Driven by the change in human behavior worldwide, having a mobile presence has become imperative for a business’s survival. As mobility continues to transform industries globally, mobile-first companies are capturing the imagination of the ever-increasing mobile society.
However, merely breaking into the mobile market does not necessarily translate into success for a business. To succeed in a highly competitive mobile marketplace, it takes in-depth research, strategy building, extensive planning, and assessing the current mobile ecosystem for enterprises with either an existing mobile app or those planning to build a new mobile application.
Although native apps offer an unmatched experience in terms of aesthetics and functionality, native apps are costly to build and maintain. The diversity of devices and platforms makes maximum user penetration challenging with native apps. The solution lies in creating a web, hybrid, or cross-platform mobile app for businesses with budget constraints by leveraging mobile app development frameworks.
Modern mobile app development frameworks offer many in-built advantages, such as a quick development process, efficiency, full-proof environment, etc. The framework renders the app for the desired platform with the developer’s code using pre-built components such as compilers, debuggers, toolsets, coding interfaces, etc.
The App Annie State of Mobile 2021 report informs that Generation Z, Millenials, and Baby Boomers spend 16%, 18%, and 30% more time year-on-year, respectively, on their favorite apps. Post the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile adoption witnessed a boom in 2020, advancing by 2-3 years in 12 months. For the first time, mobile time spent surpassed TV. While the average American spent 3.7 hours watching TV a day, they spent 4 hours a day on their mobile device in H2 2020.
According to a report from Statista, as 2021 dawned upon us, the number of global mobile users had crossed the 7 billion mark. In the new reality, Digital Transformation has assumed greater significance. The users have exceptionally high standards in terms of functionality and performance when it comes to mobile applications. Therefore, a mobile app’s success translates into adapting digital content to transcend seamlessly across varying screen sizes and a broad range of devices encompassing Android and iOS platforms.
Obtaining the services of a reliable mobile app development company or hiring a mobile app developer on a freelance basis can enable a business to build mobile apps that are fast, responsive, and deliver exceptional user experiences. Leveraging mobile app development frameworks makes the mobile app development process efficient and fast.
Editor's Note: The above article was published in 2021. If you wish to read the updated version about Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2022.
Best Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2021
1.React Native
Developed and maintained by Facebook, React Native is an open-source, cross-platform app development framework that has become the developers’ top choice in a short span of time. React Native helps develop Android and iOS mobile apps seamlessly. Mobile apps of top brands such as Tesla, Airbnb, Skype, and Amazon Prime are the best examples of React Native apps. Faster development and deployment are the primary reasons behind the universal popularity of React Native. Other notable features of React Native include reusable components, integration with third-party plugins, and component-based GUI development for front-end applications.
2.Flutter
Flutter is Google’s open-source framework for developing native Android and iOS apps using a single codebase. It is a revolutionary SDK for cross-platform app development that stands out as it uses a unique approach for delivering apps with a native-like look and feel. It is an unmatched and highly reliable mobile UI framework for creating stunning apps quickly by speeding up the development process. Flutter is a complete framework that includes widgets, a rendering engine, testing and integrating APIs and tools to help developers build and deploy aesthetically pleasing mobile apps. Examples of some of the prominent market players’ apps developed using Flutter include Google, Alibaba, and Abbey Road Studios.
3.Xamarin
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned open-source framework used for developing native and high-performance Android, iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS apps leveraging .NET and C# programming languages. The framework empowers businesses to provide native performance and unique user experiences to end-users. In Xamarin, an abstraction layer controls the communication between the underlying platform code and shared code. The framework allows the developers to build an ecosystem with APIs, back-end, components, etc., using tools, libraries, and programming languages supported by an active community.
4.Ionic
Ionic is an open-source framework built with Apache Cordova (PhoneGap) and Angular, allowing the developers to build Android and iOS apps for seamless mobile performance. The framework helps the developers build robust and feature-rich native applications. Ionic’s most significant advantage is that it allows the developers to use several UI elements such as filters, forms, views, navigation menus, and actions sheets in the application design. Ionic is a complete framework that enables developers to build Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), hybrid and cross-platform mobile applications.
5.Apache Cordova
Formerly known as PhoneGap, Apache Cordova is a leading mobile app development framework that is developer-friendly. It is a cross-platform app development framework that leverages CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript to build mobile applications. Cordova plugins enable the developers to access device hardware capabilities such as GPS, camera, and accelerometer to deliver a native-like app experience. Apache Cordova’s notable features include a faster development process with a single codebase and third-party app management tools.
6.JQuery Mobile
JQuery Mobile is a hybrid mobile app development framework that helps build platform-independent apps. The framework uses JavaScript library and HTML for building responsive websites that work on various devices such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops. JQuery leverages the HTML5 based framework and the ThemeRoller to offer highly customizable themes for mobile apps and web applications. JQuery Mobile comes in two variants, namely customized framework and stable version.
7.Framework7
Framework7 is an open-source framework that is very easy to learn and use. It allows the developers to build Android, iOS, and desktop apps with a native-like look and feel using popular web technologies such as HTML5, JavasScript, and CSS3. Framework7 provides additional support for Vue.js, React, and Svelte. Another attractive feature of Framework7 is its stunning UI elements, including features such as action sheet, list view, popup, side panels, layout grid, and more. Framework7 makes the development process easy, convenient, and fast.
Best Mobile Development Frameworks – Final Words
Our subject matter experts have chosen the above-discussed mobile app development frameworks after much deliberation. As we move ahead into 2021, newer frameworks will disrupt the industry. However, meanwhile, you may consider these options for your next business app.