Hybrid App Development

1. React Native

In easy words, " React Native is an open-source mobile application framework created by Facebook, Inc. It is used to develop applications for Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, tvOS, Web, Windows and UWP by enabling developers to use React along with native platform capabilities. " Described by its creators as “A JavaScript library for building user interfaces”, it focuses on the viewer portion of the application. It helps you to compose a rich User Interface for your mobile application. React Native uses the same fundamental UI building blocks as regular iOS and Android apps.

Pros :

• Able to use the code of different native platforms.
• Offers numerous helpful instruments to automate and accelerate development.
• Provides automatic error detection.
• Features hot deployment, meaning apps can be altered on a running server.

Cons :

• React Native has certain hardware flaws.
• Navigation is somewhat complex, making the system difficult for new users to master.

2. Ionic Framework

Ionic is a complete open-source SDK for hybrid mobile app development created by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co. in 2013. The original version was released in 2013 and built on top of AngularJS and Apache Cordova. It develops hybrid apps using Web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and Sass. They have over 120 native device features like Bluetooth, HealthKit, Finger Print Auth, and more with Cordova/PhoneGap plugins and TypeScript extensions.

Pros :

• Highly reliable, due to the use of well-tested programming languages.
• Quick development, requiring minimal extra actions on the part of the user.
• When used with AngularJS, Ionic allows for the creation of complex and extraordinary apps.

Cons :

• App navigation is somewhat inconvenient.
• Since performance relies on AngularJS, this platform may be of little use to passionate JavaScript specialists.
• Low performance of end products compared to Native apps.

3. Flutter

Flutter is Google’s UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. It is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop applications for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Google Fuchsia, and the web from a single codebase. The first version of Flutter was known as codename "Sky" and ran on the Android operating system.

Pros :

• Open-source technology that is accessible to all interested developers.
• Real-time updates. No need to stop your product and launch it again to make changes.
• Compatible with multiple operational systems.
• Extensive choice of widgets for easy customization.
• All key features are at the developer’s fingertips.

Cons :

• Like any new platform, this framework has some flaws, which are likely to be corrected in the future. For now, very few developers are willing to risk the quality of their projects for the sake of curiosity, preferring well-tested and reliable solutions.
• Apps size must be at least 4 MB.
• Absence of free advanced tools.
• Failure to quickly adapt to changes in leading operational systems.

4. Xamarian

Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin. Android and Xamarin.iOS, which are cross-platform implementations of the Common Language Infrastructure and Common Language Specifications.

Pros :

• Simplified testing.
• Support from Microsoft. The tech giant supplies advanced tools to enhance the framework.
• 70% of the codebase is suitable for cross-platform use, enabling developers to make alterations to create customized products.
• Interesting platform-specific options to supplement the general codebase.
• Performance is similar to native products.

Cons :

• Only internal elements are supported by the platform. You may face challenges when introducing external libraries.
• Requires laborious integration.
• Costly license, which not every business can afford.

5. Onsen UI

Onsen UI is an open-source UI framework and components for HTML5 hybrid mobile app development, based on PhoneGap / Cordova. It allows developers to create mobile apps using Web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and JavaScript.

Pros :

• Cost-effective.
• Independent from jQuery and AngularJS, although the framework can be synced with them.
• High usability.
• Advanced features allow you to create different app elements automatically, based on high-quality and non-trivial templates.

Cons :

• Templates from this platform are not published on GitHub and other repositories.
• Much effort is required to customize standard templates.

6. Adobe Phonegap

Apache Cordova is a mobile application development framework created by Nitobi. Adobe Systems purchased Nitobi in 2011, rebranded it as PhoneGap, and later released an open-source version of the software called Apache Cordova.

Pros :

• Low entry bar. No investments and specific knowledge needed.
• You can work closely with API, not wasting time on multi-platform validation.
• Suitable for a large variety of desktop and mobile devices.

Cons :

• Some other solutions listed here provide much better performance.
• The system could use more widget options.

7. Intel XDX

Intel XDK was an Integrated Development Environment created by Intel to create native apps for mobile phones and tablets using web technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Apps were created edited and simulated using the IDE then exported to Adobe® PhoneGap or Cordova CLI for compilation into a native code app.

Pros :

• Authors of this technology constantly work to improve it and enable synchronization with an increasing number of operational systems.
• An extensive toolkit satisfies all developer needs.
• Preview on the go. You can check out how individual elements will look, even before the project’s completion.

Cons :

• Even though drag-and-drop functionality can be an advantage, it has the downside of extra code that overloads the system.

8. Corona SDK

Pros :

• When changes are made to the system, a developer instantly sees the results
• Thanks to a convenient simulator equipped with all the necessary features, you can quickly set up your working environment.
• Well-thought-out API.
• Detailed guidelines that help you quickly master all the elements of the framework.
• Stable and prompt operation.

Cons :

• Poor compatibility with external libraries.
• The key elements of the platform are written in Lua, which is unknown to many developers.
• Only a small part of the code suits multiple operational systems. The bulk must be written in several copies.

9. jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile is a touch-optimized web framework, more specifically a JavaScript library, developed by the jQuery project team.

Pros :

• Convenient menus make apps extremely user-friendly.
• This technology is not new and can be called a veteran in the framework market. It has undergone numerous transformations and reached its ideal state, while many new frameworks are only beginning their journey to perfection.
• Developers need to make minimal efforts to create different app elements.
• Apps adapt to users’ devices and screen sizes.
• Since the framework mainly uses HTML5 and JavaScript, no extraordinary knowledge is required to master it.
• Includes addon for creating custom themes.

Cons :

• The use of custom themes may elicit CSS-related problems.
• While the platform copes well with simple projects, it may not perform as well for complex ones.
• Troublesome .NET interaction.

10. Mobile Angular UI

Pros :

• This is a completely free extension, and the developer even supplies some optional libraries as a bonus.

Cons :

• Bootstrap’s internal issues often provoke failures.