Are you wondering why Ionic development is spreading so much craze? There is no doubt in the fact that hybrid mobile app development is one of the trending forms of development that requires a high level of understanding from the developer. If you are interested in this topic, this will help you to know the concepts and tools behind development.
What is an Ionic framework, and how does it work? This will cover the Ionic Framework and its working in detail. It is the future of mobile app development, and it is going to bring a lot of job opportunities.
Understanding the Ionic Framework
The Ionic Framework is an open-source Software Development Kit offering developers the ability to build high-performance and high-quality mobile applications. It includes technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The framework prioritizes the user interaction and the appearance of the form. Most people think that it is a replacement for JavaScript frameworks for building mobile apps; however, it is not. Instead, it’s an alternative and fits well with such kinds of projects.
Ionic Framework License
As mentioned above, it is an open-source framework and is licensed under MIT. Therefore, you will not face any problems in implementing this framework in your personal or commercial projects.
Some of the popular projects done with jQuery and Ruby on Rails are also licensed under MIT. Now that you know about the Ionic Framework and its license, we are going to discuss why Ionic is gaining popularity over time.
What is Crazy About Ionic Framework?
The most critical challenge the industry confronts is designing a mobile application at an affordable cost. Now, Ionic technology is the talk of the town. Experts are interested in saving some bucks by opting for this technology. However, most people question whether the hybrid is just a good option to save money or whether it is done to save a considerable amount of time and make the application available faster.
Well, the Ionic Framework focuses on developing hybrid applications and is one of the dominant frameworks when compared to others that serve the same purpose. This is the reason why people are becoming excited about this framework.
Why Ionic Development is Becoming Popular?
The leading HTML5 mobile app development framework is well appreciated by developers for using it in business to create hybrid mobile applications. Ionic is an open-source SDK framework that works with Apache Cordova and Angular on top.
There is no doubt in the fact that Node.js and AngularJS are two of the most popular JavaScript frameworks. However, in recent times, the Ionic Framework is also garnering the attention of many developers worldwide. This is because of its potential to build quality mobile applications.
The framework uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and transforms it into its native code so that the application is available for mobile devices. The structure is becoming popular because of its UI mimics of the native app.
So people do not have to think about deploying the native-appearing user interface, as the framework takes care of it. Moreover, developers do not need to worry about the differences that happen between various platforms and web view implementations.
The reason why Ionic is becoming popular day by day is its simplicity and ease of use in the application. Developers can choose to use CSS, HTML, and JavaScript according to their wishes.
Why You Should Prefer Ionic Applications?
Now that you know the reason behind the popularity of this framework, we are going to discuss why one should prefer Ionic applications.
Previously, you learned that it’s an open-source framework, and this form of development already has the hearts of developers and entrepreneurs. This is because it prioritizes the functionality of the application. Here are some reasons why people prefer Ionic over other apps.
1. It is Performance-Based
Since its initiation, it has improved the performance of the application to a high level. Now, the latest version of Ionic is Ionic 3, developed on Angular 4, which has improved everything that developers wanted in hybrid technology.
Moreover, applications developed by the Ionic Framework are faster and smoother. They do not depend on the mobile brand you are using.
2. Developers are Offered with the Ionic View
The setup is very prompt, but the Ionic Framework also provides Ionic View to developers. This is a unique application and can be compared to TestFlight developed by Apple. One can upload a request to the server to get a better look before launching.
3. Native focused
The framework is created with a focus on the natural look and feel of the user interface in mind. The components present in the framework are built to cater to native mobile application development.
4. Appealing Design
The Ionic Framework has a sense of design and is very practical. Moreover, it does not depend on which mobile devices will be used. The Ionic Framework is loaded with excellent mobile components and beautiful typographic themes, and this is the reason why developers find this framework enjoyable to use.
Difference Between Ionic App Development and Native Development
Web technologies are utilized by Ionic development for writing and developing an application. Here in this section, we are going to understand the difference between Ionic and native app development, so let’s take a look at the difference between both forms of development in detail.
Native App Development: Talking about native app development, the application runs on a specific operating system. Applications designed for Android will run on Android OS only, and applications designed for the iPhone will run on the iOS operating system only. So this is the concept of native app development; however, the advantage of native app development is its speed and reliability. Moreover, native app development renders an excellent user experience.
Hybrid App Development: In hybrid app development, the interaction of components of both native and web applications is the same. The hybrid application can be distributed efficiently through the store like the native application. There is no doubt in the fact that native app development provides an excellent user experience, but hybrid apps take an adventure to the next level.
How is Ionic Compared to Other Hybrid Application Technologies?
The Ionic Framework is an open-source hybrid application development, and in this section, we are going to discuss other hybrid application technologies and how they can be compared to the Ionic Framework. Some well-known hybrid application development frameworks include Framework7, Titanium, React Native, and PhoneGap. So let’s take a close look at them and discuss them in detail in the section below.
React Native: React Native is a framework maintained by Facebook in today’s world. It is appreciated for its versatility and focus on developing applications that resemble native ones. When compared to the Ionic Framework, the debate continues about which one is better.
Framework 7: Another tremendous open-source framework used for developing a hybrid mobile application is Framework 7. The main components of Framework 7 are similar to Ionic. It allows developers to use CSS, HTML, and JavaScript according to their preferences while developing applications for devices. But the limitation of Framework7 is that it works mainly on two platforms, which are iOS and Android, as compared to Ionic. Ionic works on all operating systems.
Titanium: The environment of Titanium is a mixture of Xamarin and PhoneGap. The applications developed by this framework are in JavaScript. Even though Titanium is a bit sophisticated platform, the user experience is similar to that of the Ionic Framework.
PhoneGap: PhoneGap is a close competitor of Ionic and is also an open-source framework. PhoneGap offers developers the ability to use their web designing skills while creating hybrid applications.
Conclusion
The development of a hybrid application with the Ionic Framework is highly effective. You can complete your project at a low cost, and at the same time, you can guarantee your clients a great UX. The exciting thing about hybrid app development is that it offers a business comprehensive control of the operation.
At the same time, they can stay in touch with the target audience. If you want to get the best application that would provide you with excellent results, you must ensure that you work with the best hybrid application developer.
