Top Android App Development Framework 2023‍

With thousands of android apps built using various frameworks, we end up with lots of suggestions when we ask android app developers or app development companies to recommend the best framework to work on with. To minimise the efforts you have to put into deciding the best framework, we have done extensive research and made a list of the top trending Android frameworks of the year 2023.

Top Android App Development Frameworks

1. Flutter

Being one of the most popular app development frameworks, Flutter was first released in the year 2017. This cross-platform application framework's first iteration - Sky, was first designed to support the android app development. This newest android app development framework works on Dart. Mobile apps such as Google ads, Xianyu by Alibaba, Pairing, Watermaniac, and various others are built using Flutter.

Best Features of Flutter App Development:

• Flutter is an open-source platform.
• Flutter provides various application development tools such as various APIs, CLI Tools, pre-built widgets, and various others in its extensive app development tools.
• Android app developers can customise the existing widgets or create new ones based on their project requirements.
• Flutter is the most reliable framework as it is backed by the tech leader Google.
• Android app developers can fix the bugs quickly through fast code implementation.

Drawbacks of Flutter App Development:

• Being large mobile applications, android app developers have to compromise on the images, animation, and the number of libraries used throughout the development process.
• Flutter has a limited number of native APIs, so developers have to write their own code or have to integrate third-party packages for mobile app features.

2. React Native

Another open-source, cross-platform development framework React Native was created by Facebook in the year 2015. Along with android app development, React Native is most preferred for iOS, UWP as well as Web development. React Native allows developers to build mobile apps using various native android app development capabilities, including Java scripts. Various mobile applications such as Facebook, Walmart, Skype, Airbnb, and many more are built using React Native. You can also find sites to hire React Native developers with ease.

Best Features of React Native App Development:

• React Native is an open source framework.
• App developers can provide a high-quality user interface using native UI components.
• It speeds up the development time by providing an extensive UI components library.
• React native allows the developers to access native functionalities of mobile apps with ease.
• The android app developers can optimise individual mobile apps using platform-specific native code.
• React Native reflects the changes in code in real-time without recompiling the codebase.
• React Native is a reliable framework as it is backed by the tech leader Facebook.

Drawbacks of React Native:

• Android native framework navigation is more seamless than React Native's built-in navigation.
• React Native is not a suitable platform to develop complicated animation or advanced transitions.

3. Xamarin

One of the oldest android app development frameworks, Xamarin, was introduced by Microsoft in the year 2011. One of the reasons why Xamarin is famous among app developers is that it provides specifically compiled libraries and tools for Android and iOS app development. Various mobile apps like Insightly, Alaska Airlines, and much more are developed using Xamarin.

Best Features of the Xamarin App Development:

• Xamarin is an open-source framework.
• Xamarin provides high native-like performance for mobile apps.
• Xamarin is one of the complete frameworks that provides an extensive ecosystem, including Microsoft visual studio, .Net, and C#.
• Xamarin enhances the app capabilities by providing platform-specific libraries access to APIs of Facebook, Google, Apple, and various other platforms.
• The android app developers can reuse the code in various platforms using the vast template libraries that Xamarin provides. They can use the template libraries to customise the app elements manually based on project requirements to enhance the user experience.

Drawbacks of Xamarin App Development:

• The delay of Xamarin updates might affect the working of apps developed using Xamarin.
• Xamarin adds up around 5 MB for the new release and 20 MB for the rebuilds, which makes the Xamarin apps larger compared to the Native apps.
• Xamarin is not a suitable platform to develop complicated animation or advanced gaming features or transitions.
• If you need to customise android features, Xamarin demands to rewrite some parts of the app UI in java or Kotlin.

4. Ionic

The MIT-certified framework Ionic is an open-source framework as well. Ionic supports the cross-application development supporting the combination of CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript. Ionic is famous among the developers for building interactive hybrid and PWA( Progressive Web Applications) mobile applications. Mobile apps such as Sworkit, Diesel, McLaren Automotive, and so on are built using Ionic.

Best Features of Ionic App Development:

• Proficient app developers can catch up with the Ionic app development that provides a faster app development process and less programmer onboarding time.
• Ionic is an easily adaptable framework with the basic knowledge of Angular, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Android app developers can easily integrate the Ionic framework with other libraries such as AngularJS.
• The Cordova plugin of the Ionic application allows the app developers to access the native components of the mobile system providing total control over the application development process.
• A strong community of software developers in New York can provide tricks and advice to solve the complexity of the app development process.

Drawbacks of the Ionic App Development:

• The unclear messages of errors make it hard to find the actual source of errors making the debugging process complex.
• The Ionic framework demands the native plugins to access native functions, but most of them are not fully sturdy and can create a confrontation with each other.

5. jQuery

An HTML5 supported, cross-platform jQuery is one of the best android app development frameworks. The android app developers prefer this framework as it facilitates the app developers to code once and executes on every other platform virtually. This is one of the reasons app developers prefer jQuery over every other framework. Being a javascript framework, jQuery provides full support for every javascript file and structure-only style sheet.

Best Feature of jQuery App Development:

• It offers various in-build tools and plugins for Image sliders, pop-up boxes, content sliders and many more.
• jQuery offers full support to develop simple, user-friendly and interactive web app pages.
• It is easy for app developers to develop solutions that are compatible with other frameworks and platforms.

Drawbacks of the jQuery App Development:

• It is a complex task to import the huge library containing DOM, events, effects and AJAX components.
• jQuery is not easy to learn and adapt for beginners.
• Mobile apps developed using jQuery are slower compared to native app development.

Conclusion

You might think various other amazing Android development frameworks exist that enhance the android app development process. These are the trending frameworks for us. If you think that others can fit into this list, do let us know. We would love to update our list of top android app development frameworks.