Top 6 HTML5 Mobile App Development Frameworks

For a plethora of devices which are inundating the technology market, HTML5 has come up with a solution that allows binding different web capable devices with a consolidated look and feel to HTML5 enabled apps. In the era of mobile technology, businesses are constantly embracing solutions to lift a notch higher. HTML5 mobile app development is preferred owing to its numerous resourceful frameworks that support easy mobile development. These outstanding HTML5 frameworks incorporate the use of libraries that contain JavaScript and CSS files, which, in turn, allow developers to design applications without the use of native code.

This blog covers the 6 best mobile app development frameworks available and popularized in the market because of their ease of use, accessibility, user friendliness and availability. Let’s go through them-

1. jQuery Mobile-

A touch-optimized framework, jQuery Mobile is majorly used for tablets and smartphones. The focus of this framework is on empowering developers to create apps which function seamlessly providing unique user experiences across tablets, desktops, mobiles, and laptops. Known for greater adaptability, jQuery Mobile saves developers from the stress of writing multiple codes for the different operating systems and mobile devices.

2. Ionic-

Designed as an open source front-end software development kit, Ionic has come up as a leader in mobile app development space by keeping itself adapted to the latest trends. Being free to use, Ionic has a huge community of resources to get started with in just no time. The community recently went ahead upgrading the framework and adding out of the box functionalities. Just like other similar hybrid app frameworks, Ionic also makes use of Cordova to go native for iOS, Windows, Android and other platforms.

With clean, easily readable markup, Ionic framework comes packed with mobile-optimized library involving HTML, CSS, and JS components. These features combined equally ensure interactive app development with ease. The development of advanced hybrid mobile applications has become quite simplified and rapid using this framework.

3. Sencha Touch-

One of the famed and largely used framework, Sencha Touch is a framework which offers a native app like experience, irrespective of the device being used. If you are looking forward to creating mobile apps packed with visual interactions, Sencha Touch Framework is an optimal choice. An MVC-based framework, Sencha Touch is featured with native looking UI widgets, adaptive layouts, increased user interactions for multiple platforms. Integration with Phonegap/Cordova for device API’s as Camera and Accelerometer, Sencha Touch forms an enterprise-grade choice. It also features a drag and drop HTML5 visual application builder with multiple ready to use templates. It means developers can now use special custom themes created specifically for those devices. Another added advantage of Sencha is that it includes a powerful data package using which one can easily request data from different sources including AJAX, JSONP, YQL. The coding standards are strict but familiar for those who are well-acquainted with other development packages.

4. Onsen UI-

A new entrant in the market, Onsen UI is giving a tough competition to Ionic by featuring jQuery based components. Onsen UI displays a great collection of ready to use components and responsive features that allow you to create mobile, desktop and tablet versions of your apps. Featuring semantic markup, simple to use features, Onsen UI creates applications with superior user experience. It also supports PhoneGap and Apache Cordova.

5. Intel XDK-

A popular HTML5 framework, Intel XDK has been known across for agile mobile app development. One can easily develop cross-platform mobile apps with the required look and feel using this framework. A highly inspected workflow is followed to make the overall process of designing, development, deployment and debugging simplified. The clean development workflow followed makes this framework a preferred choice. It supports jQuery, TopCoat UI, and Bootstrap 3 framework and can even easily get installed on Windows, Linux, and OSX.

6. Kendo UI-

One of the fastest, popular and lightweight platforms, Kendo UI develops invaluable cross-platform mobile apps by including theme featuring material design, look and feel. It comes packed with 70+ ready to use jQuery widgets and allows integration with Angular and Bootstrap UI framework. Supported by Telerik, Kendo UI is one complete UI framework designed to speed up HTML or JavaScript development. Leveraging the latest features of HTML5 and JS, Kendo UI is a perfect choice for modern browsers. All 70+ UI Components integrate seamlessly with grid layout framework to offer a cross-platform experience tailored to the user’s screen size on the tablet, phone or desktop.

Being an enterprise app grade product, Kendo UI has a huge consumer base with top-notch clients like Sony, Microsoft, Volvo, and Toshiba.

That’s It!!!

So, these are some major HTML5 mobile app development frameworks to decide upon based on their functionalities. I hope this quick overview might have made you aware and will further help streamline your choice by considering business needs and objectives. Choosing the best framework will help you develop a mobile application with an eye appealing and intuitive user interface.

Author-Bio: Nola Arney is an expert app developer at HTMLPanda, a reckoned name in the mobile web app development. Along with her passion for mobile app development, she also enjoys sharing knowledge on different app development strategies and technologies to design apps with the best-in-class experience.