How to Build Cross Platform Apps in Python

In this tutorial we want to learn How to Build Cross Platform Apps in Python, building cross platform applications are one of the important factors in todays software development. when you want to build an app, then it is important that all users on different operating systems like Windows, macOS and Linux can access the app. Python offers different tools and libraries for building cross platform applications. in this article we are going to talk about some of these libraries and also we are going to create an example in one of these libraries.

Why Python for Cross-Platform Development?

Python is an excellent choice for building cross platform applications, because it has high-level syntax, different libraries and big community support. These are some key reasons:

Portability: Python code is portable, it means that you can write a code on one operating system and you can run it on another with less modifications.

Rich Ecosystem: Python has a rich ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, such as PyQt5/PyQt6, Kivy and Tkinter, these libraries are designed for building cross-platform applications.
Community and Support: Python has large community, it means that you can easily find resources, tutorials and supports when you want to develop your applications.

Choosing Right Framework for Cross Platform Development

As i have already mentioned that there are different libraries that you can use for building cross platform applications in Python. these are some popular and powerful libraries that you can use, but we will create an example on Kivy.

1. Kivy

Kivy is an open source and one of the best Python framework for building multitouch applications. This library is popular for building applications that runs on multiple platforms, like Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.

2. PyQt

PyQt is a set of Python bindings for Qt application framework, and it is used for building graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Using PyQt you can build applications with native looking UIs for multiple platforms, there are two bindings of PyQt, we have PyQt5 and the latest version PyQt6.

3. Tkinter

Tkinter is standard GUI library for Python, TKinter is included in Python, it means that you don’t need to install this library, TKinter is simple and easy, and this is one of the best choice for beginners.

Building Cross Platform Apps wit Python Kivy

Now let’s create a simple example in Kivy

First of all you need to install Kivy.

pip install Kivy

1	pip install Kivy

After that you have installed Kivy, next step is to create new Kivy app. you can create a new Kivy app by creating new Python file and importing the necessary Kivy modules like this.

import kivy
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.label import Label

class MyApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return Label(text="Welcome to codeloop.org")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    MyApp().run()

import kivy

from kivy.app import App

from kivy.uix.label import Label

class MyApp(App):

def build(self):

return Label(text="Welcome to codeloop.org")

if __name__ == "__main__":

MyApp().run()

in this example we have imported necessary Kivy modules and created new class called MyApp that extends from App class. we have defined build() method for the class that returns Label widget with text Welcome to geekscoders.com.

And lastly we have added conditional statement to check if the file is being run as the main code. if it is, we creates new instance of the MyApp class and call its run() method to start app.

Run the complete code and this will be the result

How to Build Cross Platform Apps in Python

In the previous example we have created simple cross platform App with Kivy & Python, now let’s add event to our GUI app, for example iam going to create a button in my GUI app and after clicking of the button i want to change the text of the label.

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.button import Button
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout

class MyApp(App):
    def build(self):
        # Create BoxLayout
        layout = BoxLayout(orientation='vertical')

        # Add Label widget to the layout
        self.label = Label(text="Hello")
        layout.add_widget(self.label)

        # Add Button widget to the layout
        button = Button(text='Click me')
        button.bind(on_press=self.on_button_click)
        layout.add_widget(button)

        return layout

    def on_button_click(self, button):
        self.label.text = 'Welcome to codeloop.org'
        self.label.font_size = 30

if __name__ == "__main__":
    MyApp().run()

from kivy.app import App

from kivy.uix.label import Label

from kivy.uix.button import Button

from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout

class MyApp(App):

def build(self):

# Create BoxLayout

layout = BoxLayout(orientation='vertical')

# Add Label widget to the layout

self.label = Label(text="Hello")

layout.add_widget(self.label)

# Add Button widget to the layout

button = Button(text='Click me')

button.bind(on_press=self.on_button_click)

layout.add_widget(button)

return layout

def on_button_click(self, button):

self.label.text = 'Welcome to codeloop.org'

self.label.font_size = 30

if __name__ == "__main__":

MyApp().run()

In this updated example we have added a BoxLayout widget to the app and added a Label and Button widget to the layout. we have also defined an on_button_click() method that is called when the button is clicked.

for handling button click event, we have used bind() method to bind on_press event of the Button widget to on_button_click() method. when the button is clicked, on_button_click() method is called and the label text is updated.

Run the code click on the button and this will be the result

Cross Platform Packaging

After that you’ve developed your application, the next step is to package it, and we want that it can run on different platforms. These tools are commonly used for packaging Python applications:

1. PyInstaller

PyInstaller is one of the best and popular tool that converts Python applications into standalone executables for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

You can install Pyinstaller using pip command

pip install pyinstaller

1	pip install pyinstaller

2. cx_Freeze

cx_Freeze is another cross platform packaging tool that works similarly to PyInstaller. It supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is often used in enterprise environments.

You can install cx_Freeze using pip command

pip install cx-Freeze

1	pip install cx-Freeze

3. Briefcase

Briefcase is a packaging tool that works well with the BeeWare suite of tools. It allows you to deploy your Python application across multiple platforms, including mobile platforms like Android and iOS.

You can install Briefcase using pip command

pip install briefcase

1	pip install briefcase

Best Practices

When building cross platform apps in Python, you need to consider these best practices:

Test on Multiple Platforms: Ensure that your application works smoothly on all target platforms by testing it directly.
Use Virtual Environments: Isolate your project dependencies using virtual environments to avoid conflicts between different libraries.

Handle Platform-Specific Features: Some features might work differently on different platforms. Handle these cases gracefully in your code.
Optimize for Performance: Cross platform applications can sometimes have performance overhead. Profile and optimize your code to ensure a smooth user experience.

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