Of late, the popularity of hybrid mobile apps has increased dramatically owing to the fact that such mobile applications support several mobile platforms. Additionally, you only have to write a single application, which runs unmodified on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. This makes hybrid mobile app development fast and convenient. Additionally, there are several frameworks available to develop hybrid mobile apps. Most of the frameworks use PhoneGap and Cordova, which helps you bridge to device APIs in JavaScript.
In this post, we will discuss the top 7 frameworks to build cutting-edge and robust hybrid mobile apps.
1. Ionic
Create hybrid mobile applications with the Ionic framework, one of the top Open Source front-end HTML frameworks. It is created using SASS and provides several User Interface components that help you build interactive and feature-rich apps. The framework uses AngularJS, a JavaScript MVVM framework that helps to create powerful hybrid mobile apps. Interaction with backend, two-way data binding APIs makes this framework a developer’s preferred choice. While you can use the CSS portion of Ionic to build native-looking application designs, it is better than you pair it with AngularJS to harness its full potential. Its command-line interface is rich in amazing features and includes Cordova based application packager and integrated emulators.
2. Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch is one of the most widely used HTML 5 frameworks to create hybrid apps across several platforms like iOS, Android and Blackberry. It stands out in the competition by offering a native look and feel across all platforms that it supports. The framework features over 50 built-in components and awesome native-looking themes for all major mobile platforms, helping you build impressive mobile apps that work on every platform. Its smooth scrolling features, fluid animations, and adaptive layout engine allow mobile app developers to create applications that can respond to user actions almost instantaneously. The framework also includes a robust data package that is able to gather data from any backend data source. All these features make Sencha Touch a preferred choice for developers.
3. Onsen UI
The custom elements-based HTML5 UI framework allows developers to build awesome applications by combining native-looking components. Thus, you have the responsiveness of a hybrid app and the look and feel of a native app. What makes Onsen UI a top framework to develop hybrid mobile apps is its ease-of-use. Additionally, developers can use the framework with or without AngularJS, which gives them the flexibility of app development. It also includes great documentation that encompasses numerous layouts and examples to create the most common app structure. Another advantage is that it works with predefined components, making custom app development simple, fast and convenient.
4. Appcelerator Titanium
Create beautiful and transformative mobile experiences with no hybrid compromises! Appcelerator Titanium is a complete solution to create hybrid mobile apps as you have everything right in one place. The framework uses Alloy, an MVC framework that facilitates rapid development of hybrid mobile apps. Different modules can be created using Alloy and are easy to re-use across different applications. This helps reduce the lines of code and minimize development time considerably. The Titanium SDK is fully equipped with a wide range of mobile platform APIs and Cloud service, which can be used as an app backend. Furthermore, it features platform-independent APIs that make it easier to access any phone’s hardware. The cross-platform mobile app development framework helps you write amazing apps in JavaScript and run them native everywhere.
5. Mobile Angular UI
Mobile Angular UI framework lets you build robust and intuitive HTML5 mobile apps by harnessing the potentials of AngularJS and Bootstrap. It offers critical mobile components or elements like overlays, switches, scrollable areas, sidebars, and navbars that don’t scroll or bounce. To deliver the best and unique mobile experience, the framework relies on libraries like overthrow.js and fastclick.js. What makes it one of the best frameworks for hybrid application development is that it is super easy to understand and put things into practice! No bootstrap JS, no dependency on jQuery; all you need is AngularJS directive to build superlative mobile user experiences! It features AngularJS modules like angular-touch, angular-route and angular-animate. Furthermore, responsive media queries have been stripped out of bootstrap as individual files. All you need to do is include what you need.
6. Intel XDK
To put it simply, Intel XDK is an “easy path to HTML5 app development, fast path to multi-OS app stores.” This means you can build amazing HTML5 apps with this framework and deliver them to different app stores and form factors. It is extremely easy to use and offers a streamlined workflow, right from the app design phase to app store marketing. The framework lets you develop hybrid apps most efficiently, working through comprehensive design, testing and development phases. It has a built-in design, debug and build tools, and also includes over 100 Cordova APIs. It facilitates easier build and faster deployment as you need to write for just one app and publish it to multiple OS app stores. With Intel XDK, you can build an HTML5 app from scratch or by importing an existing app or by modifying any of the sample app and built-in templates. No wonder, why it is one of the best frameworks for developing hybrid mobile apps.
7. Framework 7
With Framework 7, you can build fully-featured, robust and intuitive hybrid apps for iOS and Android. The best thing about this framework is that it is framework agnostic, i.e. it does not depend on external frameworks like React and Angular. But at the same time, it delivers apps that look and feel amazingly native, with properly styles animations and components. Most importantly, anyone with knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS can build an app with this framework without making the codes complex. For developers, it renders good performance in terms of hybrid app development.
Author Bio: Priya is a Technical SEO at Hopinfirst.com : Digital Marketing Company. She has 3 years of experience in SEO, content marketing, and campaign management. she’s devoured every scrap of knowledge about search marketing and applies it daily as Technical SEO at Hopinfirst.
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