Android is an open-source mobile operating system that was first launched in 2008, and today, it is used in an array of devices including mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, televisions, and so on.

While there are other mobile phone operating systems available, Android remains the most popular and easily accessible one of the lot. It is even known to have over a billion downloads a month.

Due to these factors and more, most mobile app development companies in California and the world consider Android to be the most preferred software to develop applications for.

Android is known by most top mobile application development companies as being easily customizable to whatever type of application they wish to develop.

Further, due to the fact that there is a large global community, including Google, that supports this operating system, there are many Android-compatible frameworks available for app development today.

While this is indeed a good thing to have, it can still lead to some confusion on the part of an app developer in terms of which framework to choose. Therefore, we wish to address this concern here and give an overview of some of the best Android frameworks that are available today.

What Is The Android Framework And How Does It Work?

In the Android operating system, there are multiple applications that are developed simultaneously. With the use of a framework, mobile app developers in San Francisco and elsewhere can develop apps quickly and easily.

These frameworks contain sections where an app developer can enter inputs for each part of an app, like a chatbox, buttons, image field, and so on.

In other words, an Android framework is a stack of codes or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow developers to write applications that would be compatible with devices that use the Android operating system.

This framework provides the foundation on which an application functions. The framework also allows mobile app developers to create apps that would be able to work in sync with other mobile apps for Android.

What Are Some Of The Best Android Frameworks Available Today?

Ionic For Android

Sencha Touch

Apache Cordova

React Native For Android

Xamarin

Ionic For Android:

Ionic is one of the most popular Android app frameworks available today. It is an open-source Software Development Kit (SDK) that was created by Drifty Co. in 2013.

Being open-source software, the source code of this Software Development Kit is available to all mobile app development companies in Atlanta and the world to view, edit, and use for free. It has been certified by MIT for the use of app developers around the globe and is available in English.

Features

Ionic for Android is capable of supporting the development of hybrid mobile apps, apps for desktops, and also Progressive Web Apps. It uses technologies such as CSS, HTML5, and SaaS to do this.

Apart from Android apps, Ionic can support app development for software like iOS and Windows as well.

Using other frameworks such as Adobe Cordova or Capacitor plugins, Ionic can gain access to host apps such as camera, GPS, and so on. This allows app developers to create apps that will be compatible with other apps available on Android devices.

To install this software, an app developer would require access to NodeJS.

Advantages And Disadvantages

Using this app allows an app developer to create apps that can be deployed at once across Android, iOS, and Windows. However, this also means that the apps may not function as swiftly as they would if they were created individually for each platform.

The fact that it uses AngularJS makes it quite powerful as a software development kit. But this requires mobile app developers in California and elsewhere to be quite skilled at it. Further, building the navigation system within the app can be quite complicated even for skilled developers.

Who Can Use Ionic?

Ionic is meant to create hybrid as well as Progressive Web Apps. Therefore, for mobile app developers who wish to create such apps, this Android framework would be a great choice.

So far, it has already been used to create and power more than a million web apps, mobile apps, and desktop apps around the world.

Sencha Touch:

Sencha Touch is a framework that is specifically built to be used to create mobile web applications. It was released in 2015 by Sencha and can support the development of apps on operating systems like Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows, and so on. It is a Javascript library-type framework and is available in English.

Features

Sencha Touch uses standard web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 to build apps.

Sencha Touch can be used by mobile app development companies in Atlanta and around the globe to create apps quickly and easily. It allows the apps created through it to have the look and feel of a native application.

This framework uses the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern and divides the data of the application, its codes, and what the users view, into three different components. This is seen as a beneficial factor in terms of app maintenance.

Sencha Touch has a user interface that allows app developers to interact with various components through graphical controls. These include buttons that provide various themes, text and chat field forms, support form for gestures such as pinch and zoom, and so on.

It also has certain additional features such as transition patterns for one code slide over another, support for charts, and multiple profiles for different screen sizes.

Advantages And Disadvantages

Apps that are developed using Sencha Touch are quite effective in their response times across various platforms. It also has an easily customizable user interface. It is also free and open-source, which means that it is accessible to everyone.

On the other hand, it does not allow app developers access to host hardware such as the camera and GPS and also does not support push notifications. It also does not have the best hardcore graphics, meaning it is not the best suitable framework to build gaming apps.

Who Can Use Sencha Touch?

Sencha Touch is a framework that supports more than just the Android operating system. It allows for a quick and easy process of development and can be used by developers who are looking for something similar.

Apache Cordova:

Apache Cordova was first released in 2011 by Nitobi. After Adobe, Inc. purchased Nitobi, this framework was renamed and released as Adobe PhoneGap. This was then later released as an open-source framework named Apache Cordova and is still known under that name. It is available in English.

Features

Apache Cordova uses web technologies such as Css3, HTML5, and JavaScript to build hybrid web applications. This means that by using this framework, mobile app development companies in Los Angeles can create apps without relying on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that are platform-specific for Android, iOS, or Windows Phone.

This framework uses CSS3 and HTML5 for rendering while JavaScript is used for logic. HTML5 provides access to host hardware such as the camera and GPS, allowing the resulting apps to be compatible with these.

Apache Cordova can be extended with the use of native-plugins, which means that app developers can add features to the apps that will allow it to communicate between the native layer and the HTML5. This allows the resultant app to have the functionality of a hybrid app.

Advantages And Disadvantages

Some of the advantages of using this framework are that it is open-source and freely available to all, does not require expert developing skills to be used, and allows for the easier deployment of apps across various platforms at once.

On the other hand, some of its disadvantages include the fact that it does not work well for gaming apps, does not support plug-ins containing hooks, and so on.

Who Can Use Apache Cordova?

Apache Cordova is a cross-platform framework that enables top mobile app development companies to build apps that are hybrid. Therefore, it can be used to build web applications that have the look and feel of a native app, further, it is known to be quite cost-effective as well, which means that app developers on a smaller budget can benefit quite a lot from using this framework to develop their desired apps.

React Native For Android:

React Native is another most popular Android framework available today. It was released in 2015 by Facebook, Inc. and has been licensed by MIT. It is open-source and available freely for mobile app development in NYC and other parts of the globe.

Features

It can be used to create native apps for Android, AndroidTV, iOS, Windows, and many other platforms.

It is written using JavaScript, Java, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, and Python.

React Native is similar to React in many ways, except that it runs as a background process directly on the host devices and communicates with the native platform to run apps on various devices.

It does not use HTML or CSS, instead, it simply reads messages from JavaScript which it then uses to manipulate the native view.

Advantages And Disadvantages

Some of its advantages stem from the fact that it has a large community of developers backing it up. It is an open-source cross-platform framework that allows developers from anywhere in the world to contribute to it. Further, it is quite cost-effective as well.

The disadvantages of using this framework arise from the fact that it is still very new and yet, requires a complicated understanding of mobile app development in NYC and the world to be used properly.

Who Can Use React Native?

Despite some of its flaws, it can be used by app developers to create apps across Android, iOS, and other software platforms. It is still used by companies such as Facebook and Tesla and is quite cost-effective.

Therefore, it can be used by mobile app development companies that wish to create apps that fit into such a criterion.

Xamarin:

Xamarin is owned by Microsoft and is an open-source app development platform that was released in 2013. It is licensed by MIT.

Features

It allows the development of apps for cross-platform purposes. That is, it can be used to develop apps for Android, iOS, Windows, and other such software giants.

It integrates with Visual Studio and is available for use on Mac through Visual Studio for Mac.

It allows developers to use their existing C# code that can also be shared across various platforms.

Advantages And Disadvantages

It allows developers to reuse most of their code for other platforms as well, meaning it saves a lot of time during app development. It produces apps that function very close to native applications, ensuring a better user experience.

However, it is often time-consuming and requires linking of codes between the target operating system and the .NET framework. This increases the starting and download time of apps.

Who Can Use Xamarin?

It can be used by developers who want to create apps that can run across various software platforms.

However, due to its time-consuming nature, it can only be used by developers who can afford to take this time to create apps using this framework. It is still one of the best frameworks available for native app development.

Conclusion:

Development frameworks are indeed an essential tool in the software industry. That said, every platform has its many benefits and limits.

However, with the help of the best tool for each app requirement, these frameworks can deliver some of the best Android apps available today are being efficiently used by top mobile app development companies.

With the increasing necessity of mobile applications for various purposes, it is no longer possible to rely only on HTML pages to get access to the billions of people across the globe.

Therefore, these application development frameworks and the apps that they deliver are indeed the means to pave the way towards a new future in terms of technological advancements across the globe.