Ionic, Flutter, and React Native: When To Use Them

All of these frameworks are popular in the mobile app development world as it allows developers to build applications using a single source code for every platform and various mobile and web development services provider companies use them to build applications.

In this article, we will see what Cross-Platform App Frameworks: Ionic, Flutter, and React Native is and when to use them.

Each of these frameworks allows you to build an app for both the major platforms: iOS and Android. All of these frameworks are popular in the mobile app development world as they allow developers to build applications using a single source code for every platform. It costs less, hence, the demand for cross-platform app development has increased over the past decade.

It is now a well-known fact that smartphones have become an essential part of people’s day-to-day lives, with this increased number of smartphone users, it is only wise to invest in a mobile application for your business. No matter if you are planning to invest in a mobile application for your already established business or a startup, cross-platform app development is the way to go.

Cross-platform app development saves developers the trouble to write a different source code for each platform. Meaning, they need to learn various programming languages such as Swift, HTML, Objective C, etc., which have been eliminated. Developers only need to be well equipped with basic programming languages like JavaScript for Ionic and React Native and Dart for Flutter. Therefore, cross-platform app development has made it possible to develop native applications for several platforms using just one language rather than using a separate language for every platform reducing the extra effort required to learn multiple languages.

So, let’s see what these Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks are:

IONIC

Ionic makes it easy to build high-performance mobile and Progressive Web Apps (or PWAs) that look and feel beautiful on any platform or device.

Ionic’s open-source Framework and developer-friendly tools and services power apps for some of the world’s best-known brands — from highly successful consumer apps like Sworkit, Untappd, and Dow Jones MarketWatch, to mission-critical apps supporting Nationwide, Amtrak, and NASA.

FLUTTER

Flutter is a free and open-source mobile UI framework created by Google and released in May 2017. In a few words, it allows you to create a native mobile application with only one codebase. This means that you can use one programming language and one codebase to create two different apps (for iOS and Android).

Flutter consists of two important parts:

• An SDK (Software Development Kit): A collection of tools that are going to help you develop your applications. This includes tools to compile your code into native machine code (code for iOS and Android).
• A Framework (UI Library based on widgets): A collection of reusable UI elements (buttons, text inputs, sliders, and so on) that you can personalize for your own needs.

REACT NATIVE

React Native (also known as RN) is a popular JavaScript-based mobile app framework that allows you to build natively rendered mobile apps for iOS and Android. The framework lets you create an application for various platforms by using the same codebase.

React Native was first released by Facebook as an open-source project in 2015. In just a couple of years, it became one of the top solutions used for mobile development. React Native development is used to power some of the world’s leading mobile apps, including Instagram, Facebook, and Skype. We discuss these and other examples of React Native-powered apps further in this post.

There are several reasons behind React Native’s global success.

Ionic Vs. Flutter Vs. React Native

Flutter is Google’s baby, suffice to say it is a well-performing cross-platform app development framework. React Native is an SDK that is built by Facebook to make it easier to develop apps for iOS and Android using a single source code. Ionic, on the other hand, has a slightly different approach when it comes to building cross-platform apps. Ionic helps developers build cross-platform apps using JSS, HTML, and CSS. Ionic makes sure that you can reuse the codes.

Main objectives you need to keep in mind when choosing a cross-platform app development framework between Ionic, Flutter, and React Native:

Which of these Frameworks is the best and when to use it?

Ionic is very popular as it eliminates the learning of a new language factor whereas Flutter needs the developers to learn Dart programming language to build cross-platform apps. Although, when it comes to building highly graphical apps, Ionic is never the first choice of the app developers, React Native comes into play then. Flutter is new compared to Ionic and React Native but is soon getting the recognition it deserves.

This comes down to mean that all these frameworks are best in their way. But, while choosing a framework to develop an application for your business, acknowledging many factors is important as no one framework can be best for all kinds of businesses or applications.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To wrap up this article, it’s worth saying that our aim is not to announce the winner of the cross-platform app development frameworks. Instead, the simple aim of this article is to help you understand the strengths and limitations of these three top cross-platform frameworks so you can make a perfect choice for your app development.

After evaluating various survey reports and statistics, this article has analyzed the information and carried out a detailed comparison between these three titans. If you want to build applications using these frameworks or which options best suit your needs, then it’s recommended that you get in touch with a leading software application development company.