Ionic 2 is an update to the Ionic framework that uses Angular 2 and TypeScript for building hybrid mobile apps. It provides the same core UI components as Ionic 1 but with improved APIs that take advantage of newer web technologies like ES6. The update brings Angular 2 concepts like components and classes instead of controllers and directives. Ionic 2 aims to continue providing simplicity, platform continuity, performance and creative freedom for building cross-platform mobile apps with one codebase.