support: You should make sure that there are different ways to get help, like email, chat, and so on.

Try with a demo or trial: You must try out a mobile app development tool to see how well it works.