The Future of Cross-Platform is Native

The quest for the perfect cross-platform solution has been like the quest for the Holy Grail. It’s been going on a long time, there are a myriad of perceived benefits, and every time someone claims to have found it, it’s never the right one. Many people ask, “Should I go with a cross-platform solution, or a native solution?” but the reality is the quest is bringing us closer to a solution where there isn’t a meaningful difference.

React Native wasn’t the first to show a solution could be both cross-platform and native, but it has certainly convinced a lot of people. As many of those early converts are discovering the limitations, they are beginning to fall back into either-or thinking. Maybe they just have the wrong assumptions.

Kotlin Multiplatform makes some new assumptions and, although it wasn’t the first to do so, is gaining in popularity very quickly. Is Kotlin Multiplatform the holy grail of cross-platform? Probably not. But it does bring cross-platform and native closer than ever before.

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Presented at https://newyork2019.theleaddeveloper.com/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA_JIqqj9js
Thank you https://touchlab.co/ for supporting me and the future of mobile.

Transcript

1. Justin Mancinelli justin@touchlab.co @piannaf The Future of Cross-Platform is Native
3. Efficient Developers
4. More Features Efficient Developers
5. More Features Fewer Bugs Efficient Developers
6. More Features Reach all the Users Fewer Bugs Efficient Developers
8. Lower Performance
9. Slower Innovation Lower Performance
10. Slower Innovation Poor UI Lower Performance
11. Vendor Lock-in Poor UI Slower Innovation Lower Performance
12. Cross-Platform? We Don’t Say That Around Here Anymore
14. Research
21. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Other Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input
22. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Other Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input
23. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Other Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input
24. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Other Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input
25. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Other Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input
26. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries App Type Output Process Input Ionic Other Language HTML/CSS/JS
27. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Native Code Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language App Type Output Process Input React Native Other Language JS Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Hybrid Native Container
28. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Native Code Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language App Type Output Process Input Xamarin Other Language C# Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Hybrid Native Container Android iOS
29. Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Native Code Native Language Cross-Compile Trans-Compile Native Language App Type Output Process Input Flutter Other Language Dart Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Hybrid Native Container
30. JS/Wasm Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Cross-Compile Trans-Compile App Type Output Process Input Kotlin Multiplatform Other Language Native Language Kotlin Android Web iOS
31. JS/Wasm Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Cross-Compile Trans-Compile App Type Output Process Input Kotlin Multiplatform Other Language Native Language Kotlin Android Web iOS
32. JS/Wasm Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Cross-Compile Trans-Compile App Type Output Process Input Kotlin Multiplatform Other Language Native Language Kotlin Android Web iOS
33. JS/Wasm Include Runtime Interpreter, VM, Libraries Web PWA Dedicated Generic Native Hybrid Native Code Native Container Cross-Compile Trans-Compile App Type Output Process Input Kotlin Multiplatform Other Language Native Language Kotlin Android Web iOS
34. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android Traditional iOS
35. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android Xamarin iOS Traditional iOS
36. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android Xamarin iOS Traditional iOS React Native
37. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android React Native Xamarin iOS Flutter Android/iOS Traditional iOS
38. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin iOS Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android React Native Flutter Android/iOS PWA Traditional iOS
39. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin iOS Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android React Native Flutter Android/iOS PWA Traditional iOS Wasm
40. VM/Interpreter Web Native Hybrid Xamarin iOS Xamarin Android Responsive Web Cordova Traditional Android Traditional iOS React Native Flutter Android/iOS PWA Wasm KMP Android KMP Wasm KMP JVM KMP JS KMP iOS
42. Developers developing, Designers designing, Researchers researching, Managers managing Tools • Android Studio, Xcode, Visual Studio, Atom • Platform specific APIs, General Libraries • Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, C#, C++ The Platform • Machine Code, JVM, JavaScriptCore, V8 • Platform Services (Location, Graphics, Audio, Network, Storage, Auth, Permissions, Gestures, Notifications, etc) iOS Android Web Users of the platform
43. Developers developing, Designers designing, Researchers researching, Managers managing Tools • Android Studio, Xcode, Visual Studio, Atom • Platform specific APIs, General Libraries • Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, C#, C++ The Platform • Machine Code, JVM, JavaScriptCore, V8 • Platform Services (Location, Graphics, Audio, Network, Storage, Auth, Permissions, Gestures, Notifications, etc) iOS Android Web Users of the platform
44. Developers developing, Designers designing, Researchers researching, Managers managing Tools • Android Studio, Xcode, Visual Studio, Atom • Platform specific APIs, General Libraries • Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, C#, C++ The Platform • Machine Code, JVM, JavaScriptCore, V8 • Platform Services (Location, Graphics, Audio, Network, Storage, Auth, Permissions, Gestures, Notifications, etc) iOS Android Web Users of the platform
45. Developers developing, Designers designing, Researchers researching, Managers managing Tools • Android Studio, Xcode, Visual Studio, Atom • Platform specific APIs, General Libraries • Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, C#, C++ The Platform • Machine Code, JVM, JavaScriptCore, V8 • Platform Services (Location, Graphics, Audio, Network, Storage, Auth, Permissions, Gestures, Notifications, etc) iOS Android Web Users of the platform
46. Developers developing, Designers designing, Researchers researching, Managers managing Tools • Android Studio, Xcode, Visual Studio, Atom • Platform specific APIs, General Libraries • Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, C#, C++ The Platform • Machine Code, JVM, JavaScriptCore, V8 • Platform Services (Location, Graphics, Audio, Network, Storage, Auth, Permissions, Gestures, Notifications, etc) iOS Android Web Users of the platform
47. Native to Developer Changing Perspectives
48. Native to Developer Changing Perspectives Native to Platform
49. Native to Developer Changing Perspectives Native to Platform Native to User
50. Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Changing Perspectives: Web
51. Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Changing Perspectives: Android
52. Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Changing Perspectives: iOS
53. Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Changing Perspectives: iOS near future
54. Changing Perspectives: iOS near future Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP
55. Changing Perspectives: iOS near future Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP
56. Changing Perspectives: iOS near future Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Kotlin Native Interop Generics
57. Changing Perspectives: iOS near future Technology Native to Developer Native to Platform Native to User Xamarin React Native Flutter KMP Ktor SqlDelight Stately Kotlin-Multiplatform-Firebase
 and more
58. Mapping the Quest through Time
59. Fully Native Multiplatform Algol68C 50’s & 60’s 70’s 80’s C XLT86 IBM PC Intel 8086 Algol CPU Era
60. Fully Native Multiplatform Algol68C 50’s & 60’s 70’s 80’s C XLT86 Operating Systems IBM PC Intel 8086 Algol OS Era
61. HTML 90’s 2000’s Partially Native Multiplatform Netscape Fully Native Multiplatform IE Win/Mac Opera JavaScript Java Flash Mozilla/Firefox Safari CSS Web Era
62. Hybrid iPhone 2000’s 2010’s Adobe Air Responsive Web Chrome, V8 Android NodeJS Cordova Appcelerator Mobile Era Partially Native Multiplatform Fully Native Multiplatform
63. Hybrid 2010’s Xamarin PWA React Native Modern J2objc RoboVM Flutter Wasm RIBs Kotlin Multiplatform Modern Era PWA
 +
 Wasm
 ? Partially Native Multiplatform Fully Native Multiplatform
64. Hybrid Mapping the Quest through Time 50’s Modern Partially Native Multiplatform Fully Native Multiplatform
65. Efficient Developers More Features Fewer Bugs Efficient Developers Kotlin Multiplatform
66. Other Solutions Lower Performance Slower Innovation Poor UI Vendor Lock-in Kotlin Multiplatform
67. Native Performance Other Solutions Lower Performance Slower Innovation Poor UI Vendor Lock-in Kotlin Multiplatform
68. Native Performance Other Solutions Native Interop Lower Performance Slower Innovation Poor UI Vendor Lock-in Kotlin Multiplatform
69. Other Solutions Native UX Native Performance Native Interop Lower Performance Slower Innovation Poor UI Vendor Lock-in Kotlin Multiplatform
70. Kotlin Multiplatform Lower Performance Other Solutions Native Dev Experience Native UX Native Performance Native Interop Slower Innovation Poor UI Vendor Lock-in
71. Your Homework
72. Your Homework • Watch related conference talks
73. Your Homework • Watch related conference talks • Clone some projects
74. Your Homework • Watch related conference talks • Clone some projects • Contribute to and be supported by the community
75. Your Homework • Watch related conference talks • Clone some projects • Contribute to and be supported by the community • Talk to Touchlab Justin Mancinelli justin@touchlab.co @piannaf