You don’t want your app should have these problems:

Takes a long time to load
Poor performance
Low-level of user experience
Hard to scale

Thus, when you have an app idea, you look for a suitable app development framework to make it successful. While looking for reliable mobile app development frameworks, you might come across these questions as well:

Which framework is the best for mobile app development?
How should I select a perfect framework for app development?
Which framework is trending for mobile app development?
What are the factors to consider for choosing a framework?

To help you get answers to your questions we took the help of our mobile app developers to list down reliable frameworks. This blog to help you to choose the right mobile app development framework.

Table of Contents

6 Popular Cross-platform Mobile App Development Frameworks

According to a report by Apptentive, 35% of mobile apps have an annual retention rate. If you don’t develop a smooth user experience for your mobile app, then you might lose your potential users. But, here’s the list of the 6 top mobile app development frameworks to help you out in selecting the best. Check this table to make your app idea into reality.

Framework Name	Users	Real-Time Examples
Ionic	5 million	Airbus Helicopters Southwest Airlines Sanvello Sworkit
Flutter	2 million	Google Assitant Square NUbank Grab
Xamarin	1.4 million	BBC Good Food Olo Just Giving Microsoft News
React Native	724K	Facebook Facebook Ads Bloomberg Walmart
Cordova	Not Available	Sworkit Pacifica JustWatch FanReact
JQuery Mobile	Not Available	Standford Box.net Slideshare Disney World

As you have checked the above table, now we will understand each framework’s description, features, and when you should use that framework. Let’s dive into it.

Ionic Framework

ionic

Image Source: Ionic Framework

Ionic a freely available, open-source framework, allows you to create hybrid and progressive web apps. It uses web programming languages, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create native and hybrid mobile apps for all mobile devices.

The ionic framework helps to create performance-driven and interactive mobile apps. It has access to over 120 rich library native device functionalities like Camera, Geolocation, and Bluetooth. Moreover, for future requirements, you can use the full native SDK.

This is the best framework for mobile app development that focuses on the UI and UX interface of the mobile app. To do so, it provides UI controls, interactions, gestures, and animations for mobile app development. Moving further, let’s check the features of this framework.

Key Features of Ionic Framework

It is a cross-platform framework to develop apps compatible with different platforms.
Ionic CLI (Command Line Interface) providers help command to Ionic app developers.
Compatibility with different mobile app development frameworks like Angular, Vue, and React.js.
Accessibility to Cordova Plugins makes it easier for developers to add native functionality to a mobile app.
Ready-made components, typography, and design themes.

Choose Ionic Framework When

You are familiar with the web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
You don’t want to code for two different platforms iOS and Android.
You want to develop an app that has high performance in the cross-platforms as well.
You want to create a mobile application based on AngularJS and Cordova plugins.

Best Resources to Learn Ionic Framework

Flutter Framework

flutter

Image Source: Flutter Framework

Which is the trending mobile app framework? Flutter, which is a top mobile app development framework, an open-source UI toolkit, developed by Google. It is built to create native mobile applications for different devices like mobile, web, and desktop. Flutter uses Dart programming language which focuses on front-end development.

This framework allows you to create cross-platform mobile applications which use a single codebase. Flutter SDK has different UI widgets like scrolling, navigation, icons, fonts, and material design, and iOS styles to provide performance similar to native apps. Now, let’s check the key features of the Flutter framework.

Key Features of Flutter Framework

It has Hot Reload feature that allow you to reflects the changes of code instantly in the development phase.
Widget Catalog has a collection of UI widgets that helps you in the faster development of the mobile application.
Flutter Fix is a feature included in the 2.0 version of this framework that automatically cleans up deprecated APIs of your codebase using a command-line tool.
Flutter SDK is compatible with several IDEs, like Xcode, Android Studio, Visual Studio, and IntelliJ IDEA.
DevTools of the Flutter helps you to perform debugging to improve the quality of the application.
Flutter inspector is a widget that allows you to test the visual representation of the widget for user experience.

Choose Flutter Framework When

You want to develop a mobile app with a high-quality user experience within a budget.
You want to create a mobile app with a single code base.
If you have proficiency in Java or C# and want to develop cross-platform app development.

Best Resources to Learn Flutter Framework

Xamarin Framework

xamrin

Image Source: Xamarin Framework

Xamarin is an open-source and freely available one of the best mobile app development frameworks that use .NET and C#. Using Xamarin, app developers are able to create native apps for Android, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Windows app. It allows developers to use .NET and its native API access.

To develop a mobile app, Xamarin uses C# and native libraries that are wrapped in the .NET layer to create the native apps for multiple platforms using a single shared code. Now, let’s check the features of this mobile application development framework.

Key Features of Xamarin Framework

Xamarin app development framework has two different SDKs for Android and iOS platform development.
This framework is also reliable to design and develop functionalities for wearables smart techs.
.NET framework is the base of Xamarin, and it allows you to use native libraries for app development without writing code from scratch.
This cross-platform app development framework is designed to ease the work of developers by “write once, run anywhere”.
It provides SkiaSharp with a 2D graphics system to integrate with your Xamarin applications to display the vector graph, bitmaps, and text.
Xamarin is a powerful framework that allows you to develop mobile games by using many well-known games engines like MonoGame, Xenko, and Wave Engine.

Choose Xamarin Framework When

You are planning to develop a hybrid application with native design and performance.
You want the flexibility of components during app development as per your requirements.
Security is your priority and you don’t want your app to be compromised at any level of failure.
You need your mobile application can work offline without compromising the performance.

Best Resources to Learn Xamarin Framework

Planning to Create a Cross-platform app with Xamarin framework?

Get a free consultation to discuss your requirements with our mobile app developers.

React Native

react native

Image Source: React Native

What is ReactNative? It is one of the most used mobile app development frameworks based on React library developed by Facebook. It allows you to develop mobile and web-based apps. When you want to develop a mobile application for native platforms, React Native comes in.

React Native helps to develop applications that are compatible with a specific platform. React Native is the choice of web developers who wants to build mobile apps using a cross-platform framework. Walmart, Coinbase, Salesforce, and Instagram are a few examples of React Native apps.

One of the crucial parts of React Native app development is the use of correct data flow of the components to ensure the performance of the application. If you are looking for the best framework for cross-platform mobile development, then it becomes difficult to choose between React Native and Flutter. Therefore, you can check out our blog on comparison between React Native vs Flutter to get in-depth insight.

Key Features of React Native Framework

It provides a migration feature that helps developers to create the migrate React Native app to AndroidX.
React Native offers reusable components that speed up the development process for Android and iOS development.
It allows you to integrate React Native in your existing apps as well as you can create applications from scratch.
It has a faster reload feature that reflects the changes instantly as when you update the components.

Let’s look at the condition when you should choose React Native for mobile app development.

Choose React Native Framework When

You want to develop intermediate-level cross-platform mobile apps.
You want to create a cross-platform application within a limited timeframe.
Your application is highly dependent on third-party integrations.
You want the least maintenance of your cross-platform mobile apps.

Best Resources to Learn React Native Framework

Cordova Framework

cordova

Image Source: Cordova Framework

Cordova is an open-source mobile app development framework, previously it was known as PhoneGap. Cordova uses standard web development languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for developing cross-platform mobile applications.

Cordova framework wraps up the code into a native container to gain access to core functions of different platforms. It enables developers to install cross-platform hybrid applications as native mobile apps.

Cordova is one of the best hybrid app development frameworks as it provides different tools and JavaScript frameworks to make mobile application development powerful.

Key Features of Cordova Framework

Cordova has core components that help app developers to create the base of the application.
It provides access to several plugins that allows you to use native device capabilities.
Cordova Command Line Interface tool helps to manage the development of hybrid applications.

Choose Cordova Framework When

You are familiar with the front-end web development technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
You want to develop an MVP test version for different platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows.
The performance of your mobile app is not your priority.

Best Resources to Learn Cordova Framework

JQuery Mobile

jquery

Image Source: JQuery Mobile

JQuery Mobile is a user interface framework that works on the slogan “write less, do more” for developing the next level of applications. It allows you to create an application that works without interruption on different platforms like smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

This framework has integration with apps, other frameworks, third-party plugins, extensions, and themes to make developer easier for developers. On top of that, it allows you to create a custom theme using ThemeRoller without writing a single line of code.

Key Features of JQuery Mobile Framework

JQuery Mobile provides a built-in theme system that allows developers to create their own application interface.
It offers responsiveness that enables developers to write code that fits different screens which differ from device to device.
This framework combines with HTML, CSS, JQuery core, and JQuery UI to create mobile websites with less scripting.

Choose JQuery Mobile Framework When

You want to design your mobile specifically taking responsiveness in your mind.
You want to include the “View panel” in your mobile application as similar to the Facebook app.
You want to develop a mobile application-specific with a custom app interface and flexibility.
You want to offer better touch functionality in your app because this framework offers touch-friendly UI widgets and forms.

Best Resources to Learn JQuery Mobile Framework

Learn to create your first mobile app using JQuery Mobile

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FAQ About Mobile App Framework

How to choose the best mobile application development framework?

Choosing a mobile app development framework depends on these factors.

Platform compatibility
Access to device-specific functionalities
Cost of development
Stability of framework to avoid the future risks
Updates of a framework for future requirements

How much time does it take to develop a mobile application?

The time duration required to develop mobile applications could range from three to nine months. This depends on the complexity, features, functionalities, and one’s requirements for mobile application development.

Which are the top mobile application development frameworks?

There are four frameworks that are currently in trend for mobile app development:

Flutter
React Native
Ionic
Xamarin

Which is the best framework for Android app development?

Here’s the list of best frameworks that are used for Android app development:

Xamarin
Ionic
Flutter

Conclusion

The above-mentioned mobile app development frameworks list will help you in the app development process. After learning about these top mobile app frameworks’ features, descriptions, and when to choose it would be easier for your to pick the right framework for development.

Have an idea of mobile app development? Want to select the best suitable mobile app framework for development?

Being a top app development company in Canada, we have experience in developing 100+ app and web-based projects. Let’s get in touch and convert your idea into a reality.