There are many merits of a cross-platform framework due to which it has gained huge popularity. As their reach is continuously increasing, many different cross-platform frameworks are now floating in the market with different features. Many different mobile app development companies like Amplework, are trying their hands on this new trending technology. As the result, we now have a plethora of different frameworks and tools, which a developer will find overwhelming. In this article, we have presented 10 such frameworks that you can consider for your next mobile application development.
In simple words, a cross-platform framework is a software that can run on different computing operating systems or platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, Blackberry, etc. The developers don’t need to write separate code for each platform. Instead, coding once is enough for the foundation of an app to run efficiently on different platforms. Many top mobile app development companies are following this approach for app development. So, let’s begin with the list of best cross-platform frameworks:
Ionic
Ionic is one of the most popular frameworks based on AngularJS. The developer can use combinations of many different languages on this framework such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Cordova, etc. This framework is very useful for creating a very captivating user interface and intuitive user experience. So, you can implement many user-friendly features on an app using the Ionic framework. For developing a PWA, it is the perfect framework.
Features:
- Ionic is an open-source framework for frontend development. Hence, the developers can make alterations in the code which is highly suitable for them and also save their time.
- It is based on the SAAS UI framework which is designed particularly for UI systems. There are many UI components for developing robust applications.
- It is also based on AngularJS which makes it easier to include extensions of HTML syntax and core functionalities for implementing attractive features in the app.
- Use Cordova plugins which let you use in-device components and features such as Camera, GPS, Audio recorder, etc.
- Ionic framework gives the app a native feel. This makes it a favorite for developers.
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React Native
Created by the developers of the social media colossus Facebook, React Native has become one of the most preferred platforms for mobile application development. It is the native version of ReactJS, one of the most popular JS libraries. From its inception, it was continuously gaining popularity. It has been 5 years since its release. The React Native experts can develop which are indistinguishable from the apps developed by Java or Objective-C. In fact, the React Native experts can develop native apps without understanding languages like Objective-C, JavaScript, Kotlin, or Swift. Most of the APIs of React Native are cross-platforms, i.e. one component can work on both iOS as well as Android platforms. You don’t need to write a single line of platform-specific code, and can still develop full-blown applications with its look, run and feel like a native application.
Features:
- React Native allows the development of mobile applications quite faster. As it is an open-source platform, there is a large community of developers supporting it, hence it has a lot of components to use.
- Live Updates is probably one of the biggest advantages of developing native mobile applications.
- Using HTML5, CSS3, and JS, mobile app developers can create the best hybrid mobile applications.
- Features like accelerating scroll, the behavior of keyboard, along with animations can play a major role in app popularity.
- Reusing a code that is already written can save a lot of React Native expert’s time. React Native gives this right to the developers.
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Flutter
Flutter, an open-source development kit based on Dart language was introduced by Google in 2017 for mobile applications development. It is a powerful framework for developing apps in Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and other platforms. Giant platforms like Alibaba E-commerce, Google Ads, Dream 11, Groupon, Topline, Hamilton, and many others. It is a fast-growing hybrid platform for mobile apps development and gets regular updates. The USP of this platform is that you can use a single code base for developing apps for multiple platforms.
Features:
- Get easy control of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other background services that can be accessed by native apps.
- As they only have a single codebase, the apps look and behave similarly across iOS and Android.
- There are two sets of widgets in Flutter, Material design widgets which can imitate Google’s Design, and Cupertino widgets which can implement Apple’s iOS design.
- Flutter comes with excellent documentation and strong support
Xamarin
This framework is a lot different than other frameworks that we have discussed so far. It is a streamlined framework which developers use for creating apps for Android, Windows and iOS using C# and .net rather than using JS libraries and HTML. The developers can use 90% of the code for building an app for these platforms.
Features:
- Apps are built using C# which has many advantages over Objective-C and Java
- Reduces hardware compatibility issues using plugins and APIs.
- Supports inclusion of Objective-C, Java, & C++ libraries. Thus, the developers can reuse many 3rd party codebases
- Supports WORA (Write Once, Run everywhere)
- Robust Compile-time checking
Node.js
Node.js language is written in the existing JavaScript language. It came in 2009 and was built on Google Chrome. It is open-source with a server-side run environment. If the project is of cross-platform app development then it has been one of the most preferred choices for developers. It is also event-driven, comes with a non-blocking I/O model design, and is most recommended for developing highly scalable server-side applications.
Features:
- The API in the Node.js library is asynchronous i.e. non-blocking. It means that the Node.js server isn’t dependent on an API for its response.
- There are non-blocking features which are responsible for all callbacks are designated to the occasion circle and they can be executed by different strings.
- Node.js is written in JavaScript hence it is object-oriented.
- Node.js framework was the first one to implement 2-way data binding.
NativeScript
This is another astonishing free cross-platform framework based on JS. If you are looking for WORA functionality then you must go for the NativeScript framework. The framework offers all native APIs, rendering any ability to reuse existing plugins directly from NPM into the projects.
Features:
- Beautiful, accessible, and platform-native UI even without WebViews. The developers can customize UI for specific devices and screens.
- Unlike React Native, this framework provides developers with a complete web resource which comes with plugins and all kinds of solutions
- Developers can easily access native Android and iOS APIs.
- Uses Angular and TypeScript for programming purposes.
Corona SDK
Using this framework, the developers can create 2D mobile applications for all major platforms even including Kindle and Windows. It is the best platform for gaming apps development. The framework delivers remarkable results at the back of its backend framework’s reliability on Lua which is a lightweight and multi-paradigm programming language. Its main focus is on speed, portability, extensibility, scalability, and thus it is easy to use.
Features:
- More than 1,000 APIs by which the developers can sprite animations, audio, music, object tweening, texture management, etc.
- Instant response for code changes while giving a real-time preview of app performance
- Support for more than 200 plugins including in-app advertising, analytics, media, and hardware
Wrapping Up:
In this article, we have discussed the most popular Cross-platform frameworks which you can use for the next mobile application development. We, at Amplework, the most prominent mobile application development company in India, are having expertise in all these frameworks. Let us know your requirements and we will provide you with the best mobile app development with free business consultation.
