Mobile apps are an integral part of today’s world. Whether it is the corporate world or for individuals, mobile apps play a huge role in easing the way businesses perform. Mobile apps help customers connect to the services that different businesses provide and these apps also enable customers to get all the business information in a faster way.

There are numerous ways of mobile app development and in this blog, we are going to discuss what Mobile app development frameworks are and how these frameworks help mobile app developers in building applications.

What Is Mobile App Development Framework

A mobile app development framework works as a fundamental structure for developers to build the software. A framework is a collection of different libraries and methods providing developers with the required code to build the applications and this means that they do not have to start coding from scratch. Hence frameworks save a lot of time and turn out to be cost-effective manner of mobile app development.

Today many mobile app development companies use a different kind of mobile app frameworks which acts as a layout for their mobile app developers, allowing them to build software applications.

Types Of Mobile App Development Framework

Mobile app frameworks can be divided into three categories which are Native apps, Web apps, and Hybrid apps. Let’s discuss these categories in detail:

1. NATIVE APPS: Native apps are those which are made to run on a specific platform or device. For example, there are apps that can only run on the Android operating system and then some apps can only run on iOS.

• WEB APPS: A web app is an application software that is accessed through a web browser. Web apps are made for remotely located people to connect with the services that certain businesses provide.

• HYBRID APPS: Hybrid apps are the ones that can run on any device or operating system. These are also called cross-platform apps. The developer has to write the code once and that code can run on any platform, be it Android or iOS or Windows.

Let’s look at some of the most popular mobile app development frameworks:

1. REACT NATIVE: React native is one of the most popular and most recommended mobile app development frameworks which is based on JavaScript. The React Native app framework is open source and it was created by Facebook. While it is a cross-platform app framework, its ability to create native-like apps that can run on any platform, compels mobile app developers to route for it.

The developers can use the same codebase to create native-like apps which are actually capable of running on both Android and iOS. Here are some benefits of this framework:

• It is very cost-effective and it lets the developers reuse the code.
• This framework lets developers reuse some of the components for optimized performance.
• It provides ease of maintenance to mobile app development companies.
• It provides compatibility with third-party plug-ins.

2. XAMARIN: Another famous mobile app development framework is Xamarin which is based on .net and c#. It is an open source and a cross-platform framework and it was created by Nat Friedman which was later acquired by Microsoft.

This framework allows mobile app development companies to create software that is native to different platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows by allowing the developers to share a common codebase. It lets the developers use the native UI elements with required libraries and a set of methods and tools.

• It allows the developers to access the native APIs and lets them use the UI components.
• It provides huge community support.
• With Xamarin, it is easy to integrate APIs.
• It provides a faster development process and it is very cost-effective.

3. FLUTTER: Flutter is another popular mobile app development framework that was created by Google. It was created as a UI toolkit to build native applications which can run on any device.

To build both android and iOS applications, it uses the same codebase hence this is a cross-platform application framework. It has a large range of tools that are customizable which allows developers to build apps within the specified time. With the help of its graphics engine, it’s able to build visuals.

• The apps that are built in this framework provide native performance.
• Its UI is flexible to use.
• Its application development is faster.
• It provides widgets.
• It has the ability to provide material design
• 4. IONIC: Ionic is an open-source and cross-platform mobile app development framework that was created in 2013. To build mobile applications, it uses the technologies such as CSS, JavaScript and HTML. The developer creates the code once and it can run on every device, be it Android or iOS or Windows.

Ionic offers its own Command Line Interface and many built-in features such as App packages that are based on Cordova. It also has so many UI components such as a navigation menu, action sheet, forms, filters, etc.

• Like other frameworks, this also provides faster application development.
• It is based on AngularJS.
• It has a rich set of built-in UI components.
• It provides Corodova plug-ins.
• It is platform-independent.
• NODE.JS: Node.js is a cross-platform mobile app framework that is used the most for developing cross-platform apps. It is a runtime framework based on JavaScript and it was built on chrome V8. With this framework, developers can build server-side applications.

It has a rich set of libraries of JavaScript modules which helps developers to build mobile apps with ease. Also, it is capable of handling concurrent connections. The apps that are built in this framework are efficient.

• This framework is extremely fast.
• There is no buffering while uploading the audio and video files.
• Node.js mobile app development framework is highly scalable.
• The Node.js framework works on a single-thread model.
• It has an asynchronous I/O and it is event-driven.

• APPCELERATOR TITANIUM: The Titanium mobile app framework was created by Appcelerator Inc. It is an open-source mobile app development framework that lets developers build mobile apps for all platforms. It provides more than 5000 APIs for different operating systems such as Android, Windows, and iOS.

It is a JavaScript-based Software Development Toolkit and it facilitates its developers to reuse 90% of the code to build mobile apps for multiple platforms. It offers a rich set of UI components for developers to create the best UI for the users.

• It provides better code reusability as compared to the other frameworks.
• It has many features for managing APIs.
• It provides an easier integration of APIs.
• One of the reasons why mobile app development companies prefer this framework is its compatibility with all platforms.
• It provides faster app development.

• NATIVE SCRIPT: The Native Script mobile app framework works using Angular, JavaScript, Vue.js or typescript. It is an open-source framework. This framework also lets its developers use the same codebase for building apps for both Android and iOS.

This framework is profitable for those developers who want to build mobile apps for multiple platforms in a short span of time in a cost-effective manner. It uses the same APIs which are used in Xcode and Android Studio.

• It’s a cross-platform development framework.
• It provides strong backend support.
• The apps built in this framework provide native performance.
• The developers can directly access the Android and iOS APIs.

• SENCHA TOUCH: Sencha Touch is an open-source and cross-platform mobile app development framework. There are many features in this framework that attract mobile app development companies to choose it over other frameworks.

It is a JavaScript-based framework that works on the MVC architecture. Hence its ability to separate the application code and control code makes the mobile applications flexible and they are also easy to maintain. The development speed also gets paced up as it allows the users to reuse the code.

• It provides themes that give a native feels to all devices and platforms.
• It also provides code compatibility.
• It provides support for Cordova integration.
• It provides a rich set of UI widgets that are customizable.
• It offers many UI components such as menus, toolbars, forms, and carousels, etc.

• PhoneGap: it is an open-source cross-platform framework that works using technologies such as CSS, HTML5 and JavaScript. It also provides the facility for the developers to share the mobile applications in the cloud for feedback that other developers can share.

It allows developers to build applications using existing web technologies. The PhoneGap framework provides support for some in-built features such as storage, phonebook, camera, and GPS etc.

• It works on existing web technologies such as JavaScript, CSS and HTML5. That’s why it is considered one of the most effective mobile app frameworks.
• Since it is a cross-platform framework, it allows developers to use a single code for making mobile apps for different platforms.
• It provides access to native device APIs.
•  CORONA SDK: Corona SDK is one of the mobile app frameworks which is an open source and cross-platform development app framework. It provides the developers with the facility of creating 2D applications for all operating systems.

This is one of the frameworks which provides faster gaming and mobile app development. This framework is free of cost and provides real-time testing.

• With the use its 1000 of APIs, developers can build animations, add images and music, have texture management, etc.
• The developers can have a real-time preview of the application.
• It provides support for plug-ins such as analytics, advertising, media, etc.
• Its dependency on the Lua programming language makes it powerful.

So these are some of the most popular mobile app frameworks that mobile app development companies consider for building mobile apps which can be native, web or hybrid. If you think of having a mobile app which is of any type as mentioned above then connect to Codenance to hire mobile app developers who are highly professional and experienced in building robust mobile applications.