Comparing Xamarin and Delphi XE5 to Xcode for Cross Platform Mobile App Development

Comparing Xamarin and Delphi XE5 to Xcode for Cross Platform Mobile App Development

I created the starter application for a Master Detail app for iPad using Xamarin and Delphi XE5. My findings are outlined below.

Xamarin:

• Generates what looks like exactly the same project as XCode.
• The app contains Add, Edit and Delete buttons that are hooked up and working. (Just like the Xcode project.)
• When you rotate the screen to portrait mode, the menu hides and can be shown again by tapping the menu button at the top left. (Just like the Xcode project.)
• After scrolling and stopping, I tap a menu item and it immediately opens that item on the right. (Just like the Xcode project.) This is the behavior I expected. This is how the email app that comes with iOS works.
• If I scroll and stop, then lift my finger, the scrollbar goes away almost immediately so I can tap another item. (Just like the Xcode project.) That is expected behavior.
• If the app is in landscape mode and I click the Home button and then return to the app again, it is is still in landscape mode. (Just like the Xcode project.) That is the behavior I expected.

• Generates a project that looks somewhat similar to the XCode project but with pictures.
• Does not have Add, Edit or Delete functionality but it does have arrows for moving Next and Previous.
• When rotating to portrait mode the menu does not hide, rather the body on the right gets thinner.
• After scrolling and stopping, I tap a menu item but that just stops the scrolling. I have to tap again to open the item. That is annoying and is not the behavior I expected.
• If I scroll and stop, then lift my finger, the scrollbar goes away after a short delay so I have to either wait until it goes away before tapping another item, or tap the other item twice. (Sometimes the scrollbar doesn't go away until I tap again.) Both are not the behavior I expected. It is worth noting here that on an Android project during a previous experiment using Delphi, I ran into an issue where if you scroll an area that contains a button and then you tap the button, it sometimes requires you to tap it a second time before it will register the tap event.Delphi supposedly compiles down to be a native app, but it seems that it uses it's own custom scrollable area component that does not have the same behavior as the real one.
• If the app is in landscape mode and I click the Home button and then return to the app again, it is back in Portrait mode, but then it rotates back to landscape mode. I would have expected it to be landscape mode again when returning to it.