Hybrid Mobile App Development Frameworks: Top Picks for 2021
The world is mobile, this much has been for everyone to see. After all, what do you use to shop for furniture, order groceries or food for delivery, and countless other such things? Mobile apps, of course. Interestingly, technology has come along enough that companies can now target multiple OS platforms in one go. We will not beat around the bush — this advancement in app development is called hybrid app development, saving companies the effort of making apps for each platform. So, what do you need to develop hybrid apps? Hybrid frameworks, of course!
The said development frameworks created a stir in the market with all the amazing functionalities and features they offer. Their capability to produce native-like apps enables making the developer’s life easier.
Here are our top picks for hybrid app frameworks to help you get started.
1. Ionic: This one finds mention at the top of the list because it is just that popular among developers as well as companies. This CSS-based framework is based on AngularJS and is renowned for enabling the development of top-class Progressive Web Apps among other things. It is fortified with an extensive library aimed at enabling the development of high-quality front-ends, which can be further fortified with images, graphics, etc.
2. React Native: A JavaScript-based framework, React Native is a terrific hybrid mobile app framework. Steep learning curve apart, this framework is a great tool that allows developers to put the native OS platforms’ code bases to work for the app. Then there are also features such as automatic error detection and hot deployment, which allow apps to be updated and modified without interrupting most of the app’s performance and operations.
3. Flutter: Easily among the most popular choice of hybrid frameworks, Flutter is a Google-backed offering that is renowned for its ability to enable efficient development of apps, thanks to the fact that it involves just one codebase for both iOS and Android. Furthermore, it offers plenty of scope to innovate with UIs, leveraging agile design, interactive elements, etc. What further drives the popularity of this open-source framework is that it offers developers access to a humongous number of options when it comes to widgets and such, thus ensuring high levels of customization can be easily achieved.
4. PhoneGap: An Adobe offering, PhoneGap is among the quickest frameworks for mobile app development. Not only that, it does not necessitate any specialized knowledge, which translates into a low bar of entry, i.e. it is simple to use. In addition to that, it also allows developers to closely leverage APIs, thus saving them the effort of multi-platform verification. Oh, and did we mention it is also highly conducive for the development of a variety of apps, be it for mobile devices or desktops.
Developing hybrid mobile apps in this day and age is no longer an option, but a necessity. After all, this mobile app development approach not only gives businesses access to a decidedly bigger audience base but also enables them to save considerable amounts of money that would otherwise be spent developing individual apps for each of the OS platforms they want to target. However, for hybrid app development to deliver the desired results, it is imperative to carefully choose a framework. The options listed above are some of the finest in the market and, obviously, conducive to the development of top-notch apps. Just make sure that the framework you choose fits your business’s unique requirements.
