The Future of Mobile App Development: Emerging Framework Trends
Discover the top 5 mobile app development frameworks for building cutting-edge apps. Explore features and use cases of the emerging framework trends.
Elon is a millennial who sets the alarm on his smartwatch to wake up every morning and quickly orders breakfast from Uber Eats before commuting to work in Uber Cab.
Throughout the day, he tracks his health using Fitbit and watches his favorite show on NetFlix before going to bed at night. It is just a gist of some vital aspects of Elon’s app-dependent life. In today’s digital landscape, everyone, like Elon, uses multiple mobile apps to make life easier.
According to Grand View Research, the global mobile app market was valued at $206.85 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.8% from 2023 to 2030.
Have you ever wondered what makes these mobile applications so valuable that they have become an inseparable part of our lives? From ordering groceries to booking doctor appointments and beyond, everything is done with just a few taps of mobile apps.
Well, let me tell you behind the scenes of such valuable applications, there are mobile app development frameworks. These frameworks enable the intriguing features and functionalities in the applications that users can experience at their fingertips.
What are Mobile App Development Frameworks?
An app development framework is a kind of software that enables developers to build cutting-edge mobile applications that work seemingly on different devices, delivering the best user experience as intended.
Basically, these frameworks are the fundamental structures or templates that help developers to build and optimize applications. By using these frameworks, developers can significantly avoid making costly programming errors, work faster, and save time.
Let’s understand the role of mobile app development frameworks through an example. Suppose you want to construct a building. If you do it with your bare hands, you will most likely require more time and make many mistakes, and the end outcome will not be as impressive as you wanted it to be.
On the other hand, when you construct the same building by hiring professional contractors and using machinery, you will get the desirable result quickly and more efficiently. It is similar to frameworks where developers are the contractors and frameworks are the machinery.
Top 5 Framework Trends in 2023
Now that we know the importance of mobile app development frameworks in building cutting-edge applications, let’s discover some emerging framework trends popular in 2023.
1. Flutter
Google’s open-source framework, Flutter, is one of the most popular frameworks widely used by developers to build native and hybrid apps for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. It is a complete framework that includes a rendering engine, widgets, testing, and integrating APIs and other features that enable developers to build aesthetically pleasing applications.
Key Features
2. Solar 2D
Solar2D, also known as Corona, is an open-source and cross-platform app development framework that is highly valuable in creating gaming applications for both mobile and desktop. This framework supports Amazon Fire, Android phones, iPhones, iPads, tablets, Macs, Windows, etc. Furthermore, developers can also use Solar2D to build compatible applications for Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android TV.
Key Features
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Multiple plugins for all needs
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Robust and lightweight scripting language for games
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Faster development process
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Strong API support that can be integrated with any native library
3. React Native
Meta’s React Native is an open-source UI development framework that combines the best features to build interactive user interfaces. The open-source libraries of React Native provide faster and better development experiences for Android and iOS apps. Popular business apps like Skype, Airbnb, and Amazon Prime are built using this open-source framework.
Key Features
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Single code base across all devices
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NPM for installation
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Compatible with third-party plugins
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Reusable elements
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Declarative API for predictive UI
4. Xamarin
Introduced by Microsoft, Xamarin is another popular app development framework in the list, which is .Net-based, and supported by various libraries, tools, and programming languages.
Being an open-source and cross-platform app-building framework, Xamarin offers an easier and faster development ecosystem with API, backend, components, etc. With Xamarin, developers can build native applications for Android, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, macOS, and Windows.
Key Features
5. Ionic
Ionic is a complete open-source mobile app development framework used by app developers to build high-quality cross-platform applications for different platforms using a single code base. Ionic can be used to create apps for iOS, Androids, and Windows with intriguing user interface elements such as views, filters, forms, and navigation menus.
Key Features
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100% open-source mobile SDK
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Cross-platform native bridge
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A CLI for building and testing
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World-class documentation
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Intuitive UI components
Final Thoughts
These are the top 5 mobile app development frameworks popular in 2023.
However, there are many other frameworks available in the market. Hire the best app developers and let them choose the best framework suitable for your specific project requirements.