What Are the Best Frameworks for Hybrid Mobile App Development in 2024?

The mobile world of digital technologies is currently on an expansion spree. There is no indication or reason for saturation to strike anytime soon. Rather, it is all set to take a long stride forward in the coming years.

While the big players are constantly looking for innovation and advanced methods to add value to their app users’ lives, some small and medium-scale businesses are yet to launch their business mobile apps. The future is only poised to see new apps and more entrepreneurs join the mobile bandwagon.

The evolution of technology, however, has made things easier from the development perspective. Just like how mobile apps have simplified users’ lives, mobile app development frameworks have eased developers’ lives.

The introduction of hybrid mobile app frameworks has created a stir in the market with all the amazing functionalities and features they offer. With the capability to produce native-like apps, hybrid app frameworks have made their existence count in recent times.

According to a study, about 60% of business owners prefer to build hybrid apps. On the other hand, 80% of businesses do not care if the app developed is a native app or a hybrid app. This means developers are free to use the app framework for hybrid mobile app development as long as the final output meets the client’s expectations and requirements.

Having said that, hybrid mobile app frameworks make developer’s life easier, but there is still work to be done. Above everything, the task is to choose the hybrid app development framework 2024 from the pool of highly-acclaimed hybrid app development frameworks.

Selecting the best cross-platform mobile app framework in 2024 can be tedious, primarily due to the number of options available. Hence, to end your best hybrid app development framework selection worries, we have researched and created a list of the top 10 mobile app development frameworks you should consider to build your hybrid business app or ask your mobile application development Companies to make use of.

Let’s start with the mobile development framework comparison without further ado.

Market Stats for Mobile App Development

• The mobile app industry has been surpassing its growth with an annual growth rate of 21.7% with a revenue of $20.7B by the year 2025.
• The number of global mobile app development frameworks downloaded by users is 258B in 2022.
• The revenue generated with these mobile apps is estimated to reach $935B in the year 2023. Paid downloads and in-app advertising are the top ways to earn revenue.
• Most of the big techie companies are offering solutions like the cloud; increasing the paramount impact in the growth by 24.5%.
• Top companies that have claimed to offer the solution in the market of the mobile app are Google inc., Apple inc., Amazon inc., Adobe Systems inc, IBM, Salesforce.com, Appcelerator, HP, Red Hat, and many more.
• Statista states Flutter is the best mobile development framework used by 42% of 24.5 Million global software developers and users in 2021.
• More than 50% of the traffic is grabbed due to mobile apps, as per Statista reports.
• Out of which 60% of the users are aligned with the use of hybrid apps.

Competition is at its peak and the market is in demand for the more and more best inspirational apps in the market for the next coming years. To give more alternatives to the users the technology frames are exceeding in terms of which is the best one to pick from the huge availability.

To idealize such proximities we have arranged for you the best cross-platform mobile app frameworks which work for the development of apps.

Let’s first understand more about what the hybrid mobile app framework means and why to choose hybrid for building the app using mobile app development frameworks that work as cohesive in such a competition.

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What are Hybrid Mobile Apps?

Hybrid apps are built using multiple tools to reuse the same app code in the mobile apps. This enabled developers to develop the app without writing the code from scratch. The apps developed in this are not truly native nor are they web-based.

Developers now don’t need to build a different app for different platforms. For example, for the video-sharing app, react native is the best tool to be used.

The rendering effect causes the app’s lack of a look and feel. Many times when we open the app in the browser, it looks completely different. The term hybrid allows opening the app in a separate application interface instead of the browser or any third-party emulator. This facilitates the developer to run and deploy the app using the same code without altering the code from scratch.

This advanced type of application development framework is faster to support all types of ecosystems beneath. This saves plenty of money, time, and resources and gives a wild entry for many of the market’s small and large players. Apps built under such platforms are Shopify, Instagram, Intuit, and Microsoft.

In 2024, companies using hybrid mobile development frameworks will develop innovative apps. Let’s understand more about the best mobile app frameworks.

Top 10+ Hybrid Mobile App Development Frameworks of 2024

The list of the best app frameworks for hybrid mobile app development follows.

1. Ionic – Best Hybrid App Development Framework Overall

 Launched in 2013, it is one of the oldest hybrid app development frameworks. More than 5 million apps have been built with Ionic, which shows the trust of companies and developers in this hybrid framework. The mobile apps built with Ionic offer a native-like mobile experience to users. On the other hand, hybrid app developers prefer it because it has amazing in-built elements to use.

What’s good?

• Predefined UI elements for impressive designs
• Comprehensive documentation for understanding the proper use
• Strong community support
• Code once and use it to build apps for different platforms

What’s bad?

• No support for hot-reloading
• Too much dependency on plug-ins
• The inclusion of more features tends to affect the speed of the app

2. React Native – Another Popular Hybrid App Development Framework

Next on the list of the best hybrid app frameworks for 2024 is React Native. It is a Facebook product that was released as a web development ReactJS platform in 2013, while the final stable release took six more years to come out. It was in June 2019 when its first stable release was launched. It makes cross-platform app development a walk in the park for the developers. React native app development provides a native-like experience to the users and is highly stable.

 

What’s good?

• Produces high-performance hybrid apps
• Third-party plug-in integration is possible
• Less expensive than other hybrid app frameworks

Also, Read: Things to Consider when Hiring a React Native App Development Company

What’s bad?

• Amateur community of developers
• Some compatibility issues can be encountered in the final app

3. Xamarin – Top Hybrid App Development Framework

Owned by Microsoft, Xamarin is a hybrid app framework used to build aesthetically sound cross-platform mobile apps that run seamlessly on different operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows. Its popularity surged after the big tech giant Microsoft acquired it in 2016. The language used here is C# which makes development smoother for the developers irrespective of the platform they code for. iOS app developers can also use .NET features and native APIs for building hybrid apps.

What’s good?

• Code reusability (more than 95% of code can be reused)
• It is a complete development ecosystem unlike others on the list
• Seamless integration with external hardware
• Performance is next-level and apps are native-alike

What’s bad?

• Comparatively more expensive than other hybrid app frameworks on this list
• Limited exposure to a community of experienced developers
• Limited technologies can be used, only the ones provided by Xamarin can be used

Related Blog: Flutter, Xamarin & React Native – A Detailed Comparison

4. Flutter – Top Hybrid App Development Framework By Google

Flutter is the latest hybrid app development framework that was launched by Google. It’s powerful, advanced, and bankable. Designed for Google Fuchsia OS, Flutter app development enables the creation of apps for different platforms with a single codebase. It is a complete UI software development kit that uses its programming language, DART, touted as a combination of Kotlin and Java. It has plenty of features that developers love including a hot reload feature, component implementation without OEM widgets, and web views like buttons, switches, dialog boxes, loading spinners, tab bars, and sliders.

 

What’s good?

• Terrific cross-platform capabilities
• Speedy development and dependable performance
• Interactive and seamless user interface design and development
• Google’s support and reliability

Also, Read: How to Hire Flutter App Developer

What’s bad?

• The community of developers is limited to Google and Alibaba employees
• Apps developed are heavier in size than native counterparts
• Fairly new and requires time to mature

5. Corona SDK – Popular Hybrid App Development Framework

If you are looking for speedy development, Corona SDK is the best hybrid app development framework you want in 2024 and beyond. It is 4x times faster than other hybrid frameworks listed in this article and is clearly the best framework for android application development and iOS app development. It uses a lightweight scripting language called Lua. The development of single code apps is possible that serve brilliantly to platforms like iOS and Android. It is preferred by hybrid app developers to build 2D games, enterprise applications, and education applications.

 What’s good?

• Rapid app development is a plus
• Well-equipped framework
• Capable of producing high-performance apps

What’s bad?

• Limited external library support
• Lua can be tedious to comprehend for new developers

Visit Also: Best mobile app developers in india

6. JQuery Mobile

 

It is another hybrid app development framework used to create platform-independent apps. It uses the Javascript library and HTML for making responsive websites that work on different devices, while jQuery and jQueryUI for making mobile web apps. It is used less for mobile application development services and is preferred when work to be done is on the shell part of the app. It can be used to work in conjunction with other popular frameworks.

What’s good?

• Simplified navigation
• Intuitive web pages
• Matured as a framework
• Impressive plugin library

What’s bad?

• Apps made with this framework can be slow and sluggish
• An experienced designer is needed to exploit the framework
• Complex app development can be a task to handle
• Custom theme integration can evoke CSS issues

7. Apache Cordova

It is one of the best frameworks for hybrid apps first released by Nitobi and later acquired by Adobe Systems. It is formerly known as the PhoneGap. It supports multiple OS like Android, iOS and Windows Mobile. Comes with customization, it offers features like on-device components, third-party management tools like a single codebase, and many others. It runs for the apps with the wrappers integrated with various API bindings, helping to access the sensors, data, and network status.

What’s good?

• It supports command-line APIs
• Pre-developed components, and plugins.
• Other bootstrap supports
• Cordova CLI and emulator

What’s bad?

• It needs lots of data and functionality for the creation of the app.
• Compatibility issues with the plugins for the different devices and platforms.

Checkout Also: Benefits of Hiring Android App Developers in India

8. Mobile Angular UI

 

It uses Angular JS in combination with Bootstrap to build cross-platform apps. Features of this angular mobile framework like being consistent across devices and platforms and allowing developers to use features like sidebars, switches, overlays, etc. It is an open-source hybrid app framework that’s licensed under MIT and available to use for free.

What’s good?

• Free to use and expand
• Uses HTML5
• Ideal for light apps

What’s bad?

• A limited set of features
• Not appropriate for complex apps
• A lot of dependency on Bootstrap

9. Intel XDK

 

Next on the list of best hybrid app development frameworks 2024 is Intel XDK, which simplifies workflow and lets developers create stunning HTML5 websites and apps through its highly intuitive user interface. It has a troubleshoot option and profiling choices that help app testers quickly detect bugs and flaws on different devices. Additionally, it allows developers to export the app for compilation with ease.

What’s good?

• Continuous improvement by the team is a plus
• Appreciable synchronization methods
• In-built tools make live previews possible at different stages of development.

What’s bad?  

• A heavy system with additional code for drag and drop feature

10. Framework 7

It is an HTML5-based hybrid app framework that’s free to use. It is preferred for designing apps for Android as well as iOS. It is an independent app framework with zero dependencies on AngularJS or ReactJS. It enables the developer to choose from different framework variants like Framework 7 Core, Vue, and React. You can also choose the target platform amongst PWA, web app, or Cordova app.

What’s good?

• Apps built using Framework 7 are fast and stable
• Community support is satisfactory
• Apps are completely license-free

What’s bad?

• Lacks proper documentation
• Integration with other hybrid app frameworks is not possible
• Supports only the latest versions of operating systems

11. Kotlin – Most Popular hybrid app development framework

Kotlin is the best hybrid app development platform used to develop the app using its libraries with the logic and code deployment under the same platform. It simply embeds with the javascript modules and the UI native codes.

Top features like inline functions, high order functions, lambdas for the functionalities. Unlike native platforms, the developers can deploy the code using the virtual machine. With the hassle-free business logic now Kotlin is the high-end free mobile application framework to save time and cost.

What’s good?

• Supports multiple classes
• Third-party functions and plugins
• Smart cast function
• Have speedy functions, syntax, and APIs
• Collecting filtering
• Java interoperability support

What’s bad?

• Limited resources utilization
• More compilation time

12. Appcelerator Titanium

It is one of the oldest mobile development frameworks that developers rely upon to build apps for Android, iPhone, iPad, and other tablets. It runs through Titanium Studio and uses Javascript for coding hybrid apps. Additionally, it can also run through Android XDK and Xcode on Mac.

What’s good?

• Web-based SDK makes it one of the desirable hybrid mobile app frameworks
• A constantly growing and supportive community of developers
• Numerous API functions to use

What’s bad?

• Lack of flexibility
• Complex apps are tough to build with this framework
• Building an app with Appcelerator Titanium can be expensive

13. Onsen UI

It is known as the beautiful HTML5 hybrid app and web mobile apps. The top reasons developers have preferred Onsen UI above any other framework are its zero-time setup and a faster speed-up. You don’t need to worry even if you are operating with low-performing devices.

The good thing is you have the optimal knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JS to get started with this framework. It has plenty of new features to offer and excited developers like stack navigation, UI tabs, side menu, automatic styling support, documentation, and design support. Popular apps developed in Onsen UI are Opal and PopVox.

What’s good?

• It works great with the Monaca, a command-line tool. The built is deployed directly plugged with the cloud, so deployment time is greatly reduced.
• People trust more in the apps developed in Onsen UI; Google has a vast presence of 100M+ apps built on this.
• It used to build cross-platform hybrid apps with PhoneGap and Cordova.
• Optimized performance is the must-have feature everyone should urge for. With such rapid functionality of the apps in the market, Onsen UI is the leading UI builder to make the development of complex parts much easier.

What’s bad?

• It consists of poor and early documentation.
• The cost of app development is big compared to the other frameworks.

Recommended Read: Top iPhone App Development Companies

Key Factors That Determine the Application Development Framework to Use

A few factors would determine what mobile application framework you should use in your application for better results. Let’s discuss each of these factors that would help you put up the right solution on the screen in no time.

1. The Intentions of the Project: The most significant factor that determines what dev frameworks to use in your project is the intentions. The mobile development framework that you are to use for your work must support the results the project needs to bring to the screen.

2. Flexibility of Use: If the solution that we are looking for isn’t flexible it becomes quite difficult for the team to understand what to use and how to use it. It is important that the best framework for app development that is put to use can be modified to deliver certain results.

3. Learning Curve: It is important to understand the learning curve of the application development framework that you are to use. If it is complex then it is better to hire android experts or go for the simpler curve that the team can easily understand. If you think there is a certain framework for web and mobile app development that would help you earn better results and can help your future endeavors then go for it.

4. Documentation: If a mobile application framework has proper documentation, it is going to save you a lot of time. In times when you may be stuck between what to do and how to do it, you can easily reach the documentation and find a solution. It is like having a user guide for the queries that you have.

5. Support: It is vital that the mobile framework you are working for is interesting and helps you in case of any confusion and future updates. Some mobile development frameworks have a great user support system that lets the users enter the market with the right set of information and bring on the stage interesting and engaging solutions.

If your framework can offer these you are at the right place.

Wrapping Up

The world of apps is not settling down anytime soon. It will only see newer technologies, better methods, advanced frameworks for web and mobile apps, and of course a lot more apps.

Those mentioned above are the top mobile app development frameworks that can be considered for developing your next app. If you are wondering which one to use, put an end to this thought by contacting us. We deliver quality cross-platform mobile app development services across the world. We will take you through the process of choosing the best framework for mobile app development in 2024 based on requirements and objectives. We offer free consultancy so don’t hold back and say ‘Hi’ to our support executive now.

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