RAD Studio is traditionally popular with developers building apps and games for Windows, but its powerful compilers also deliver a unique and significant advantage with which few other frameworks, if any, can compete.
Using one codebase, RAD Studio’s compilers publish native code for iOS, macOS and Android, and more.
RAD Studio combines the time and cost efficiency of working with a single codebase with the superior performance and security of platform-native applications. It’s safe to say this combination of benefits RAD Studio provides is indeed singular.
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The World’s Biggest Marketplace
Mobile is essentially the world’s biggest marketplace, where each “shopper” spends at least 3 hours and 15 minutes each day and “checks in” 58 times each day on average, according to Exploding Topics.
And according to StatCounter, mobile devices maintain around 60% market share compared to 38% for desktop and 2% for tablets.
Mobile is Where The Customers Are
Advertising on mobile devices is growing at a breakneck pace and makes up the lion’s share of advertising spend.
According to eMarketer, advertising on mobile is projected to grow from $145 billion in 2021 to $202 billion in 2024, an increase of just under 40%. Meanwhile, mobile devices consistently attract more than 65% of total digital ad spend.
Why Mobile is so Important
Besides the fact that mobile is “where everyone’s hanging out,” there are several reasons why mobile is so important and appealing for advertisers.
One is that mobile users are easily accessible and open for hyper-targeting.
Second, it’s easy for marketers to track campaign performance on mobile, with a variety of tracking and reporting tools.
Third, advertising on mobile is highly cost-effective, partially as a result of the available optimization opportunities.
Quality of User Experience is King
The quality of the user experience weighs heavily on the success of mobile apps and games.
Besides the focus on desktop, therefore, the RAD Studio product team also takes great care through successive releases to improve those features that enable developers to build mobile apps swiftly while also helping them deliver a superior mobile user experience to their own users.
These features have a significant positive impact on both the design and the development sides of building and publishing mobile apps.
Here are the most important you should know about:
Improved VCL and FireMonkey Libraries
RAD Studio’s VCL and FMX libraries form the core of the IDE’s visual approach to app design. They’re designed to support fast and consistent UI development, and are a constant focus for improvements by the product team.
Multi-Device Icon Generator
Just generating the visuals for both iOS and Android apps takes up a large chunk of time from the app publishing process. Like many other aspects of that process, RAD Studio’s multi-device icon generator reduces this task to no more than a few clicks.
Images sourced from the Cornelius Concepts blog
Split Editor Views in RAD Studio IDE
In the RAD Studio IDE, the same file can be edited simultaneously in multiple screens, enabling developers to keep an eye on both the code and the design at the same time, speeding up development.
Target The Latest Platform Versions!
Nothing’s worse for a mobile app than the failure to keep up with platform changes. RAD Studio 12.1 officially supports iOS 17, Android 14, and macOS Sonoma. Delphi 12.1 also supports Ubuntu 22 LTS, and both Delphi and C++ Builder target Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022.
RAD Studio 12.1 has also already updated support for Android API to level 34 in advance of new Google Play Store app submission requirements due in August 2024.
Design and Development on 4k+ Screens!
Developers who are on RAD Studio 12 and 12.1 are working on 4k+ high-resolution screens that deliver cleaner, sharper fonts and icons, and high-resolution support throughout the IDE windows, including in the VCL and FMX form designers and code editor.
Use VCL Styles at Design Time!
This is another great time-saver that also results in superior app design and user experience. Developers can now prototype UIs very fast by seeing instantly at design-time how styled forms and controls will look when running.
SKIA Support for UI Design in FireMonkey
New addition improves performance and quality in rendering graphics and UI controls across all target platforms.
Improved Mobile Design with FireMonkey Enhancements
The FireMonkey framework now has improved Android platform support, split-screen iOS and Android panes, full-set icon and splash screen wizard, and as mentioned earlier, support for Android API level 34.
Embedded InterBase Dev Edition!
RAD Studio 12 and 12.1 now ships with the recently released InterBase 2020 Update 5 Developer edition and IBLite/ToGo edition for fully configured multi-platform, multi-device apps without additional database costs.
BONUS
Save Time and Money on Maintenance and Updates
This is listed as a bonus is not a feature of the IDE itself, but rather the core benefit of using RAD Studio to design and publish mobile applications as part of your portfolio.
The up front investment in acquiring RAD Studio licenses is balanced against the significant long-term savings, development speed, and much faster design iteration and time to market.
Is it time to migrate your apps to RAD Studio 12.1? Request a callback and let’s talk about your options.