Top 10 Mobile App Development frameworks in 2024
Quick summary: Looking for the most popular and feature-rich mobile app development frameworks to help you build a robust and fast-loading app? You are on the right page. Every mobile app development framework has its own unique characteristics, features, and usage. After conducting a thorough examination of industry trends, use numbers, and framework features, Digital Elliptical specialists compiled a list of the best mobile app development frameworks in 2024 that are popular among both developers and clients. If you're not sure which mobile app development framework is ideal for you, go no further than our list of the top mobile app development frameworks, complete with crucial features.
Have you ever considered how the Eiffel Tower has endured harsh weather, loads, and lightning strikes for over 135 years? Its physical structure and architectural framework keep it stable and supported. Similarly, mobile app development frameworks offer a solid foundation for creating apps that perform seamlessly across many platforms, devices, operating systems, and third-party services. The frameworks enable consistent user interactions, functionality, and performance.
Consider mobile app development frameworks to be pre-built tools, packages, and code extensions that may be utilized to create a mobile app without having to build everything from scratch. Frameworks speed up the development of big applications by allowing developers to reuse code and design components.
In the fast changing world of mobile app development, developers must keep up with the latest frameworks. If you're seeking for a top mobile app development framework for Android or iOS, this guide will help you choose the best one for your needs.
This article discusses the top ten mobile app development frameworks for 2024. But first, let's look at these frameworks, their different forms, and crucial characteristics.
What is a Mobile App Development Framework?
A mobile app development framework is a collection of prebuilt tools, reusable code, and vast plugin libraries that allow developers to quickly create mobile applications. It offers a standardized framework for developing and distributing apps, making the process more effective and simplified.
Frameworks are widely used in mobile app development to make the process easier, quicker, and more consistent.
Typical framework characteristics include UI components, data storage, networking capabilities, and device compatibility. These aspects let developers to focus on the app's functionality while the framework handles the underlying technical details.
Types of Mobile App Development Frameworks
There are mainly three types of mobile app development frameworks: native app development framework, which allows developers to create apps specifically for a particular operating system, such as iOS or Android. Web app frameworks, allow developers to build mobile apps using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create cross-platform mobile applications. Another variation is the hybrid mobile app development framework, which empowers developers to generate applications that are compatible with multiple platforms by utilizing a single codebase.
1. React Native
React Native is an open-source framework developed by Facebook for building native mobile apps using JavaScript and React. It enables developers to use the same codebase to create applications for both iOS and Android platforms, which can significantly reduce development time and effort. React Native apps are written using a mixture of JavaScript and JSX (JavaScript XML), which allows developers to use React's declarative UI paradigm and rich ecosystem.
The framework translates your React components into native platform components, providing a native-like performance and look-and-feel for the end-user. React Native also supports hot reloading, which means developers can see the results of the latest changes immediately without recompiling the entire app.
React Native has a large community and a vast number of libraries and tools, making it a popular choice for mobile app development. It's suitable for projects ranging from small startups to large enterprises, and many well-known apps, such as Instagram, Airbnb, and UberEats, have been developed using React Native.
2. Flutter
Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop applications for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Google Fuchsia, and the web from a single codebase. Flutter allows developers to build natively compiled applications with a single programming language and codebase, which is Dart.
The key features of Flutter include:
- Hot Reload: This feature allows developers to see the changes they make to the code in real-time, which speeds up the development process.
- Widgets: Flutter provides a rich set of customizable widgets that help you build complex UIs.
- Performance:Apps built with Flutter are compiled to native machine code, which helps achieve performance on par with native applications.
- Expressive and Flexible UI: : Flutter makes it easy to create smooth animations and transitions that can run at 60fps, providing a smooth and responsive user experience.
- Portable: Because Flutter apps are built from a single codebase, they can run on multiple platforms with little to no change.
Flutter is designed to make it easy to create high-quality, high-performance mobile applications that can be customized to meet a wide range of design needs. It has a strong community and a growing ecosystem of packages that extend its capabilities.
3. Ionic
Ionic, developed in 2013, is an open-source framework that allows you to build cross-platform for mobile apps using web technologies like HTML,CSS& JavaScript. The application built through the Ionic framework can work on Android, iOS & Windows platforms. The framework offers numerous default UI components such as forms, action sheets, filters, navigation menus, and many more for attractive and worthwhile design. Moreover, Ionic has its own command-line interface and various other in-built features such as Ionic Native, Cordova-Based App packages, etc. Some of the major benefits of Ionic for mobile development apps are mentioned below:
- Faster Application Development
- Availability of Cordova Plugins
- Built-in UI components
- Platform Independent
- Based on AngularJS
4. Xamarin
Xamarin is also one of the most popular open-source frameworks used to develop mobile applications. The framework, acquired by Microsoft , is based on .Net and allows you to build native applications for Android, iOS, and Windows platforms. Xamarin comes with almost every required tool and library needed to build native applications and offers you to create rich experiences using native UI elements . Moreover, Xamarin also supports the feature of sharing the common codebase to make the development process more efficient and cost-effective. There are various benefits of Xamarin , some of these are mentioned below:
- Huge Community of around 1.4 million developers
- Native API Access & UI Support
- Easier API Integration
- Target All Platforms
- Cost-Effective & Faster Development Process
5. Mobile Angular UI
Mobile Angular UI is an open-source mobile application development framework that merges the implementation of the Bootstrap and Angular frameworks. The framework offers various UI components such as overlays, switches, sidebars, navbars, scrollable areas, etc. to provide robust and attractive user interfaces for the applications. Furthermore, Mobile Angular UI supports fastclick.js and overthrow.js to create rich experiences. Moreover, Mobile Angular UI supports cross-browser compatibility that allows it to automatic handling JavaScript code for each browser. Some of the major benefits of Mobile Angular UI for mobile development apps are mentioned below:
- Responsive Framework
- Offers Interactive Components
- Lightweight
- No jQuery dependencies
- Easier conversion from the web or desktop application to the mobile app
6. Adobe PhoneGap
Indeed, PhoneGap is among the most popular mobile app development frameworks. PhoneGap, purchased by Adobe Systems in 2011, is an open-source framework that allows you to build cross-platform applications using languages such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The framework allows you to create a single mobile application that can be installed as a native app over many devices. Furthermore, the PhoneGap framework does not depend on any hardware configurations during the development of mobile applications. There are various benefits of PhoneGap, some of these are mentioned below:
- Code Re-usability
- No Hardware Restrictions
- Plugin Library & Third-Party tools
- Robust Support System
- Compatibility with all the platforms
7. Appcelerator Titanium
Titanium, developed by Appcelerator Inc, is an open-source development framework that allows you to build mobile apps for all platforms. The framework is based on a Javascript-based SDK with over 5000 APIs for Windows, HTML5, iOS, and Android that further allows the reusability of Javascript code up to 90% in case you’re targeting multiple platforms for application development. Moreover, the framework comes with various UI components that can be used to create rich experiences for the users. There are various benefits of the Titanium SDK, some of these are mentioned below:
- Various Features for API Management
- Compatible with multiple platforms
- Easier API Integration
- Better Code Reusability
- Faster Development Process
8. Framework 7
Framework7 is an open-source development framework that allows the development of mobile, desktop, or web applications with a native perspective. The framework allows you to use tools of your preferences with HTML, CSS, & JavaScript and offers the additional support of Vue.js and React components for app development. Furthermore, Framework7 provides a wide range of UI elements and widgets such as action sheets, side panels, list views, form elements, etc. to make the development process more convenient and efficient. There are various benefits of Framework 7, some of these are mentioned below:
- Easier Customization
- Provides various UI widgets and elements
- Paired with additional tools like Electron & NW.js
- Rich Ecosystem
- Ease of Maintenance
9. JQuery Mobile
JQuery Mobile is a cross-platform development framework that is used to build mobile and web applications for various devices. The framework allows running a single code version across all devices. Furthermore, the HTML5-based development framework comes with various plugins such as Image Slider, Content-Slider, Pop-Up Boxes, etc. that help to create a feature-rich and interactive design. Moreover, the JQuery framework is compatible with other mobile application development frameworks such as PhoneGap and various others. There are various benefits of JQuery Mobile, some of these are mentioned below:
- Responsive Framework
- Supports multiple platforms & devices
- Lightweight Size
- Various Add-on Plugins
- Powerful Theming Framework
10. NativeScript
Last but not least, Native Script is an open-source framework that is used to build native mobile applications using Angular, Vue.js, TypeScript, or JavaScript. The framework allows you to create both Android and IOS apps from a single codebase. The apps built with the NativeScript framework use the same APIs as in Xcode or Android Studio. Moreover, the framework is strongly recommended to those developers who want to build applications for multiple platforms within a lesser duration and effective cost. Some of the major benefits of NativeScript are mentioned below:
- Cross-Platform Development
- Direct access to Android & iOS APIs
- Native Performance
- Re-usability of Code
- Strong Backend Support
Conclusion
So, these are several major mobile development app frameworks that you can opt for as per your needs and technological requirements. Now, what are you waiting for? Just identify your requirements, pick a relevant framework, and start to build your mobile application!!