The number of people using smartphones is on the move and growing rapidly. As reported by
Consequently, it has allowed businesses to reach customers easily on mobile devices, which has brought major changes in the modern world. Many companies took advantage of this opportunity and started building mobile applications for their business using hybrid technology.
Hybrid app development methodology allows the developer to build more efficient and scalable mobile applications using a single codebase that work well on both Android & iOS platforms. Hybrid mobile apps are proven to be the most successful applications for growing businesses with complete flexibility.
Many hybrid mobile app development frameworks are out there in the market today, and in some cases, it is difficult to decide which framework fits your mobile application.
Well, in this article, we will discuss the top hybrid mobile app development frameworks and guide you on how to choose the best app development frameworks for your business application.
What are Hybrid App Development Frameworks?
Hybrid app development frameworks allow app developers to build applications that operate seamlessly across all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, etc.
Hybrid frameworks make mobile app development faster by allowing developers to create applications in a minimum time with the same code (one set of the codebase) for all platforms.
Therefore, it helps businesses to release and launch their product app to the market without compromising the quality. A few statistics you must know about hybrid app development frameworks, are:
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As stated by
Statista , around 54.8% of global website traffic is generated by mobile devices. -
The likelihood of users using cross-platform applications is significantly higher.
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Around 80% of users aren't fussed about the differences between hybrid apps and native apps.
The following frameworks have been ranked as the top hybrid mobile development frameworks in 2022:
Choosing the best hybrid app development framework is not that easy as it seems. It requires in-depth determination of the application as it widely impacts your app and business.
To help you choose the best cross-platform framework, check out the following list of top hybrid mobile app development frameworks in 2022 that you consider for your app development project.
Flutter
Developed by Google, Flutter is the most popular hybrid app development framework used for creating a highly interactive and aesthetically pleasing app.
It provides a powerful UI toolkit that helps to build native-like apps for mobile, desktop, and web platforms. Flutter comes with highly customized widgets and works on a codebase to develop mobile applications faster and more efficiently.
It creates visuals with Skia, a 2D rendering engine, and helps to improve the practical functionality of components using the layered architecture.
Pros of Flutter are:
- A hot reload feature lets developers quickly see the changes in the app.
- Attractive UI designs with various design elements.
- Comes with widgets.
- Perfect fit for cross-platform applications.
- Fast and Lightning Speed.
- An ideal choice for MVP-based development.
- The ability to write the code dynamically.
- It has its own widgets.
- Great compatibility with Fuchsia.
Cons of Flutter are:
- As the framework is new so it has a lot of ground to cover.
- Insufficient profile data completion (iOS).
- Apps built on Flutter are comparatively huge (around 40% larger) than native apps.
- Require developers to learn Dart before working on Flutter.
- Some features come with poor support.
Ionic
No doubt, Ionic is the most popular hybrid mobile app development framework used for creating modern and innovative mobile applications. It allows app developers to build stunning designs with eye-catching graphical representations of the application. Ionic provides all UI design aspects, including typography, innovative themes, image design & placement, and more.
Introduced in 2013, Ionic is one of the most modest hybrid app development frameworks that comes with a rich library, in-built tools, and front-end building & premier user interface components, enabling app developers to build the highest quality PWAs.
Pros of the Ionic Platform:
- Numerous UI elements for exquisite designs.
- Well-organized documentation that makes it easier to use and understand.
- Strong community support.
- Easy to update the applications.
- Easy to catalyze the process with Angular concepts, reducing time spent on the framework.
- It comes with native functionalities.
- Hassle-free app setups using interactive layouts
Cons of the Ionic framework:
- The inherent testing occurs when the browser is not able to give appropriate information relevant to the smartphone's surroundings.
- Doesn’t include a hot reloading feature.
- More dependency on plugins.
- Not ideal for large mobile applications.
Xamarin
Developed by tech giant Microsoft, Xamarin is another yet the most popular hybrid mobile app development for building functionality-rich cross-platform applications. Xamarin uses cutting-edge languages C# which is highly advanced compared to other programming languages Java and Objective-C.
It is used for creating hybrid mobile applications that can be run across all major platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows. It comes with all essential tools and a great user interface to build stunning, efficient, and robust mobile applications.
Pros of Xamarin frameworks are:
- Streamlined testing procedure.
- Native UI features.
- Great code reusability for different platforms.
- Ability to connect apps with hardware components via plugins without affecting device performance.
- It comes with its developed ecosystems such as Xamarin SDKs, Xamarin Studio, Xamarin Test Cloud, and Xamarin Insights.
- Great learning opportunities.
- Hassle-free API integration.
- Fast GUI prototyping
- Smooth code sharing
- Easy maintenance
- Unmatched support for hardware devices via modules and plugins.
- Huge community support.
Cons of Xamarin frameworks are:
- Very expensive as compared to other mobile web app frameworks.
- Lack of expertise in Xamarin.
- Android and iOS platform-specific limitations.
- Complex API integration with overhead codes.
- Insufficient API support.
- Not best fit for a game application.
PhoneGap
Developed by Nitobi in 2009, PhoneGap is an open-source hybrid mobile app development framework widely used to build cross-platform applications. CSS and HTML5 are used to render the source code, and JavaScript is used to implement the logic.
PhoneGap is supported by the Cordova framework and Adobe, and that is why it is called Apache Cordova.
Pros of PhoneGap are:
- Great compatibility with iOS, Android, and Windows 7.
- Allows developers to build applications easier and faster in a quick turnaround time.
- Complete flexible as it supports HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
- A single codebase works for Android, iOS, and Windows 7 platforms.
- Robust backend system.
- Quick to learn.
- Quick and fast Rapid testing for the application.
- Plugin architecture compatibility.
Cons of PhoneGap are:
- Lower app performance.
- Perfect fit for small businesses.
- Not compatible with all functionalities.
- Improves efficiency when working with native apps.
- Insufficient pre-built UI widgets.
React Native
React Native is the most popular and open-source hybrid mobile app development framework introduced by Facebook in the market. The framework offers great support to IDEs and various other tools used for mobile app development.
React Native has great potential as it provides users with a native-like experience and great stability. Developers can easily integrate powerful features like live reloading, code reusability, and native plugins with the platform.
Pros of React Native are:
- Easy to reuse the code for both Android and iOS platforms.
- Ability to make changes to the live server.
- Automatically detects errors and fixes them in no time.
- Greatly reduced cost with max code reusability.
- Native code rendering.
- Node.Js supported.
- The functionality of Node Packet Manager (NPM) installation, which makes it easier for newcomers.
- Double screen Live Reload feature that allows developers to do code modification and preview the changes at once.
- The reduced development process for application.
- Great compatibility with lots of plugins and hardware components.
Cons of React Native are:
- It’s not suitable for apps with different screens, heavy special effects, UI transitions, and various interactions.
- Insufficient navigation components.
- Required updates in accessing hardware components.
- Lack of custom modules.
Kendo UI
Kendo UI is one of the best hybrid mobile app development frameworks used for building high-performance, interactive, and more user-friendly applications. It comes with a comprehensive range of collections, including various JavaScript UI components with rich libraries of React, Agular, Vue, jQuery, etc.
With Kendo UI, developers can easily add advanced UI components into the existing design with the help of existing libraries. Some top features such as spreadsheets, advanced data grid components, charts, schedules, etc.
Pros of Kendo UI:
- Easy to export data to multiple mime formats.
- Users can navigate through the topics based on the present hierarchy.
- Superb editor control.
Cons of Kendo UI:
- Poor support in some cases.
- Learning curve data source.
- Poor documentation.
NativeScript
NativeScript is a perfect hybrid app development framework for businesses who want to code their cross-platform in JavaScript, TypeScript, NativeScript, or Angular.
It enables developers to create applications using JavaScript or other programming languages that transpile to javascript, including TypeScript and Angular.
NativeScript allows developers to build native-like apps that use the same APIs for Xcode or Android studio. Developers can easily integrate apps with party libraries such as Maven, CocoaPods, and npm.js without requiring the wrapper.
Pros of NativeScript are:
- Easy to execute in no time.
- Compiled into native code and executed natively.
- Ability to split content
- Vue.js supported.
Cons of NativeScript are:
- Poor documentation.
- Includes various unrealistic assumptions in examples.
- Un-organized description of the environment.
Take Away
There are plenty of options available to help you choose the best hybrid mobile app development frameworks in 2022, for your app development project.
The above hybrid frameworks we discussed are the top-rated hybrid mobile app development frameworks used for building top-notch cross-platform applications worldwide.
However, each mobile app framework has its pros and cons, so it is best to choose them based on your budget and application needs.