Frameworks & Technologies to Build Your Superapp

Superapps provide a compelling way to offer a wide range of services and features within a single platform. In the first article, we examined the superapp trend. Then, in our second article we explored 5 steps to help you plan an effective superapp strategy. For this final article in the series, we’ll be exploring potential technologies to help you bring your superapp vision to life.

When developing a superapp, leveraging the right technology and framework for your own usecase is crucial for success. Let’s explore some of the best options available:

React Native

React Native is a leading framework for building mobile applications, allowing developers to write code once and deploy it on both iOS and Android devices. At Vidatec we use React Native extensively as part of our mobile development tech stack. It has the benefits of a strong global developer community, alongside a large ecosystem of third-party libraries.  React Native’s hot reloading capability enables developers to quickly see the effects of their changes, meaning greater productivity.

As a mature development framework, one of the React Native core strengths is sheer versatility. Its modular nature and similarity to React makes it intuitive for JavaScript developers looking to get to grips with mobile development. Its large development community means access to pre-made components and libraries that support the re-usability of code, meaning reduced time to market, with the benefit of lower long-term maintenance costs through use of a single codebase.

Flutter

Flutter, an open-source UI toolkit developed by Google, provides an alternative to React Native for superapp development. With the introduction of Flutter 2 in 2021, Google provided developers with the ability to also target Mac and Windows browsers through support for building Progressive Web Apps to run in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Applications developed in Flutter use the Dart programming language. One of Flutter’s core advantages is its approachability to new developers. Being an SDK, as opposed to a framework, it’s a self-contained tool for developing apps without requiring use of external libraries, with a similar single codebase advantage to React Native. This comes with the trade-off that integrating external JavaScript libraries can be problematic, with some critics of the platform citing its proscriptive nature when trying to build features without integrating third-party libraries, as well as large file sizes.

Backend as a Service/Mobile Backend as a Service

Backend as a Service (BaaS) and Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) offer ready-made backend services and APIs to manage and leverage data. MBaaS platforms such as AWS, Amplify, Google Firebase and Kinvey allow developers to focus on the front-end UI and end-user interactions when building an app. BaaS platforms provide services such as user-authentication, database management, cloud storage and social integration (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), providing scalability while accelerating the development process and reducing costs.

BaaS/MBaaS platforms can be a powerful accelerator for building scalable superapp experiences, but be sure to consider the security of cloud services and potential points of service failure carefully as part of your app strategy.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

PWAs have become a popular option for building mobile superapps that can be accessed via a devices’ web browser. They offer the benefit of using existing web technologies in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, allowing developers without specialist knowledge of mobile development languages to create app-like features including offline functionality, basic push notifications, and background data-syncing. While they do not perform as well or offer the richer functionality of dedicated app solutions such as React Native or Flutter, they can be installed by users on their mobile home screen, without the need for app store distribution. For superapps with a more limited set of features and use-cases, they can be a viable, cost-effective development tool.

By selecting the best technology stack and tools for your use-case, your development team or partner can create compelling, cost-effective superapp experiences that your audiences need while driving ongoing engagement.

If you are looking for help with planning, designing or building your superapp then contact us today and we will be happy to help.