The app development industry can cross $100 Billion in worth by this year. With a remarkable growth in the sector and growing use of smartphones like never before, many businesses & entrepreneurs are keen on building profitable mobile apps. However, simply developing a mobile app (or hiring a mobile app development company for that) does not ensure success. To thrive in such a competitive market, it is also necessary that you carry out in-depth research, assess market demand/customer expectations, and of course, build a high-performing mobile app, based on a powerful framework.
Choose The Right Mobile App Development Framework
Behind every intriguing & successful mobile application lies a good development framework. Today’s modern app development frameworks have several benefits, including a quick development process, better security, efficiency, a full-proof environment, and much more. Selecting the right framework for your development project ensures:
- Better scalability
- Safe & secure application
- Great speed
- Enhanced app usability
- Excellent performance at all times
However, with the presence of so many mobile app development frameworks, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. And so, to make this job easy for you, here’s a list of the top 10 mobile app development frameworks that you can choose to build your next mobile application.
Top 10 Mobile App Development Frameworks
1. Flutter
Flutter is one of the best and leading cross-platform mobile app development frameworks. It is an open-source Google UI toolkit that can help you develop appealing, high-performing, and scalable native Android and iOS mobile apps through a single code base. It gives you more functionality with less code. The framework’s custom widgets allow endless possibilities with the app’s functionalities and design. Whether you are looking forward to building a social media app, healthcare app, or any other kind of app, Flutter can be your go-to framework.
Since Flutter is one of the fastest-growing and improving frameworks, it is quickly gaining the attention of the mobile development community. Due to its immense popularity, you can easily find & hire Flutter developers of your choice for your project.
Some of the popular apps built on the Flutter framework include Google Ads, Alibaba, BMW app, and eBay Motors app, among others.
Key Advantages
- Fast applications
- Inbuilt UI widgets
- Great community support
- Rich libraries
- Quick development time
- Deloy large-size/complex apps
2. React Native
Rolled out in 2018, React Native is an open-source and free-to-install cross-platform framework developed by Facebook. It is one of the most popular and widely-used JavaScript libraries that is used to develop robust, intuitive, and high-performing Android and iOS applications. Using this framework you can develop apps for all devices and platforms.
The prime reasons that make React Native one of the most preferable choices among developers and business is fast development and deployment. Using this framework, app developers can create cross-platform, feature-rich apps with a single codebase. For businesses that are looking for an affordable and time-saving solution, going with React Native framework is a great option.
Some of the most well-known brands built using React Native for their apps are Tesla, Airbnb, Instagram, Skype, and Amazon Prime, among others.
Key Advantages
- Seamless support for third-party plugins
- Quick development time
- Reusable code
- Cost-effective solution
- Declarative API
- Constant updates
- Great responsiveness
3. Ionic
Ionic framework is a completely free-to-install, open-source framework. It is built with Angular and Apache Cordova which allows you to create seamless, feature-rich & high-performing mobile applications for Android, iOS, and Windows. Ionic app developers can use this framework to build an appealing mobile app with interesting UI elements while designing the app.
Using this framework, you can develop Hybrid, Progressive web apps, and cross-platform mobile applications. Furthermore, developers can seamlessly integrate different UI elements such as list views, filters, forms, navigation menus, etc, tailored to your exact needs. However, to build robust apps using the Ionic framework, you must hire dedicated mobile app developers that are well-versed with technologies like HTML, JavaScript, or CSS.
Popular apps built on Ionic include Sanvello, Pacifica, Sworkit, and Diesel, among others.
Key Advantages:
- Intuitive user interface
- Simple to customize
- Easy and quick development
- Strong community support
- Flexible
- Uses modern web APIs
4. Xamarin
Developed by Microsoft, Xamarin is an open-source, cross-platform framework that leverages .NET, and programming language C#. The framework has become very popular among several growing enterprises for diverse platform support, like creating apps for iOS, macOS, Android, Tizen, & Windows. Apps built using this framework can be easily managed and updated (since their source file can be easily updated).
Some apps that have used Xamarin as their development framework include Storyo, Microsoft News, and Alaska Airlines, among others.
Key Advantages
- Code reusability
- High-end security features
- Excellent user experience
- Huge variety of tools
- Flexibility & scalability
- Faster time to market
5. Mobile Angular UI
Mobile Angular UI is another popular framework that uses HTML5, Bootstrap, and AngularJS. It is an open-source app development & is free to use under an MIT license. This framework can be used for building modern applications and hybrid apps with replete features and functionalities. This mobile UI framework hosts an array of components like sidebars, switches, and overlays, among others, that can help you get a feature-rich, high-performing mobile app.
Some of the top apps built using Mobile Angular UI are Forbes, PayPal, Gmail, etc.
Key Advantages
- Fast runtime performance
- Plenty of UI components
- Builds HTML5 mobile as well as web apps
- Great responsiveness
- No jQuery dependency
6. JQuery Mobile
Based on HTML5, JQuery is a hybrid mobile framework that can be used to build highly-responsive & high-performing applications for desktops, web, and tablets. This framework also supports all devices & operating systems, including Android, Windows, macOS, Kindle, Nook, Blackberry, etc. JQuery mobile offers great customizable themes, which makes it a popular framework to go with. The framework is available in two variants- a customized framework and a stable version.
Some of the most popular companies using JQuery are Microsoft, Untappd, Veev, etc.
Key Advantages
- Intuitive UI components
- Simple-to-use APIs
- Plenty of themes & UI widgets
- Quick development time
- Lightweight size
- Cross-platform, cross-browser compatible
7. Solar 2D/ Corona SKD
If you are keen on developing a gaming app, Solar 2D is absolutely a wonderful choice to go with. Solar 2D, earlier known as Corona SKD, is an open-source, free-to-use mobile app development framework used by hundreds of developers for creating games and other apps for mobile devices, desktops, tablets, and smart TVs. The framework is based on a lightweight, user-friendly Lua scripting language that works seamlessly on Android and iOS devices.
- Lightweight scripting language
- Live testing
- Strong API support
- Free-to-use
- Quick development process
8. Framework7
Another widely used framework is Framework7. It is also an open-source framework that comes with an easy learning curve. Using technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3, the framework is good for creating Android apps, iOS apps, web apps, and PWAs. The framework comes with several exciting features and intuitive UI elements like list view, layout grid, popups, and side panels, among others. It has absolutely no dependency on Angular or React and can be used to develop native-looking apps.
Key Advantages
- Easy development
- Quick development time
- Plenty of UI components
- No license fee
- Powerful performance
- Easy customization
- Ease in maintenance
9. Native Script
If you are looking forward to building a native app, Native Script can be your preferred framework. It is an open-source framework, with a native user interface used for building cross-platform mobile applications through TypeScript, Angular, CSS, JavaScript, and Vue.js. Businesses find this an excellent framework for the simple reason that it substantially helps you cut down your code length and well as overall app development time. Furthermore, the frameworks give you complete access to Android and iOS APIs, and can also help you create robust web applications using a single code base.
Key Advantages
- Robust backend support
- Creates cross-platforms apps
- No use of web-views
- Access to complete Android & iOS APIs
10. Onsen UI
Onsen UI is an open-source framework based on PhoneGap and Cordova that is used for building hybrid apps and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). It uses technologies like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Using this framework can help you keep the UI simple and focus on core application functionalities. Onsen UI comes with several ready-to-use UI components and automatic styling and gives you a native look and feel. If you have a requirement for any complex app development, the Onsen UI framework is a great option to go with.
Key Advantages
- Quick set up
- Easy-to-use framework
- Cost-effective development
- Native look & feel
Wrapping Up
Choosing the right framework is critical for mobile app success. And so, by choosing the framework that is relevant in 2024 and beyond, you can be sure to develop an app that stands out and fulfills the goals of your end-users. However, with the presence of so many mobile app development frameworks, choosing the best can be overwhelming. And so, to pick out the best one, you must carefully gauge your product requirements such as cost of development, framework features, development time, and developers’ availability, among other factors, and make the right decision.
In case you have further confusion, you can discuss your app idea with your mobile app development company or hire dedicated mobile app developer to seek their advice to select the right app development framework for your project.
