Developing apps that are compatible on versatile platforms and devices is the real pain, which by no means allowed persistence. Until now, it was believed that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to mobile app development.

1. COMPARISON OF TOP FOUR CROSS PLATFORM APP DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORKS – IONIC VS PHONEGAP VS XAMARIN VS TITANIUM
Developing apps that are compatible on versatile platforms and devices is the real pain,
which by no means allowed persistence. Until now, it was believed that there is no ‘one-
size-fits-all’ approach to mobile app development. With the evolution and matured
HTML5 platform, the mobile app development industry is seeing a stiff rise in cross-
platform app development. Taking advantage of the newly available tools and
technologies, developing hybrid mobile apps that work well across different platforms
and devices is the rising trend.
TheRiseofCross-Platform(Hybrid)Apps
Mobile devices of all sorts, all sizes, and all configurations are pouring into the market
across the globe with the barrage showing no optimistic signs of stopping. It is not at
all feasible for businesses to build applications for different platforms or operating
systems by learning different coding languages. Cross-platform mobile app
development tools have significantly simplified the mobile app development process,
allowing developers to code once and use the same application on a variety of platforms.
A company in need of delivering apps fast must find a comprehensive cross-platform
mobile app development tool. A tool having necessary templates that would take away
all the travails right from the efforts necessary to lay the groundwork of the app. The
foundation is already there as companies interested in cross-platform app
development can utilize different open source frameworks.

2. ReviewofDifferentCross-PlatformAppDevelopmentFrameworks
Here we will take into account four major cross-app development tools – Ionic,
PhoneGap, Xamarin, and Titanium. Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of
different frameworks will help you make an informed decision about a specific platform
that suits best with your hybrid mobile app development project.
IonicFramework:
Ionic is an open-source SDK for hybrid app development, built on top of Angular JS
and Apache Cordova. The tools and services required for cross-platform app
development are provided using known web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and
SaaS.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
 Single source for all supported
platforms, especially Android and
OSX.
 The majority of app development is
carried out using HTML, CSS, and JS,
which is not new to many developers
 With Ionic, you avail a chance to use
the distinctive framework of Angular
JS that is embedded in it by default
 Good and versatile availability of
plugins.
 Nicely covered UI patterns like tabs,
header, bars, lists, and cards.
 Use of CSS to override styles offers an
extravagant experience
 As the learning curve for Angular JS is
stiff, Ionic is not a better option for
developers not acquainted with
Angular JS
 Risk of early adoption as Ionic is
presumed to be still in its infancy stage,
Support, standards keep on changing,
and at any unknown moment, even the
libraries are completely rewritten
 While you can easily create, Interface
and Database type of apps, it is harder
to create graphics games and high-end
apps using Ionic.

3. PhoneGap:
Amongst all cross-platform app development tools, PhoneGap is one of the most
popular platforms used to create hybrid apps. PhoneGap is an open source platform
and is often known as Apache Cordova, which brings the amazing support of
JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3. Developers simply love to create cross-platform apps
using PhoneGap along with Foreign Function Interfaces.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
 Reduced learning curve as it utilizes
JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3
languages, already known to
developers
 Apps developed using PhoneGap can
be installed similar to native apps by
leveraging easy app store
discoverability
 PhoneGap follows plug-in
architecture increasing the chances of
extending native device APIS in
modular ways
 PhoneGap allows the distribution and
integration of payment through the
app store.
 It is free and open source saving you
the licensing costs
 It is easier to seek assistance from tons
of libraries for further enhancing the
functionality and flexibility of
PhoneGap
 Performance issues might arise if too
many graphic elements are induced in
the app architecture.
 Not clear information, user guidelines
or directions are available that could
enhance the performance and quality
of cross-platform app developed
using PhoneGap
 The PhoneGap’s API still does not
support a large number of native APIs
 As there is not much control over
hardware, apps might become slower
with frequent render updates
 Possibility of memory leakage as it
does not have cache/memory
management

4. Xamarin
Launched in 2011, Xamarin is a mono framework used for cross-platform app
development. It is widely used for communicating with the Application Program
Interface (API) of common mobile device functions like contacts, camera, and
geolocation for Android, iOS, and Windows operating systems. It allows developers to
use almost 100% native libraries of both Android and iOS, Xamarin is best for building
applications using C# programming language running on .NET Common Language
Infrastructure (CLI).
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
 Xamarin re-uses business logic layers,
codes and data access across platforms
to develop effective offline
applications.
 At first, the license costs might seem
higher, but with MSDN subscription
discounts for a sizeable team and
projects, you ought to receive higher
returns.
 Xamarin is a native platform wrapping
native libraries with a .NET layer with
C# making it highly customizable and
open to all third-party libraries written
for Android and iOS environments.
 The cross-platform apps developed
with Xamarin can do anything a native
app does as it helps in implementing
very performing code underneath
resulting an improved overall
performance of the app.
 Xamarin Forms is a very simple API,
allows developers to build very
beautiful native UI for all the
platforms.
 Either the .NET developer must
understand the mobile development
or a mobile developer should learn
.NET for using Xamarin. It is
necessary to have knowledge of
some platform-specific app
architecture or framework that has
Objective-C or Java flavor.
 Due to framework libraries in
Xamarin, an issue of unreasonable
app size might arise to be
downloaded from Google Play or
iOS App Store.
 Xamarin Forms offer about more
than 40 UI controls (still growing);
however, a developer is not able to
access all the other Android-specific
UI controls, requiring him/her to
write platform specific codes for
such controls.

5. Titanium:
Licensed under Apache, Titanium is an open–source, cross-platform mobile app
development framework by Appcelerator. The framework is coded in such a way that
it offers an integrated environment to the developers for developing an extensive range
of mobile applications. Based on JavaScript, it also entails HTML5, CSS3, and JQuery.
Cross-platform mobile apps developed with Titanium are lightweight and of high
quality, delivering a heart-stopping experience across all mobile platforms.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
 Comprising of HTML5, CSS5, JQuery,
JavaScript and Ajax it becomes easier
for mobile developers to learn the heart
and soul aspect of titanium.
 The platform-independent API can
access the advanced features of modern
devices such as touch screen, camera,
GPS navigation, and much more to
develop feature-rich applications.
 Build quick prototypes using the
integrated environment and get instant
user feedback.
 200,000+ developers and 35,000+ apps
developed, Titanium is a large
community offering access to its Open
Mobile Marketplace.
 It recently acquired ‘Cocoafish’ for
implementing cloud service and
 Titanium increases development as
well as cost complexities more than
proportional to increased
application complexity.
 Due to the version and build,
Titanium might give rise to SDK
related issues, leading to loss of
time and efforts, which is not good,
especially when you are
constrained to the delivery of
products and features.
 It offers ‘StoreKit’ a module
enabling in-app purchases to
Apple’s App Store, which is
slightly painful and complex.
 It was better with a Titanium
Developer. Since the introduction
of Titanium Studio (Eclipse based

6. functionality in its platform to develop
performance-oriented applications.
IDE built on a modified version of
Aptana), it has increased the
learning curve making it unstable
and uncomfortable at times.
Conclusion:
Frameworks used for cross-platform mobile app development are, is widely accepted
as an important ingredient to make a winning recipe reaching out wider user base across
different mobile platforms. Nevertheless, overcoming numerous challenges as if
security, performance, lack of standardization, quality and compatibility are still some
of the unsolicited issues. Depending on the enterprise requirement like Native UI,
reduced code, cost-efficiency, flexibility, code reusability, and more above-mentioned
factors will definitely help an enterprise to select the best framework for cross-
platform mobile app development.
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