What is an Application Framework?
As you may have previously guessed, an application framework is a specific solution that offers pre-made templates, components, and structure for application development. It is mostly concentrated on creating different kinds of application architecture, such as:
- Native applications
- Hybrid applications
- Web applications
Reusing the app design and code is made possible by the component-based interface and the consolidation of basic code in one region of the Android framework. With all of these characteristics listed, it’s clear that the main goal of the Android framework is to make it easier for programmers to build apps and write code.
The Top 7 Android Frameworks that Are Worth Your Attention
The final framework you choose for an Android project will be determined by the tools you use, the project’s requirements, and its primary goals. Let’s now look at the most popular but effective Android frameworks for 2022 and pinpoint their most advantageous features, which programmers can surely exploit.
Ionic Framework
With the use of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, Ionic is a free and open-source Android framework that has received MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) certification. Due to its cross-platform functionality and ability to incorporate AngularJS, Ionic has emerged as one of the most well-known frameworks for Android development.
Ionic already has a sizable community because of its Cordova and Angular foundations.
Key features of the Ionic Android framework:
- development of cross-platform mobile applications
- Native experience and the default user interface
- plugins for Cordova
- JavaScript auxiliary files
- published under the MIT license
- interoperability with major front-end frameworks, including React.js and Vue.js, the most recent JavaScript frameworks, and Angular.
Flutter Framework
Flutter is a multi-platform mobile app SDK that can be used to create applications; it differs from other Android frameworks in that it is designed and maintained by Google.
Flutter is the ideal framework for creating hybrid apps when it comes to choosing one.
A 2D rendering engine named Skia is used by Google’s Flutter Android framework to create visuals that resemble material design and Cupertino design.
Furthermore, Flutter includes industry-leading hot-reload capabilities that enable seamless testing without necessitating an application restart.
Key features of the Flutter Android framework:
- A solitary code base
- The enormous widget library
- shortened time to build code and accelerated time to market.
- own rendering engine to render on a canvas provided by the platform.
- This enables code exchange between the target platforms.
- Perspective will develop into a complete cross-platform development tool for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web browsers, and other platform-specific devices.
Corona SDK
Compared to previous Android frameworks, this all-purpose, cross-platform framework enables 10x faster development.
The lightweight, multi-paradigm programming language Lua, which is integrated into Corona and provides excellent speed, usability, and flexibility, is stacked on top of C++/OpenGL to accomplish this.
Corona, a free game development tool with real-time testing support that runs on both Mac OS X and Windows, is very well-liked among game creators.
Key features of the Corona SDK Android framework include:
- incredibly simple to use to begin
- The internal library contains more than 1000 APIs and plugins.
- development that is applicable to multiple platforms
- being able to use APIs instead of calling any native library, including C, C++, Obj-C, and Java
- For developers, real-time device testing saves a ton of time.
- Since it lacks an integrated development environment (IDE), it has additional plugins to access the necessary platforms.
Framework7
Framework 7 is one of the best open-source, MIT-licensed Android frameworks available today and is almost the newest framework for Android development. It has a number of essential features for quick and efficient app launch.
It includes almost all of the essential and supplemental mobile UI that is easily implementable in various projects. The endless scroll, lazy loading, pull to refresh, swiper slider, and other wonderful features are favorites among developers.
The majority of developers pick Framework7 as the top Android framework for building PWAs (Progressive Web Apps). Additionally, it is simple to combine with Cordova to create hybrid mobile apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript rather than the usual Android programming languages like Java, Kotlin, and XML.
Key features of the Framework7 Android framework:
- includes a tonne of handy plugins and ready-to-use UI elements.
- simple to understand and modify
- provides a jQuery syntax that facilitates a prompt, error-free start.
- Pages from templates can be dynamically loaded thanks to the Flexible Router API.
- Integrated support libraries
- Without a license
React Native Framework
React Native is a potent open-source framework supported by Facebook that provides a wealth of support for other development tools and their IDEs. It is based on React, a JS toolkit for developing web applications.
The framework is used by numerous Fortune 500 organizations, including Tesla, Walmart, Airbnb, Instagram, and many others, to create native mobile apps.
Developers can write code once and run it anywhere thanks to the majority of React Native APIs being cross-platform, which speeds up development and lowers expenses.
Similar building pieces to those found in the majority of Android development frameworks are used in React Native. Developers can link updated files while maintaining the current state of the app by using React Native’s hot-reload feature. React Native’s developer community has expanded considerably more quickly than Facebook had anticipated.
Key features of the Native Android framework:
- A single interface is used to design and develop the app.
- An alternative that aids in pushing out app updates is the “Code Push” capability.
- without the user’s permission and without having to reload the programme on his Android device
- supports adding external plugins from third parties
- Make finding bugs more simpler by employing declarative programming techniques.
- Hot reloading speeds up the development of new features and issue fixes.
- the ability to transfer codes independent of user interfaces
jQuery Mobile Framework
One of the HTML5-based cross-platform frameworks that is also considered the easiest tool for launching mobile and web applications is the jQuery Mobile framework for Android development.
The primary distinguishing feature of jQuery Mobile is the ability to “write code once” and have it run on a variety of platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, and Blackberry.
The fact that the entire basic app interface can be written in HTML, with little to no or even no JavaScript code, is another fantastic aspect that developers love about this Android framework!
Key features of the jQuery Android framework:
- has a number of plugins, such as Pop-Up Boxes, Image Slider, and Content-Slider, among others
- Compatible with different mobile frameworks for iOS, Windows, and Android
- ThemeRoller functionality makes drag-and-drop functionality simpler.
- JavaScript simplifies common manipulations
- uses the CSS syntax
- Compared to other Android frameworks, lightweight
Appcelerator Titanium
Appcelerator Titanium is an open-source platform for developing native apps with a single JavaScript script, and according to some developers, it is the best Android framework. Titanium gained popularity because it enables the creation of cross-platform mobile applications using 60% to 90% of the preexisting code. The JavaScript programming language is used by the framework to guarantee the excellent speed of apps.
Solid games may be created using Titanium, and Appcelerator Titanium-built mobile apps can make use of hardware-specific features like Android menu buttons, OS-centric controls, and platform-appropriate notifications.
Key features of the Appcelerator Titanium:
- operates on Mac OS, Linux, and Windows
- a software development kit that is open-source and free (SDK)
- JavaScript is used to create applications.
- The process of developing apps is facilitated by quick and flexible prototyping.
- high degree of code reuse (between 60 and 80%)
- Support for the newest OS releases right away