Technically speaking, mobile apps in iOS, Android, and Windows Phone are coded using different programming languages. An iOS app uses Objective-C, an Android app is coded with Java, while a Windows Phone application uses .NET.
However, with decent knowledge in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, you can build awesome mobile apps. Therefore, in this blog we are going to discuss top JavaScript mobile app frameworks:-
You may also like: 9 Top JavaScript Frameworks List In Today’s Time(updated)
For custom javascript mobile app development, JavaScript has been a promising programming language and it’s not going anywhere in the near future. However, does JavaScript has the same impact on mobile app development?
Make Your HTML-Website Suitable for Mobile Devices: First I was not satisfied when I visited a desktop optimized Website on a smartphone. The fonts are too tiny, you have pan and zoom in/out all the time, the links are always hard to target. So I had to do some research how to make a website mobile. Welcome to the learn-js.org interactive JavaScript tutorial. Whether you are an experienced programmer or not, this website is intended for everyone who wishes to learn the JavaScript programming language. Just click on the chapter you wish to begin from, and follow the instructions.
Let’s find out. Here are 9 top JavaScript mobile app frameworks for mobile app development as per our research at ValueCoders:
9 Top JavaScript Frameworks for Mobile
1) PhoneGap/Cordova
PhoneGap (distribution of Apache Cordova) is a software development framework that helps you to reuse your existing web development skills to quickly make hybrid mobile applications built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Hence, this is not exactly a JavaScript mobile app framework, however, it’s important for you to know about PhoneGap before you get started.
PhoneGap works as a medium between your web application codes and mobile OS APIs. This diagram will help you understand better:
Courtesy: phonegap.com
With the help of PhoneGap, you can use the same codes that you wrote in JavaScript, HTML & CSS and generate APIs for mobile OS like Android and iOS.
Apart from PhoneGap, there are a few more frameworks that can help convert your JavaScript files to mobile APIs. Xamarin, ionic,Corona are some honorable mentions.
Related: Xamarin or ionic: which one to choose?
2) Titanium
Appcelerator’s Titanium is an open-source application development platform that allows creating native apps (mobile and desktop) using web technologies, such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The Titanium Mobile SDK is one of the most popular cross-platform mobile development solution in use today with over 916109 mobile developers and 460, 587, 474 devices are running Accelerator powered apps. Build high quality, scalable, and interactive hybrid apps with the help of custom cross-platform app development.
Development Services
Here is the architecture of how Titanium works:
Read More: Top 15 Front-end Development Tools In 2018
3) jQuery Mobile
jQuery Mobile framework takes the “write less, do more” agenda to the next level. It is one of the top JavaScript mobile app frameworks for mobile to build an application or mobile-friendly website.
jQuery Mobile supports a number of user interfaces that are compatible with modern platforms such as Android, iOS and to the earliest of platforms such as Opera Mini and Nokia Symbian. With the help of PhoneGap, you can integrate your jQuery web app code to an interactive iOS or Android application.
Read More: Top JavaScript Frameworks & Libraries to Accelerate Your Software Development
4) Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch(similar to Ext JS) is said to be the only framework that offers optimal solutions to developers create fast and impressive mobile applications that work on Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and more. It comes with lots of creative and useful components that work efficiently on all types of mobile applications. Here is a glimpse of the features.
Here is a feature comparison of the above four frameworks
5) React Native
If you are fond of Native mobile applications, you are majorly left with two options- Xamarin and React Native. Xamarin allows you only to write the same kind of code while programming natively – similar interface design tools & similar calls.
Related: 10 Advantages of iOS App Development For Businesses In 2018
React Native (from Facebook) on the other hand, takes an entirely different path toward native app development – JavaScript code, CSS-alike stylesheets and all-too-familiar, HTML-alike tags for layout. Here’s a graph for a clear understanding of React Native popularity-
Hence, if your team is already React friendly, then React Native can be a good choice for you.
To know more about ReactJS: 5 reasons to choose Facebook’s ReactJS
6) Meteor
Meteor is yet another JavaScript mobile app framework that can help you develop in interactive mobile applications. Meteor not only allows your JavaScript code for mobile apps but also it gives you ongoing control over your app. With this feature, you can update the JavaScript code without developer’s help and use the hot code push function to immediately deploy the changes to users on all mobile platforms.
Another specialty of Meteor(version: 1.0) is that it maintains a local copy of data by implementing its miniMongo database in phone internal memory. All of the phone-to-server data communication and synchronization is provided by Meteor. miniMongo is a JavaScript implementation of the MongoDB API. Here’s the architecture-
Related: Advantages of Meteor JS For Development
7) NativeScript
NativeScript is a Telerik invention for building multi-platform native mobile applications from a single code source. The NativeScript site and GitHub page depict the runtime as empowering developers to utilize JavaScript and TypeScript ( even Angular 2.0) to build native apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone (using the Windows Universal system) and offer code over the platforms.
Here is the architecture that NativeScript follows-
8) Rachet
Ratchet is another essential element in the top JavaScript frameworks for mobile development list. It aims to provide developers & designers with a framework for building mobile applications and web applications. The framework is created by the same team that brought the popular Bootstrap framework to you, which assures the high quality of Ratchet. Whether you want to target Android, iOS, or both, Ratchet 2.x is up for the job.
9) Mobile Angular UI
One of the top JavaScript frameworks for mobile is ‘Mobile Angular UI”. If you are an Angular fan, then this framework is for you. It provides essential mobile components that Bootstrap 3 misses. Switches, overlays, scrollable areas, sidebars, absolute positioned top and bottom navbars that don’t bounce on the scroll are some of the features to mention.
Related: Top 10 Advantages of Using AngularJS for App Development
However, with the release of Angular 2, concepts have changed a bit. So for Angular 2 admirers Onsen UI 2.0 can be a good choice.
The bottom line:
Choosing the right JavaScript framework for mobile is never about the number of features that the particular framework can offer. It’s about the true functionality of the framework and how that functionality can be applied properly within your own mobile app development project. Hence, choose one these top JavaScript mobile frameworks as per your project needs and save time and cost.
There is another way to save time and cost. Hire dedicated development teams from ValueCoders (a leading software development company in India). We deliver excellent mobile app development solutions to build your business app. Our custom cross-platform app development service is best in the industry and we also offer custom mobile application development services with the following benefits:
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There are almost as many browsers for mobile devices as there are for computers nowadays, so it can be difficult to choose just one. Mobile web browsers differ in terms of features, but most of them have privacy features to make your mobile web browsing safer.
The two mobile operating systems with the most browsing options are Android and iOS. Many of the mobile web browser apps on this list are available for both operating systems. All of them are free to download.
Google Chrome
What We Like
- Well-known desktop browser with large market share.
- Many desktop features migrate to the mobile version.
- Data Saver tool makes browsing faster and more bandwidth-efficient.
What We Don't Like
- Google collects your personal data.
- Chrome's memory usage isn't optimal, on the desktop or on iOS.
The popularity of Chrome on the desktop plays a role in the popularity of the Chrome app on mobile devices. The app automatically syncs everything from your desktop version of Chrome including your browsing history, login information, and bookmarks.
- Safe browsing that warns you when you attempt to navigate dangerous sites or download dangerous files
- Incognito mode to browse the internet without saving your history
- Voice search, when you don't feel like typing in a URL
- Built-in Google Translate to translate entire web pages.
- Data Saver feature that when activated lets you navigate the web using up to 60 percent less data as Chrome compresses images, videos, and websites.
Safari
What We Like
- Optimized for iOS.
- Sync browser data through iCloud.
- Interface options designed to harmonize with the logic of iOS.
What We Don't Like
- Pretty much an Apple-only solution, in practice if not in theory.
- No meaningful ties to products and services outside the Apple ecosystem.
Safari is a powerful mobile web browser with a clean user interface. It is the browser of choice on iOS devices because it is part of the operating system. It's been around since the first iPhone, but Safari's features are updated with each iOS release. Among its newer features are:
- A setting to prevent cross-site tracking by advertisers
- Long-press options for the Safari Back and Forward buttons, the Bookmarks button, URLs, images on web pages, and lots of other places that expand the possibilities of the working in the browser
- An option to save web pages for offline viewing in the Safari Reading List.
- Auto Reader View, which removes formatting and stylings to present a clean presentation of text and images
- A Block All Cookies option
- Safari syncs passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs, and reading lists on all your Apple devices.
Safari is part of the iOS operating system for Apple mobile devices.
Samsung Internet
What We Like
- Works well with Samsung devices, although it's available for all Android devices regardless of manufacturer.
- A handful of bells and whistles to improve the mobile browsing experience.
What We Don't Like
- Recent spate of low reviews.
- Can't turn off the news on browser startup.
- Samsung can't seem to commit to being an Android developer or a developer of it's own version of Android.
The Samsung Internet browser app is relatively new on the browser scene. Initially available only for Samsung phones, it has become popular with other Android users. This fast, smooth and safe browser includes:
- Protected browsing to prevent you from viewing known malicious websites.
- Web payment capability
- Amazon shopping assistant you can turn on to get the best shopping deals
- 360-video capabilities
- Support for content blockers
- High contrast viewing mode for users with impaired vision
Opera
What We Like
- Genuine competition with a well-thought-out browser.
- Tricks to optimize the mobile browsing experience.
What We Don't Like
- A stand-alone browser that doesn't integrate natively into any operating-system stack with its universe of aligned partner apps and services.
- Confusion between Opera and Opera Mini.
- Android only.
The Opera app does more than display web pages. It blocks ads and compresses images for fast page loads. Also, Opera offers:
- A built-in news feed to locate content you'll enjoy
- A Save Data mode to load pages quickly on slow networks
- Private browsing tabs
- Force zoom on any web page for comfortable reading
- Add-to-home screen feature to add any website directly to your device's home screen.
Opera Mini
What We Like
- Optimized for weak bandwidth.
- Multi-platform support.
What We Don't Like
- Not clear why there's Opera and Opera Mini.
- Data savings, using a different company's servers to optimize your traffic, may track browsing regardless of Incognito mode or privacy-enhancing plugins.
Owners of iOS devices may miss the Opera app in the App Store, but they should look instead for the Opera Mini app. Opera Mini promises to let you do everything you want to do online without destroying your data plan. It blocks ads and offers an incognito mode. Other features include:
- Fast browsing
- Data savings up to 90 percent
- Unlimited tabs
- Smart night mode
- Video boost
- Latest News on the start screen
Firefox Browser
What We Like
- A popular browser.
- Sync between Firefox browsers using Mozilla's sync capability.
- Plenty of extensions on Android to fine-tune browsing experiences.
What We Don't Like
- No extensions on iOS.
- No deep integration into either iOS or Android.
Mozilla's Firefox browser for mobile devices is full-featured, customizable and fast. If you use Firefox on your computer, you'll appreciate the access you have to your saved passwords, browsing history, and your bookmarks. With the Firebox mobile app, you can:
- Send tabs between mobile and desktop devices
- Enter Private Browsing mode with added tracking protection that prevents ads from following you wherever you surf and doesn't save cookies or browsing history
- Add tons of extensions (Android app only) to customize the appearance and capabilities of your mobile device, including ad blockers, password managers, and themes.
Firefox Focus
What We Don't Like
- These privacy and safety features should be included in Firefox.
Mozilla makes two Firefox apps for mobile browsers. Firefox Focus is its 'privacy browser.' This app has always-on ad blocking to block a wide range of common web trackers. It is noted for:
- Fast web page loads because trackers and apps aren't downloaded
- One tap that erases your history — no passwords, cookies, or trackers are stored
- Next-level privacy is free and always turned on.
- Lightweight at less than 5MB.
Microsoft Edge
What We Like
- Deep integration with Edge on the desktop.
- 'Continue on PC' feature to transfer a browsing session to a computer.
- Fast browser with flawless background syncing.
What We Don't Like
- No inherent deep links into iOS or Android.
- Not as focused on extensions.
If you use a Windows 10 computer, you need the Edge app, because it allows you to move seamlessly between your mobile and desktop Edge browsers even if you have an Apple iOS mobile device.
The Microsoft Edge app has features you are familiar with such as:
- A Hub that organizes the web and cuts through the clutter
- Reading View to reorganize content on a web page to make it easier to read
- Built-in QR Code reader to pull up information at the touch of a button
- Voice search
- InPrivate mode
Dolphin Browser
What We Like
- Fast, secure browsing.
- Free and multi-platform.
- Interesting side-bar design to highlight extra features.
What We Don't Like
- Low market share.
- Need to be running Dolphin plugin for desktop computers to take full advantage of syncing capability.
Dolphin is a fast personal web browser. It simplifies mobile browsing and offers plenty of features to tempt users away from the better-known browser apps. These features include:
- Flash player
- AdBlock
- Multiple tabs bar
- Personalized search
- HTML5 video player
- Incognito browsing
- Sync bookmarks, history and passwords across platforms and other browsers
- Customize with gestures for specific websites
- Voice search
- Themes
Puffin
What We Like
- By default, Flash is enabled. (Bonus!)
- Data-saving compression algorithm.
- Elegant design.
What We Don't Like
- By default, Flash is enabled. (Security risk!)
- Low market share.
- A separate 'pro' (paid) app for extra functionality.
Claiming to be 'wicked fast,' the Puffin web browser app shifts part of the browsing workload to cloud servers so demanding web pages can run super-fast on mobile devices. As a result, Puffin loads web pages twice as fast as the other popular mobile web browsers. Puffin offers:
- Encryption from Puffin app to Puffin server, so even using public nonsecure Wi-Fi connections is safe
- Complete immunity to viruses
- A 90 percent bandwidth savings on regular web browsing
- Color themes
- News feed
- Incognito mode
- Visual gamepad