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Framework7

Stacks140

Followers327

+ 1

Votes171

PhoneGap

Stacks582

Followers683

+ 1

Votes94

Web Starter Kit

Stacks177

Followers209

+ 1

Votes3

Advice on Framework7, PhoneGap, and Web Starter Kit

Alejandro Pérez

Aug 20, 2021 | 6 upvotes · 376.7K views

Needs advice

Ionic

PhoneGap

and

React Native

Looking for some advice: we are planning to create a hybrid app for both iOS and Android; this app will consume a REST API. We are looking for a tool for this development with the following attributes:

Shallow learning curve; easiness to adopt (all team is new into mobile development, with diverse backgrounds: Java, Python & AngularJS),
Easiness to test (we discarded Angular-based tools already: creating a unit test in Angular we considered time-consuming and low value. At this point of the project, we cannot afford UI testing with Selenium/Appium based tools).
So far, we are not considering any specific capability of the device. Still, in the mid/long term, we would require the usage of GPS (geolocalization) and accelerometer (not sure if it's possible to use it from a hybrid app). Suggest any other tool if you wish.

Replies (4)

Alcides Costa

CEO, Co-founder at inPlace · Sep 2, 2021 | 5 upvotes · 60K views

Recommends

Kivy

If your team has a strong background in Python and you want to release some prototype soon, you could try Python and Kivy. Kivy is an open-source, cross-platform Python framework for rapid development of mobile GUIs. It supports both iOS and Android. I have passed a similar situation recently: to start a mobile app with no background in mobile development. Kivy saved me a lot of time. I could develop a prototype and release it faster than I thoght.

Frederico Bezerra

Engineering at Xtartup · Aug 28, 2021 | 4 upvotes · 61.4K views

Recommends

Expo

React Native

To be honest , You need to think these points :

Developer Experience
Tooling
Maintainability

My vote for now is going with React Native with Expo , using Typescript...

With this stack You could follow some patterns and principle that the Java and python programmers are familiar with.

Typescript is a javascript Superset that you can follow Procedural , Functional and OOP approaches and an easy learning curve.

With Expo you need to concern only with the shared layer (Typescript) and the Native ones will be expo responsibility.

Please check Expo.com and try to get started using typescript.

Good performance and with EAS (paid plan) you can create a full CI CD pipeline for your app connected to the stores(Apple and Android).

Max Lynch

at Ionic · Oct 1, 2021 | 3 upvotes · 33.6K views

Recommends

Capacitor

Ionic

If you already know how to build web apps, give Capacitor a try. You can think of it like "electron for mobile" in that you can build a web app but access native functionality. Pair it with Ionic if you want a UI kit that is optimized for mobile, or build your own UI from scratch.

A bonus to Capacitor is your app will run without modification on the web as a PWA, iOS, Android, and more.

woodcockjosh

Aug 26, 2021 | 2 upvotes · 29.3K views

Recommends

React Native

Other tools have very slow performance. They are usually selected because someone on the team likes Angular, but your customers won't care what framework you're using. They'll just know the app is slow.

Decisions about Framework7, PhoneGap, and Web Starter Kit

James Bender

Lead Application Architect at TekPartners · Oct 31, 2021 | 5 upvotes · 51.7K views

Chose

over

I've yet to see a non-native application that I felt performed as well and/or provided the same user experience with Cordova/PhoneGap/Xamarin. Frankly, at best they all seemed like underpowered web applications deployed to a sandbox that ran on a phone. They didn't feel "slick" or "mobile-first" and in some cases the performance was unacceptable. At previous companies, we built a few of these apps at the client's insistence, and in every case, they re-engaged us about 18 months later to re-write the app(s) natively.

We are doing some research on React Native and Flutter, but I am not yet convinced that they can provide the same level of experience and performance as native, though I am trying to keep an open mind.

Aleksandr Filatov

Contract Software Engineer - Microsoft · Dec 23, 2019 | 2 upvotes · 108.6K views

Shared a protip

(

)

What is Proguard?

ProGuard is the most popular optimizer for Java bytecode. It makes your Java and Android applications up to 90% smaller and up to 20% faster. ProGuard also provides minimal protection against reverse engineering by obfuscating the names of classes, fields and methods.

How to use it in Cordova app?

I didn't find any plugins for it. So I've implemented it by myself and shared it on GitHub.

Feel free to use!

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Pros of Framework7

Pros of PhoneGap

Pros of Web Starter Kit

21
Free and open source
20
Well designed
17
Material design
15
Lots of ready-to-use ui elements, easy to customize
12
Best performance
11
Amazing documentation
9
Nice look and best performance
9
Performance and great features.
9
Rtl support
7
Easy To Learn
7
Free
6
Basic Web App Development Technique
6
Nice sample provided
5
Easy to use , transit from vanilla JS
5
Doesn't require learning a JS framework
5
Quick inital time
5
It's feels light to use
2
Easy to integrate

46
Javascript
13
Backed by Adobe
11
Free
9
Easy and developer friendly
6
Support more platforms
3
It's javascript, html, and css
2
Common code base across all mobile platform
1
Not bound to specific framework
1
Powerful Framework
1
Runs on mobile browser
1
Similar UI across all platform
0
Free easy fast and not buggy in my experience

3
Easy to use

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Cons of Framework7

Cons of PhoneGap

Cons of Web Starter Kit

1
Not suitable for high performance in PWA. desktop apps

2
Never as good as a native app
1
Created for web pages, not for complex Apps
1
Poor user experience
1
Not build for high performance
1
Hard to see

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- No public GitHub repository available -

What is Framework7?

It is a free and open source mobile HTML framework to develop hybrid mobile apps or web apps with iOS native look and feel. All you need to make it work is a simple HTML layout and attached framework's CSS and JS files.

What is PhoneGap?

PhoneGap is a web platform that exposes native mobile device apis and data to JavaScript. PhoneGap is a distribution of Apache Cordova. PhoneGap allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.

What is Web Starter Kit?

Web Starter Kit is a starting point for multi-screen web development. It encompasses opinionated recommendations on boilerplate and tooling for building an experience that works great across multiple devices. We help you stay productive and aligned with the best practices outlined in Google's Web Fundamentals.

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What companies use PhoneGap?

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What tools integrate with Web Starter Kit?

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What are some alternatives to Framework7, PhoneGap, and Web Starter Kit?

Ionic

Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.

React Native

React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile is a HTML5-based user interface system designed to make responsive web sites and apps that are accessible on all smartphone, tablet and desktop devices.

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is the most popular HTML, CSS, and JS framework for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.

AngularJS

AngularJS lets you write client-side web applications as if you had a smarter browser. It lets you use good old HTML (or HAML, Jade and friends!) as your template language and lets you extend HTML’s syntax to express your application’s components clearly and succinctly. It automatically synchronizes data from your UI (view) with your JavaScript objects (model) through 2-way data binding.

See all alternatives

Framework7 vs PhoneGap vs Web Starter Kit

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Pros of Framework7

Pros of PhoneGap

Pros of Web Starter Kit

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Cons of Framework7

Cons of PhoneGap

Cons of Web Starter Kit

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What is Framework7?

What is PhoneGap?

What is Web Starter Kit?

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use Framework7?

What companies use PhoneGap?

What companies use Web Starter Kit?

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What tools integrate with Framework7?

What tools integrate with PhoneGap?

What tools integrate with Web Starter Kit?

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