Best Mobile App Development Frameworks for 2022

Walter White once said that there always two sides to every story. It seems to be the case for the last two years. The last two years have been both profitable and quite a challenge to manage. People confined to their homes with little, or no social life was nothing more than an possibility for mobile apps and online businesses to grow. There was a dramatic increase in the number apps for mobile devices that are geared towards people's needs.

The world is on the brink of ending 2021 and the beginning of the new year 2022, with over 5,000,000 apps on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in total We cannot undervalue the potential of mobile application development for businesses , and the possibilities for any ambitious mobile app development business to draw the attention of the intended audience and gain monetization benefits from the apps they create.

However, it's not news that companies that have a mobile application or who want to build the next mobile phone app will require an in-depth analysis of the entire process, including a comprehensive plan, and analysis to be able to compete in the mobile market to thrive in today's extremely competitive digital market.

Although you may already know a bit about a variety of frameworks for developing mobile apps, to help you decide which one to use, we are going to review a handful of them! Are you ready to learn? Let's Begin!

1. React Native Framework

Are you aware that Facebook is the business behind each of ReactJS along with React Native? When Facebook was having trouble maintaining its own iOS and Android app, React Native made the process of maintaining and scaling both of their apps. Interesting, isn't it?

React Native is among the most well-liked mobile app development frameworks. It is used by mobile app industry professionals, react - a cross-platform app library embedded with JavaScript codes helps in creating extremely responsive and flexible apps that use the React library used as a component source. React Native lets developers to code an app once using JavaScript and then release it both to Android and iOS with the intention of reducing the amount of work required to write separate codes for Android & iOS from beginning from scratch.

Why should you use React Native?

• As a cross-platform Framework Reach Native helps in building both iOS & Android Apps

• Offers several open-source libraries of pre-built components that accelerate the development process.

• Working with React Native doesn't require any particular knowledge of a language, however, a person who is knowledgeable of Java can effectively create a react native app.

• The designers of React Native continuously improve the framework, thus giving it the status of being one of most technologically advanced and technologically proficient frameworks for app development.

• It's an open source, community-driven framework with an extensive online support system.

What are the things to watch out for when using React Native?

• Performance Issues - Planning for creating an app with a lot of tabs, navigations, animations or libraries from third party sources can be difficult to accomplish using React Native. It slows down the app's performance and can cause it to be slower compared to other hybrid apps.

• Updates to the UI is a time-consuming process - while deploying the app React native moves all the complicated operations on the Javascript initial thread, leading to delays in updating its UI. The app is unable to respond to inputs from users, and in the end, performance starts to slow.

• OS Specific Limitations - While working using React Native, one of the most well-known drawbacks is that certain React Native libraries and third-party libraries are limited by platform.

Examples of apps built with react Native.

Two popular apps made using React Native are Facebook & Instagram.

2. NativeScript Framework

Another framework that you should know is NativeScript, an open-source framework that allows developers to create apps for both Android or iOS devices. NativeScript utilizes JavaScript in conjunction with CSS to render UIs and create a natural-looking experience for the app. NativeScript allows the development of three kindsof apps: NativeScript Core, Angular, and VueJS to create the conditions for the fastest transition from concept to final product.

Why should you use Native Script Framework?

• NativeScript doesn't use any web views in order to display the UI. Thus, you'll get native UI and thus superior performance when compared with things like Ionic or the phone gap.

• It is swift to begin learning NativeScript because it helps save money and is easy to use by novices who are familiar with JAVA.

• Deep integration with the most popular JavaScript frameworks like Angular as well as Vue to help reduce the learning curve

• NativeScript is a large repository of plugins that can help increase the app's development speed.

• Provides a way to divide custom content that includes CSS styles as separate files, for each target platform, enabling the development of an app that has an Intuitive user interface and better user experience.

What should you watch out for while using NativeScript Framework?

• Documentation Clarity It isn't always complete due to the variety of methods you can write NativeScript applications (Vanilla Webpack, JS TypeScript, Angular, Vue, Webpack).

• A missing UI Library There aren't any ready-made UI collections, which means that applications must be designed using the default UI elements, and then styled by hand.

• App Size could be a concern The issue with app size is that NativeScript has a bigger app in size than native. To overcome this, when creating the APK/IPA you should use WebPack to shrink your application.

Examples of apps built on NativeScript

App industry leaders such as Workbox, Strudel, BitPoints Wallet are the most popular models of Native Script framework users.

3. JQuery Framework

It was created by the jQuery team in the year 2010 , and written using JavaScript another cross-platform mobile application development framework that is used by app developers across the globe is JQuery Framework. It is compatible with all the latest mobile, desktop, and tablet screens of iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows, etc. The framework will facilitate the creation of highly functional and complex applications that utilize the capabilities of jQuery and jQuery UI.

What is the reason behind JQuery Framework?

• Provides a vast library of UI components to personalize the look of any app

• It's cross-platform and cross-browser compatible

• jQuery reduces the writing process and is less difficult to use.

• It has a wide range of plugins for optimizing websites and apps for SEO

• The overall dimension of the JQuery Mobile framework is relatively tiny

What are you to look out for when using JQuery Framework?

• Time-Consuming - Combining jQuery mobile with other frameworks for developing mobile apps takes a lot of time and can lead to speed lag in the applications.

• The app's capabilities are limited compared to native mobile applications JQuery apps are limited by Framework limitations that prevent users from leveraging their features to the highest extent.

• Major Anchor Issues jQuery Mobile uses Ajax to navigate pages that can result in serious anchor issues when you use it to build mobile apps.

• Appearance--JQuery mobile apps aren't as impressive as Native applications. JQuery applications aren't very good in terms of appearance and might not function in the same way that native apps do.

Apps that are built using the JQuery Framework

Slideshare, Dodge, Disney world, WordPress, Google, IBM are the main users of this platform.

4. Meteor Framework

Meteor or MeteorJS is another popular open-source JavaScript framework for mobile app development written in Node.js. MeteorJS assists in creating cross-platform mobile apps that work on Web, Android and iOS. App development for mobile devices using Meteor offers access to a variety of powerful libraries that allow the development of complicated applications into a stunning mobile application by enabling only one language, JavaScript for the front-end, backend and database. Meteor as a mobile application development framework has an array of features out of the box, compared to other frameworks, and more of an ecosystem rather than just a framework.

What is the reason to use Meteor Framework?

• Single-line codes run on both the front-end and backend to make things work differently when it comes to optimistic UI updates.

• Highly efficient and productive and a simple to learn framework

• It provides the option of real-time applications being deployed and tested by default

• Support from the entire online community.

What are the things to watch out to watch out for when using Meteor Framework?

• Pre-built applications - When using Meteor Framework, developers have to rely on pre-built software, which sometimes can conflict with one another in a large way.

• Competence - You cannot create a mobile web application that will function as efficiently as Native.

• The loading process is not controlled by files - Meteor disrupts the sequence of files often when uploading.

Examples of apps built with Meteor Framework

Pintask, Telescope, Reaction Commerce, Wishpool are the users of Meteor Framework.

5. Xamarin Framework

Another top open-source mobile apps development framework, Xamarian offers a range of libraries that let developers write code in one go and then use the framework across multiple operating systems (OS). The framework is compatible across all platforms whether it's macOS, Windows, tvOS and watchOS or iOS it is perfect for developing mobile apps. The only requirement for it to work with is .NET and Xamarin, since .NET the framework must be integrated to Microsoft's IDE and Visual Studio.

Why Xamarin Framework?

• One codebase can run across multiple platforms, saving valuable cash and time.

• Because it is built natively and compiled, it's a great alternative for developing apps of the future that feel and look native.

• Stable, robust, scalable and robust solution that doesn't sacrifice cost.

• Enables testing of apps in the Xamarin Test Cloud

• It is a fantastic collection of UI controls themes, themes and charts graphs, cloud services, and more.

What should you watch out to watch out for when using Xamarin Framework?

• It is a time-consuming UI development - It's often hard to create an adaptable version of the app's main UI using Xamarin Framework.

• App File Size: The use of Xamarin's core library and features burdens the app stores by increasing the file size.

• Lack of community support - Xamarin is a brand new framework, is not supported by an online support community compared to other established online communities of frameworks for app development.

• Sharing code is difficult - While developing mobile apps using the Xamarin framework, developers cannot share code with other teams of developers with only Swift, Java and Objective CA code written with C# and Xamarin.

Examples of applications built using the Xamarin Framework

Captio, CA Mobile, The World Bank, Fareboom, APX, MRW are the top Xamarin Mobile applications created to cater to different business models.

6. Flutter framework

Did you know that, according to Statista Flutter is the second-most popular cross-platform mobile app framework by developers worldwide? Flutter, Google's cost-free as well as open-source UI framework is the best framework to create mobile apps that run on Android, iOS, or both devices. It makes use of an programming language called Dart and also incorporates Material Design and Cupertino widgets.

The main reason for Flutter being one of the top Frameworks is the single codebase that contains widgets that render, integration and debugging APIs and tools to aid developers in the creation and deployment of powerful mobile applications for all platforms.

What are the benefits of using Flutter Framework?

• Creates highly customizable, ready-made widgets for speedy UI coding

• It's portable, and platform-agnostic that saves both time and resources.

• With the help of Google, Flutter apps work efficiently and quickly, and without cutting or hanging as you scroll.

• The hot reload feature of the framework improves programmer's efficiency, facilitates quick iterations , and allows you to explore without lengthy delays.

What should you be on the lookout for while using Flutter Framework?

• The size of an app varies. Flutter apps generally are deployed in larger file sizes than the other app framework file sizes.

• Support and Libraries Google's support for Flutter is admirable, however it not as efficient as different Native frameworks.

• Limited Capabilities - Being an extremely new mobile app building framework might be some tools or functionalities missing that users may encounter. It could take some time to create tools and expand functionality.

Apps that are built using the Flutter Framework

Alibaba, Cryptograph, Google Ads, Reflectly are some amazing apps created using Flutter Framework

7. Ionic Framework

In 2013, Ionic was launched. Ionic is another open-source mobile application framework based on Angular as well as Apache Cordova that aids web developers in building robust and rich features iOS, Android, and Progressive Web Apps with one shared codebase that is designed to meet modern web standards.

The Ionic Framework allows you to access every single native API across all platforms. It can do anything the native apps of traditional achieve by integrating UI elements like list views, filters forms, action tables, navigation menus and more.

What is the reason behind Ionic Framework?

• Ionic is platform-independent, thus can perform amazingly on any OS iOS, Android, Windows irrespective of the programming language.

• Once the code is written to function in any way it is able to be used across all the other platforms.

• The community of developers is strong and can answer any question regarding the framework for app development.

• Complete control of app creation and deployment.

• It comes with a complete suite of tools and tools that have native compatibility

What are you to look out for when making use of the Ionic Framework?

• Performance - A graphics-heavy feature-loaded mobile application could have major performance issues when developed using Ionic. Ionic is used to construct one codebase that can be used on any other platform, which results in slower performance when compared to native apps.

• Debugging apps created with Ionic can be challenging and time-consuming.

• Security - Security might be one of the biggest drawbacks of Ionic framework-built apps , compared to native app security tools.

• Not suitable for gaming apps

Apps that are built using the Ionic Framework

Some of the brands who have employed Ionic for development of apps include Nationwide, Amtrak, NASA, Sworkit, Untappd, Dow Jones MarketWatch, and McDonald's.

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