Top 5 frameworks for mobile hybrid apps: React Native, Xamarin, Ionic, PhoneGap, Sencha Touch

If you’re the one who still doesn’t know the term “a hybrid app”, it`s the application that runs on both Android and iOS platforms and its code can be used for progressive web applications and even desktop applications (after some minor changes) .

Since the appearance of such apps, a number of frameworks for hybrid apps development have emerged, some of them are still in active use, while others are no longer relevant or not in an active development.

In the article below we have gathered a list of the best and useful frameworks for the time being that can help you build great mobile hybrid applications.

React Native

React Native is a highly popular framework that is used by such giants as Facebook, Instagram, Walmart, etc. With React Native, you don’t build a mobile web app, an HTML5 app, or a hybrid app; you build a real mobile app that’s indistinguishable from an app built using Objective-C or Java. React Native uses the same fundamental UI building blocks as regular iOS and Android apps. You just put those building blocks together using JavaScript and React.

Features:

•  React Native works for multiple platforms, it lets you copy the codebase between Android and iOS;
•  provides various components which can be used to speed up the development process;
•  uses declarative programming which makes detecting bugs simpler;
•  it`s extremely fast and offers great performance;
•  has large community.

Xamarin

Founded in 2011 and owned by Microsoft, Xamarin is one of the hottest tools for building cross-platform apps. With a C# shared codebase, developers can use Xamarin tools to write native Android, iOS, and Windows apps with native user interfaces and share code across multiple platforms, including Windows and MacOS.

Features:

•  It allows you to perform all the functions in C# which you can do in Objective-C, Java, C or Swift;
•  It has native UI, native API access, and native performance;
•  Large community: more than 1.4 million developers;
•  C# expertise is easy to find and hire.

Ionic

The Ionic Framework is a complete open-source SDK for hybrid mobile app development. Built on top of Angular.js and Apache Cordova, Ionic provides tools and services for developing hybrid mobile apps using Web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and Sass.

Features:

•  under-the-hood, ionic is wrapping Angular framework supporting AngularJS in development;
•  due to AngularJS, it is capable of delivering almost native-like experiences so you hardly can distinguish the hybrid app from the native one;
•  its extension ngCordova provides almost native features like Geolocation and Push notification;
•  it`s scalable;
•  it`s open-source and free.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is an opensource and simplest cross-platform framework. It allows creating mobile apps utilizing Web APIs, i.e. it wraps up web applications in a native app shell and then implements them in native stores for different platforms. It uses a cloud-based service called ‘Build’ with which you can compile apps for several operating systems without the need to install SDKs of each platform.

Features:

•  it is based on the leading and the latest web development technologies including HTML 5, CSS 3, and JavaScript to create GCI;
•  supports iOS, Android, Palm, BlackBerry, Symbian, and iPad &Single code development for all of the platforms;
•  has small learning curve and anyone with basic knowledge of HTML5/CSS/JavaScript can use it;
•  Open-source.

Sencha Touch

Sencha Touch is an enterprise-grade product for building cross-platform end to end mobile web apps with HTML5 and JavaScript. Sencha Touch scores highly against its competitors by providing a native look and feel across all of the platforms it supports.

Features:

•  at the core of Sencha is ExtJS, a JavaScript framework enables developers to create the high-end mobile application running with high-performance metrics and excellent UX;
•  it packs ready to use widgets with native-like display & experiences;
•  it consisting of drag-n-drop visual app builder based on HTML 5 and offers numerous templates, so it is easy for novice developers too.

These are some best mobile frameworks that can be used to develop cross-platform mobile applications.

Whenever you select a hybrid mobile app framework, you have to pay special concern to your target & ask the question to yourself – what do you want from your application. You have to be assured that you choose the appropriate hybrid mobile app framework for your requirements.

And what is the best framework in your opinion?