Ionic Vs. React Native - Which Framework Is Better for Cross-Platform Mobile App Development?

Take a look at the features and advantages of the Ionic framework versus React Native when deciding how to build your cross-platform app.

Upendra Patel

Jan. 08, 18 · Mobile Zone · Opinion

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Whenever it comes to comparing the platforms or frameworks that develop the mobile apps, it becomes a very difficult choice, whether it is to choose between iOS and Android or between Ionic and React Native.

Let’s dive in to find out which cross-platform mobile app development framework is better:

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Ionic Overview

Ionic is an open source, cross-platform framework used to develop hybrid mobile applications. Ionic is a mobile app development framework based on the HTML5 programming language. The HTML5 framework always works with the help of Cordova or PhoneGap. Hence, Ionic needs both of them.

Advantages of the Ionic Framework

It is platform independent whether it has to work with HTML, CSS, JS, or AngularJS.
It helps in creating default mobile app UI functionalities easily and efficiently.
It is wrapped by Cordova and PhoneGap.
It works on iOS’s UIWebView or Android’s WebView.

React Native Overview

React Native is a JavaScript library that is used to develop UI. React Native is proudly managed and maintained by a community of expert React Native developers and leading corporations, including Facebook and Instagram. It helps mobile app developers to reuse the code already used in any Android or iOS apps.

Advantages of React Native

It is managed by a very strong community of developers and corporations, which helps novice developers to speed up the learning and development process.
As React Native allows developers to reuse existing code, it makes it very speedy to deliver the apps.
When discussed with so many React Native developers of this community, any issue related with React Native can be quickly solved.
It is independent of the iOS and Android platforms. This means that the code developed can be used across both platforms.

Ionic vs. React Native Comparison

Ionic versus React Native - let’s check out the differences between the two:

Platform/Capabilities	Ionic	React Native
General Idea	Web Technologies for improved portability	Use functional user interface
Code Language	Typescript (It is a typed superset of JS that compiles to simple & clean JS on any browser)	JSX (It is a syntax extension that optimizes the code while compiling the code to JS)
Ease of Learning	More pre-developed & pre-styled components	Very few pre-developed components
Ease of Development	Needs to be written only once, but can be executed anywhere	Needs to be learned only once and becomes easy to write on any platform
Code Reusability	Reuse the code to develop Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Web, Desktop & Progressive Web Apps	Reuse the code to develop Android, iOS & Windows Phone Apps
Code Performance	Okay, as it uses WebView	Excellent, as there’s no WebView
Code Testing	Testing can be done on any browser	Testing needs emulator or a real mobile device
Phone Hardware Accessibility	Apache Cordova is used	React Native itself is capable enough
Community Support	Strong	Strong
Documentation	Simple, clean & consistent	Very basic

Now, which one is better, Ionic or React Native? Ionic and React Native both are completely opposite and offer completely different web and mobile app solutions.

But, how to choose the right cross-platform mobile app development framework? Based on the reusability of the code and excellent performance of apps developed using React Native, there are more benefits that bring React Native to the forefront.

Most enterprises are now looking for a mobile app development company to develop their apps as fast as they can. In fact, the budget is a secondary consideration and speedy delivery of a quality app remains number one for the organization. Plus, developing apps using React Native is faster compared to Ionic, as it is based on JavaScript. Also, the apps developed using React Native are supported on the latest OS platforms, which makes it preferable.

The Result

React Native is preferable for speedy app development without compromising the quality of apps for multiple platforms.

Topics:

hybrid, ionic, react native, cross platform, mobile, mobile app development

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

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