What are Hybrid Apps?
Let’s understand this way, you are born in a country, you are a native to that country/city/state. You move to a new city/country for a job , you become a foreigner to that place I.e hybrid whose roots are still native. Same way Native Apps are those apps that are default to the device built using a single framework and designed in accordance with the OS guidelines, features, layouts which gives it an easier in-app interaction. Users can navigate and use the app faster. Native Mobile Apps are basically the default apps on the phone such as Camera, Music Player, Messages etc., Native Apps usually takes a longer time to build.
Hybrid Mobile Apps are apps that have to be downloaded on the device.Built using a combination of various frameworks such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript wrapped into a native code. Hybrid apps are built on a single source code but can be used on various platforms. A better alternative for those who wish to build apps within a limited timeframe. What’s more is that Hybrid Apps are portable which means it can be used on various platforms. Examples of Hybrid Apps are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram etc. Any Mobile app development company will help you build/build for you the app you desire.
Hybrid App development can be done using some of the already available Hybrid Apps framework
Phone Gap
Most of the Hybrid Apps use Apache Cordova which is the core of Phone Gap. Phone Gap is basically Apache Cordova which contains extended native plug-ins that have access to device capabilities such as contacts, camera etc., It reuses existing web development skills such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build hybrid apps which can be used on multiple platforms.
IONIC
Ionic framework is a free and open source framework for building hybrid apps. It provides services using web technologies such as HTML, CSS and SASS. SASS is the most stable and professional grade CSS extensions which is compatible with all versions of CSS. It has more than 120 native features such as Bluetooth, Finger Print authentication etc., IONIC Framework will always remain free to use.
Intel XDK
Intel XDK allows the user to build cross-platform apps for any kind of store. It contains services and plug-ins for interactive and responsive apps. One can easily create apps using a drag and drop approach. One of the most highlighting features of Intel XDK is that it provides a live preview of the connected device.
Xamarin image
Xamarin is a Microsoft owned California based company. One of the top used hybrid app framework it can be implemented on various platforms using C#. Using C# as codebase, it is possible to create native Android and iOS apps.
Framework7
Frame work7 is a free and open source mobile HTML framework. It enables developing apps with native iOS and Android touch and feel. One of the major feature of this framework is that it provides a live preview of the app prototype. Using web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript it helps build apps mainly for iOS and Android.
Appcelerator Titanium
Titanium is one of the most preferable choice for Hybrid App development. It has mixed development environments provided by Xamarin and Phone Gap. It helps in building cross-platform apps using JavaScript and Appcelerator API’s to get the native touch and feel without the inclusion of HTML and CSS.
Mobile Angular UI
Mobile Angular UI uses Bootstrap and Angular JS to create HTML5 mobile apps. Always available as open source and free to use. Media queries are kept out of bootstrap but can be included as separate files. It has various UI components such as sidebars, overlays etc.,
Onsen UI
Onsen UI is new but still gives a tough competition to Ionic. Onsen UI is flexible and allows the user to switch between frameworks like Angular, Angular 2, React and even allows the user to use pure JavaScript to build apps. It also allows to write applications using HTML5 and JavaScript and push them through PhoneGap and Cordova to build the app.
Sencha Touch
Sencha basically is a enterprise grade product which allows a user to build end to end mobile apps using HTML5 and JavaScript. It is meant for commercial space mostly enterprises. Also known as the Big Daddy of mobile application development space. It helps in creating high performance apps with a native touch and feel.
Kendo UI
Kendo UI leverages HTML5 framework to build cross platform applications powered by Telerik. Depends mainly on jQuery and therefore uses many jQuery widgets. It might be open source but it is limited in terms of widgets as most of them are under a commercial license. Kendo UI lets the user integrate with and Angular and Bootstrap framework as well.
Author
Venkat is highly passionate about solving Business challenges using Technology. He has been instrumental in bootstrapping the company and is currently responsible for leading strategies and innovations to help customers enhance operations and improve efficiency. Among several key projects he was involved over the years, developing an award winning IoT solution which monitors Food Safety, both while in transit and in storage for Emerson Electric has been very close to his heart. Currently over 500+ businesses across the globe are using this solution to track real-time location, temperature and safety of perishable and high value shipments.
