Mobile app development had, for a long time, always required an extensive knowledge of Java or Objective-C. There had always been the existence of hybrid frameworks and transpilers, but when placed in comparison with the results of what could be achieved from native app building, the hybrid frameworks were always behind in performance against their counterparts. But the past few years have recorded significant improvements in hybrid frameworks, with many of them now having super features, performance, and functionality. However, have these frameworks reached a level in which they could serve as alternatives to native mobile app development?
In this article, I will discuss about two promising hybrid frameworks that can serve as alternatives to native app development. The first is PhoneGap/Cardova, while the second is Xamarin.
The similarity between PhoneGap and Ionic comes in several respects. Like the Ionic, the PhoneGap also lets mobile app developers build cross-platform mobile applications using web technologies. Also, its building is on top of Cordova. With PhoneGap, app developers are left with more choices on the manner in which they intend to build their applications, because no exact JavaScript framework has PhoneGap built to it. Also, PhoneGap possesses an ecosystem which is composed of a cloud service system known as “PhoneGap Build” for deploying and building an application, mobile app, and desktop app.
Cordova can be described as the source of power for PhoneGap and other hybrid frameworks. The renaming of a version of PhoneGap to Cordova was done by Adobe after taking possession of the PhoneGap brand and Nitobi (PhoneGap’s original founder). it is on top of Cordova that PhoneGap adds additional functionality and features.
The advantages of PhoneGap include the fact that it enables the user to utilize their preferred web technologies to build cross-platform mobile apps. Also, it enables the user to have their PhoneGap apps compiled onto Android apps and iOS without any need to have additional SDKs installed. Also, with PhoneGap, integrations like testing frameworks, mobile payments, etc. can be offered through far-reaching third-party plugin library.
The disadvantages of PhoneaGap include the fact that it uses WebView, just like Ionic, and this challenges its performance. Also, there is no standard UI library, and it is not appropriate for complicated mobile applications like graphics intensive programs or games.
Xamarin is from Microsoft and utilizes a distinct technique in cross-platform app development. The C# is the code in which the applications are entirely written. What Xamarin then does is a compilation of the C# code into Android distributions and native iOS. When placed in comparison with Cordova-based frameworks, the gain of using Xamarin to build applications is that the Xamarin-built apps utilize the native APIs of each platform. The meaning of this is that native Android applications and native iOS are compiled down from Xamarin apps, and the apps’ behaviors are as such. The ability to share code can be highly achieved with Xamarin, but the needs to write specific codes for Android and iOS versions of the app still remain.
The pros of Xamarin include that app developers who already have some familiarity with Microsoft ecosystem will be comfortable with Xamarin, especially due to its use of C#. Also, all native capabilities of a combination of Android and iOS are accessible to Xamarin. Finally, how Xamarin apps perform can be compared with the performance of natively written applications.
The cons of Xamarin include the fact certain features may be locked behind Enterprise and Professional licenses, thus making it very difficult for licensing model to navigate. Also, without the understanding of Android API and iOS, getting the most out of the platform would be difficult. Finally, platform peculiar code still needs to be occasionally written, despite the fact that sharing code is possible.
In conclusion, the development of mobile application has more accessibility now than ever before. With great knowledge and experience in Microsoft ecosystem, building excellent mobile applications that can run on multiple devices is now possible. As seen in this article, every platform has its own pros and cons, so there is no overall champion. But the most necessary thing is that there is a wide range of options to choose from today.
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