Top 5 Frameworks For Building Hybrid Mobile Apps.

Welcome my dear readers, today am going to be writing on the top 5 frameworks for hybrid application development. A hybrid app is just a regular mobile optimized website, written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that is displayed in a web view. The advantage is that you only need to write a single application, which in most cases runs unmodified on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Most of the frameworks we will be talking about works by the help of either Apache Cordova or PhoneGap, which give you a bridge to the device APIs in JavaScript.

1. Ionic

Ionic is the most widely used framework today and probably the first choice of many developers. You can use the CSS portion of the framework to create native looking designs, but to harness the full potential of Ionic, its best to pair it with AngularJS. Ionic has a command-line interface(CLI) which is full of awesome features including integrated emulators and a Cordova based app packager.

Pros:
>> Works with predefined components
>> Great community because it is widely used
>> Command Line Interface with lots of useful features

Cons:
>> You need to know AngularJS to do anything complex

2. Onsen UI

This is an open source framework that allows developers to build apps by combining native-looking components. Here, you can work with or without AngularJS, and has great documentation that includes lots of examples and layouts for the most common app structures. An important disadvantage of Onsen UI is that it currently offers only an iOS theme, although the next version promises Material Design support.

Pros:
>> Works with predefined components
>> Excellent documentation with examples

Cons:
>> PhoneGap/Cordova builder not included, but supported
>> No support for Material Design (yet)

3. Framework 7

Framework 7 is a completely framework agnostic (doesnt have external dependencies like Angular or React) but still manages to make apps look and feel native, with properly styled components and animations. Anyone who understands HTML, CSS and JavaScript can create an app without making the code complex or complicated. Framework 7 doesnt include any tools for emulation or app packaging so you will need to combine it with Cordova or PhoneGap.

Pros:
>>Good performance
>>Simple to use, relies only on HTML, CSS and JavaScript
>>Can be combined with any JavaScript framework of choice

Cons:
>> PhoneGap/Cordova builder not included, but supported

4. React Native

React Natives purpose is to build proper native apps, instead of creating hybrid ones that run in a Web view. Development, however, is still done completely via JavaScript and React. This frameworks isnt suitable for beginners in web development, but on the other side, the framework has a huge community behind it that will help you in every part of the way. Recently the framework rolled support for Android, so you can have real cross-platform apps.

Pros:
>> Native-like performance
>> Huge community
Cons:
>> Complex for beginners

5. jQuery Mobile

The oldest of all mobile frameworks, jQuery Mobile doesnt try to make apps that look like Android or iOS. Instead, its purpose is to help develop web apps that will work equally well on all mobile browsers. As such, it is very lightweight, depends only on jQuery and is quite easy to learn, while still offering good touch recognition and PhoneGap/Cordova support.

Pros:

>> Support for wide range of mobile browsers
>> Simple to use

Cons:

>> Dated styles that dont resemble either iOS or Android
>> PhoneGap/Cordova builder not included, but supported.

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