Top 6 Hybrid Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2024

Updated 14 Mar 2024
Published 26 Jul 2022
Satyam Chaturvedi 3407 Views

Mobile phones have become an inherent aspect of our lives, and everyone prefers to use a mobile app to perform various tasks.

Enterprises are drastically shifting their focus to implement a robust mobile strategy for their business to engage more users and enhance their revenue.

Mobile app development has become an important aspect of their long-term business strategy to conquer their competitors and improve their market standing.

According to the market research of Statista, in 2021, there were 2.22 million apps available in the Apple App Store, whereas Google Play Store had around 3.38 million applications. Mobile applications are projected to spawn revenue of more than 935 billion USD in 2023.

Total apps available in apps store stats

There is no doubt that the mobile application development industry is flourishing and generating billions of dollars for app owners and developers.

However, organizations are also aiming to target multiple marketplaces and geographies, at more economical prices. Hybrid app development offers egregious advantages as it offers the best of both worlds: Web and Native apps.

Hybrid mobile app frameworks have arrived as a big redeemer for organizations planning to get their apps to the market faster.

Due to their numerous advantages, hybrid mobile application frameworks are becoming an escalating trend in the mobile app development industry.

In this blog, we will explore the most popular Hybrid app development frameworks available in the market and discuss their benefits, features, and some tips to select the right hybrid app framework for your app development project.

What is Hybrid Mobile App Development Framework?

Hybrid App development frameworks are indeed a bouquet of applications that offer the best solution to build cross-platform mobile apps. These applications are developed using language and front-end development tools and technologies like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5.

Hybrid mobile app development frameworks contain APIs, code libraries, 3rd party plugins, and various other features that assist developers to create applications in a faster and easier manner.

Both ios and android hybrid app frameworks include single code that can seamlessly function on multiple platforms.

Why Do Businesses Need Hybrid Mobile App Development?

Following are some exciting reasons that encourage enterprises to embrace hybrid mobile app development :

  • It enables them to develop budget-friendly solutions at less cost.
  • They can build scalable and cross-platform solutions.
  • They can avail the benefits of automatic updates.
  • Less time and effort are needed to debug and maintain the app.
  • Users can access the hybrid mobile app in offline mode.
  • Enables single code usage for multiple platforms

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Top Hybrid Mobile App Development Frameworks

As per the research conducted by Statista, Flutter has grabbed the top spot as the most popular hybrid mobile app development framework.

It has been preferred by ios developers and app owners globally with an exceptional 42% of the total market share. React Native is the second most popular framework in the category.

With keeping that in mind, let us explore the best hybrid mobile app development frameworks in the market, that can fulfill your cross-platform app development requirements.

1. React Native 

React Native 

React Native has topped the list of hybrid mobile app development frameworks in past year’s Stack Overflow Developer Survey. It offers a perfect solution to develop natively rendered mobile applications on both iOS and Android platforms.

React Native framework is among the most popular and reliable frameworks, which is supported by the wider developer community. It has been conceived and launched by Facebook, and it has gained massive popularity due to its capability to build complex and robust hybrid mobile applications from scratch. 

  • Launched by: Facebook
  • Released in: 2015
  • Written in: Java, JavaScript, Python, C++, and Objective-C
  • Platforms supported: iOS 9+ and Android 4.1+
  • Popular Applications: UberEats || Skype

Key Benefits of React Native 

  • Supported by a wider developer community.
  • Robust Native-like performance.
  • Offer live and hot reloading feature that shows the immediate outcome of code changes.
  • Insightful modular architecture for seamless upgrades and updates.
  • Better code reusability for iOS and Android platforms.
  • Easy installation process aided by Node Package Manager (NPM).

Read Also: Why you Should choose React Native for Mobile Apps?

2. Flutter

Flutter app development framework

It is an intelligent framework that let you craft natively-compiled mobile applications from a unified codebase. Developed and launched by Google, Flutter enables developers to develop and deployment of visually pleasing mobile applications.

Google unveiled the initial version with the codename “Sky” in 2015. In such a short span, it has become the most popular hybrid mobile app framework in the world. Flutter has been gaining popularity as it is among the very few SDKs that offer reactive styles without using JavaScript.

  • Launched by: Google
  • Released in: 2017
  • Written in: Dart
  • Platforms supported: Android 4.4+ and iOS 9+
  • Popular Apps: Alibaba || Hamilton

Key Benefits of Flutter

  • For faster code writing, it supports a hot reload feature.
  • In-built and customizable widgets can be used to incorporate additional features.
  • It uses a unified codebase, that makes testing and quality assurance faster.
  • Ready-to-use widgets could be used to build interactive components.
  • Effortless configuration and setup led to good application performance.
  • Flutter offers faster time-to-market for your apps.

3. Xamarin

Xamarin

It is known for its flexible functionality with the availability of a wide variety of development tools for mobile app developers. It is a perfect hybrid mobile app framework used to build Android, iOS, and Windows-based mobile apps in C# with Visual Studio.

It enjoys the strong support of Microsoft, which had integrated it with the famous .NET platform, which allows developers to access the .NET ecosystem of libraries and packages. Xamarin acts as an abstraction layer that handles the exchange of shared code with the primary platform code.

Key Benefits of Xamarin

  • Offers a native-like performance to the users.
  • Comes with a full-fledged mobile application development toolset.
  • Offers end-to-end support for wearables, TV, and IoT devices.
  • Provides easy testing, updates, and maintenance.
  • Minimizes the time to market and improves cost-effectiveness due to code reusability.
  • allows sharing of 90% of the codebase across major platforms.

4. Ionic

Ionic

Ionic is a hybrid solution used for the development of mobile apps with an outstanding UI interaction and front-end user experience. The CSS of the Ionic framework enables you to seamlessly render an enchanting look and feel for your hybrid mobile app.

It comes with a robust front-end SDK (Software Development Kit), that enables developers to make visually pleasing hybrid mobile apps by using its in-built suite of hybrid app development tools.

It could be integrated with any JavaScript app development framework like Angular or React, or Vue to enhance the overall app functionality.

  • Launched by: Drifty
  • Released in: 2013
  • Written in: JavaScript
  • Platforms supported: iOS 8+ and Android 4.1+
  • Popular Apps: Sanvello || JustWatch

Key Benefits of Ionic

  • Allows coding once and runs it everywhere.
  • Offers an easy learning curve for the starters and developers.
  • Offers enhanced high-end integration of numerous configurable plugins.
  • Convenient and easy application testing process.
  • Use simpler technology and tools that reduce the application development time.
  • Enjoy the support of wider developers and contributors’ communities.

5. Native Script

Native Script

It is an open-source framework, which is used for the development of flexible and scalable mobile applications on Android and iOS platforms with TypeScript and JavaScript. With Native Script, you can build cloud-based apps without depending on your platform or operating system.

If you are planning for hybrid mobile app development, then Native Script could be your preferred choice as it offers a JavaScript-based virtual machine, a runtime, and a bridge module. It is indeed an efficient framework that can help you offer a native app experience on every mobile OS platform.

  • Launched by: Progress Software
  • Released in: 2014
  • Written in: TypeScript and JavaScript
  • Platforms supported: iOS 9+ and Android 4.2+
  • Popular Apps: Regelneef || Daily Nanny

Key Advantages of Native Script

  • It follows code once and runs everywhere philosophy
  • It uses developer-friendly Command Line Interface (CLI)
  • It enables users to access all Android and iOS APIs directly.
  • Uses an XML-based markup language which is quite like the HTML.
  • It is a frame-agnostic framework, that allows the usage of all JavaScript frameworks
  • It offers quick and easy app debugging.

6. Onsen UI

Onsen UI

It is an efficient UI framework that enables app developers to build hybrid mobile apps quickly and cost-effectively. It is an open-source and PhoneGap/Cordova-based UI framework and collection of components used for the development of HTML5 hybrid mobile application development.

Onsen UI is compatible with Angular JS and jQuery, which helps developers to create numerous UI/UX components without any hassles. It enables developers to leverage the web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS to craft amazing mobile apps.

  • Launched by: Monaca Inc. / Asial Corporation
  • Released in: 2013
  • Written in: JavaScript
  • Platforms supported: iOS 9+ and Android 4.4.4+
  • Popular Apps: PopVox || Offcourse Golf

Key Benefits of Onsen UI

  • It allows the development of mobile apps devoid of any JavaScript framework.
  • Provides a wide range of UI components and automatic styling for mobile apps.
  • Allows rapid and easy development of beautiful and efficient HTML5 hybrid applications.
  • It is highly optimized to enhance hardware and device performance.
  • It supports Monaca, which is an effective tool to develop HTML5 mobile hybrid apps.
  • Enables developers to build mobile applications that do not require installation of the iOS/Android SDK.

How to Select the Best Hybrid App Development Framework?

Top key consideration for choosing hybrid app development framework

We have listed down some key considerations to keep in mind while choosing the best hybrid app development framework for your organization.

  • Ease of use – We must evaluate how user-friendly an app development framework is.
  • Learning Curve – The ease of learning a framework and associated tools and technologies is a big factor.
  • Cost of Development – This is an important factor that enables enterprises to keep the app development cost in check.
  • The number of projects delivered – You must check how many successful and stable projects have been developed using a specific framework.
  • Level of expertise – Are you a newbie, an intermediate, or an advanced developer or enterprise in the hybrid app development domain?
  • Kind of app you want to deliver – You must consider the UI/UX, features, and other components you want to offer to your potential users.
  • Market Scenario and Demand – You must assess the market scenario, demand, and average salary offered to a practitioner of a specific framework.

Hybrid Mobile App Development

Final Thoughts

We hope this blog will help you choose the right framework to improve your hybrid app development projects and enhance your digital presence. While each of them offers a unique bouquet of benefits, the selection of framework depends upon your business vision and app requirements.

To choose a suitable hybrid mobile app framework, you must prioritize your app requirements and objective and then evaluate which framework fulfills most of your expectations. If you have any sort of doubts, then you can contact our mobile app development consultants.

Arka Softwares is a reliable hybrid mobile app development company. Our experts possess extensive experience in hybrid mobile app development technology and frameworks to build exceptional hybrid apps. All you need is to share your business idea with us, we can transform your unique idea into a captivating reality.

Hybrid Mobile App Development – FAQs

  • Which mobile app development to choose – Native or Hybrid?

    Native and Hybrid application development methods have their pros and cons. You can go for Native app development if you target a specific OS and platform. Native apps are reliable and fast and enable developers to avail benefits from inherent OS features and phone functions.
    However, if you are a startup or middle-sized organization and aiming to maximize exposure with a limited budget, then you must choose a hybrid mobile app development method. It enables you to reach a larger user base across multiple operating systems with ease.

  • What are the basic differences between React Native and Flutter?

    Both are hybrid mobile app development frameworks, that come with their own set of own pros and cons. While React Native leverages the capabilities of JavaScript, whereas Flutter works on Dart. React Native needs more effort and knowledge of JavaScript and JSX to design cleaner UI and app functions. On the other hand, Flutter uses the widget style to develop the user interface and other components of a mobile app.

  • Which programming language is best suited for hybrid app development?

    We believe it Kotlin. It is a cross-platform programming language that is also known as an official language for android app development. It has been widely used as an alternative to Java and JavaScript for android app development.

  • Which is costly, Native app development or Hybrid app development?

    The Native app development method is slightly costlier than the Hybrid one, as it uses different programming languages and technologies to build applications for respective platforms such as Android and iOS. To build a native application, you need a different set of programmers and languages for different platforms, which need more time, knowledge, and effort.

  • Which App development framework is Best for Hybrid applications?

    Every mobile app development framework comes with its own merits and demerits. However, it is React Native that gives a perfect balance of tools and capabilities to develop hybrid mobile applications. It offers reusable components, excellent response times, better tooling, and strong backing from top technology firms.

Satyam Chaturvedi

Satyam Chaturvedi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Arka Softwares, a leading app development company dealing in modern and futuristic solutions. He loves to spend his time studying the latest market insights.

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