Most Popular Android App Development Frameworks

Choosing the right framework for mobile app development remains an important concern for the developers. the Google Play store has recorded 2.1 million apps. Whereas, the Apple store is just behind it with 1.8 million apps.

Hence, developers are constantly faced with the dilemma of which type of app they should make? Native, hybrid and cross-platform apps work on different frameworks. However, some frameworks once written, can be used for other platforms too. Therefore, It relieves developers from the problems of creating an entirely new app for another platform.

Developers should look for those coding languages that can prove beneficial if they want to scale their apps in the future. Apart from creating a sustainable product and a competitive interface, developers can also focus on staying in contact with the maximum followers through different devices. And many android app development frameworks can provide a wholesome experience.

Xamarin

Xamarin works on C# coding. Such type of coding enables developers to use this framework on various platforms. Plus, they don’t need to have prior knowledge of Java to start coding with it. It was launched initially as a framework of hybrid app development in the year 2011.

However, it was taken over by Microsoft in 2016. As of 2017, almost 1.4 million developers were using Xamarin and its tools. The codebase is frequently updated, which increases its value substantially. The biggest advantage it holds is that it enables users to use the code for more than one platform.

Apart from that, native programming interfaces are highly accessible through Xamarin. Different plugins and NuGet bundles help in faster development. Its Visual Studio is highly influential in developing android mobile apps with .NET framework.

React Native

The android mobile application development segment is highly influenced by React Native. It is in close competition with Native Scripts and Xamarin. A survey amongst the developers revealed that 61% of them would like to learn it.

The framework was developed by Facebook in 2015. Since then, big names like Instagram, Airbnb, Walmart have used it for developing their apps. Its rich User Interface is one of the main reasons why many developers prefer it. It is open-source and has one of the lowest learning curves. This is because it lets the developers write code in JavaScript. The interface is powered by many native features like accelerometer and cameras along with many readymade tools.

Flutter

Flutter is probably the latest app development framework in the offering. Google launched it in 2017 as an open-source mobile software development kit (SDK). Flutter works on Dart that is an object-oriented programming language.

Developers have found it quite easy to adapt themselves to Dart. Plus, Flutter has an all-new exciting feature of Hot Reload. Hot Reloading simply means developers can see the updated changed code as and when needed. And the changes can be seen while an app is running, instead of closing and starting again.

It uses Skia 2D graphics for rendering visuals – which is used in web browsers like Chrome. Hence, though the visuals look like web views widgets like Material Design, they are not. All of this including its reactive framework makes coding easier, faster and fun.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is perhaps the simplest app development framework that works on JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS. Its a cross-platform framework with a current market share of 22.29%. Apart from the above features, PhoneGap enables application sharing with team members. By sharing the application, team members can provide their feedback.

It also has the accessibility to 3rd party tools, cloud solutions, and many other plugins. It ensures developing an intuitive interface connecting the desktop and mobile devices. Hence, it eliminates the need to exercise control with text commands. There are no hardware limitations and it helps developing apps for almost all the platforms.

Ionic

SimilarTech claims that as of 2019, there are almost 25993 applications built on Ionic. Ionic is another cross-platform framework that translates using HTML5. It has quite a lot of similarities with AngularJS and enables the developers in building both hybrid and progressive apps.

Developers love to brag about its native plugins, libraries, tools, gestures, etc that make developing an app easier. Exciting features like fingerprint authentication, Bluetooth increase the app performance to another level. One great thing about Ionic is that there are default UI components already present. Tools like list views, menu, filters, tabs, etc enable the developers in focussing on the development of apps.

JQuery

JQuery is another framework that makes use of HTML5 for developing mobile apps. The framework is touch-oriented as a component of a JavaScript library. It has been developed with the arm of gelling it well with many smartphones as well as computers.

JQuery can work amongst all the devices, once the code is written. Its single base code is developed as only one version and it can be used for developing either apps or websites. Plus, it can be run on all operating systems like Android, Apple, Blackberry, Windows, Kindle and many more. Various plugins like sliders for Image, Content, and Pop-up Boxes make it easily accessible than JavaScript. Less coding is used to develop the same features. It enables to develop simple, user interactive pages that can be read by the search engines – increasing its SEO optimizability.

Corona SDK

Corona SDK is considered to be an app framework, almost 10 times faster than others in its competition. Its back-end support system is Lua. Lua is a very delicate programming language focussing extensively on being flexible, easy to use, and faster. Hence, it enables faster app development while maintaining its quality.

It’s totally free and very easy to learn. It also gives developers full scope and freedom in developing 2D games with ease. Changes can be instantly seen and published across all platforms like Apple, Android, Windows.

Winding Up

Mobile app development is only going to see an uphill rise. Hence, app development frameworks are increasingly being upgraded to the latest editions. At 9series, many new frameworks with state-of-the-art features and easy coding are being utilized. Developers have a goal in their minds when they start developing an app.

These goals can be either about publishing an app for a single platform or different platforms. Decisions might change in between the course of action to scale up the apps. Hence, a cross-platform framework that can deliver the same performance and less time, could be the best choice.