PhoneGap vs Xamarin vs Titanium-Appcelerator

The cross-browser mobile app development has always been a preferred choice for app developers as it requires less resources and can be created faster as compared to native apps. In this blog, we will discuss PhoneGap vs Xamarin vs Titanium-Appcelerator

It may not be surprising to learn that mobile generates more significant than 50% of the total internet traffic as mobiles are ubiquitous and touching our lives in every possible way. However, the introduction of multiple screen sizes and diverse operating systems of mobile phones has made it cumbersome for businesses to invest in native app development. 

Opting one OS over the other may lead to a loss in the business reach. Among multiple operating systems used for mobiles Android along with iOS, remains a significant choice for consumers. Together they constitute greater than 99% of the total mobile OS market share. It’s a substantial reason behind the rise of cross-platform development services.

Although native app development has various advantages, the cross-browser mobile app development has always been a preferred choice for app developers. It is because it requires fewer resources and can be created faster as compared to native apps.

Cross-Platform mobile applications development has taken off in recent years, and the following stats are the evidence of their popularity:

—According to IDC, the market for cross platforms will witness an annual compound growth rate of over 38%, in the coming years.

—According to Global Market Insights, the enterprise application market is to cross 250 billion by the year 2024.

In this post, we will compare three main cross-platform tools PhoneGap vs Xamarin vs Titanium in an elaborative way, so that you can have the best tool as per your need for mobile app development: 

PhoneGap vs Xamarin vs Titanium- Gartner Ranking

Here is the Gartner Ranking of different tools:

 

 

PhoneGap

 

PhoneGap is one of the popular open-source mobile app development platforms. It makes use of standard web APIs to build cross-platform mobile applications. This framework is based on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript and creates cross-browser mobile applications.

Did you know: The popularity of PhoneGap among software developers stood at 11% in the year 2019.

Features:

• It wraps up the JS, HTML5, and CSS3 code into the native container of the respective platforms
• It produces applications that provide the native-like experience
• With this tool, it is possible to create mobile applications for a range of media including iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Symbian, Web OS, Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, Bad, and Firefox OS. 

Pros:

• It’s an open-source framework, and so it means you need not pay a single penny for its license.
• A significant issue associated with cross-platform development is the uniformity of the app. PhoneGap resolved this issue effectively by ensuring that the app looks similar over multiple operating systems, including Android, iOS, etc. It secured valuable brand recognition for a business.
• You can easily find the experts of this technology as it relies upon JS, HTML, and CSS only, which ensures smooth development and maintenance of the app.
• The app users will hardly get the feeling of using a cross-platform app with PhoneGap. It is because the app works equally well, just like the native app, and efficiently uses the smartphone’s camera, location service, etc. 

So, with PhoneGap, your app makes a convincing imitation of the native app for the users.

• Facebook Connect, Social Sharing, Barcode scanner, and various other plugins can be easily connected to your app when you rely on the services of the PhoneGap framework.

Cons:

• It’s not a reliable choice when it comes to developing hardware intensive apps for the users. So, if your app needs multiple hardware controls similar to gaming apps, you may need to consider your options. 
• Often the plugins are outdated, limiting the user experience from the apps.  

 

Xamarin

 

Xamarin is also a popular mobile app development framework that allows developers to write their apps in C#. It then compiles for each supported platform. Using APIs that interface directly with each platform’s native APIs, Xamarin mobile application development claims that apps achieve a native look-and-feel plus native performance.

Xamarin is among the most popular cross-platform frameworks for software developers, and its popularity stood at 26% in the year 2019.

Features:

• High Performance– Write all apps in C# and share the same app code across all mobile development platforms they exhibit properties of native apps depending on the operating system.
• Native User Interfaces- Apps are developed with Native UI controls that have Device API, MVC, Data, and UI all clubbed into one.
• Automatic Testing– Xamarin Test Cloud enables automatic testing on apps immediately
• Stays Up-to-Date– Xamarin Apps stay updated with the latest iOS and Android features
• Wearable Technology– Xamarin Android supports Google Glass

 

Pros: 

• The unbeatable advantage that comes with Xamarin is developing a single code solution for multiple operating systems. With Xamarin as your cross-platform choice, you can reuse greater than 60% of your code for any OS. 
• Xamarin is a product of the famous tech giant Microsoft so users need not worry about developer support. The app developed with Xamarin offers high performance and stability to the users.
• The primary programming language of Xamarin is C# for which you can easily find experienced developers.
• It is an ideal choice for the rapid development of an app as it comes with reusable codes and automated testing. So, when a project is to complete in a limited time, it proves to be a worthy choice for the investors.
• It comes with the support of platform-specific APIs and also allows linking of the application with native libraries. So, the app produces an excellent user experience creating the feel of native apps.
• Quick and easy maintenance is possible for the apps that use Xamarin. Forms that ensure the effective elimination of bugs via updates. So, with modifications over the original code, you can create an update for all the OS platforms.

Cons: 

• It is not an ideal choice for developing apps that require heavy graphics. 
• Unfortunately, it also increases the size of apps by adding nearly 4 to 6 megabytes of space at the time of the release of the app.

 

Titanium Appcelerator

 

Titanium Framework makes the app development process less cumbersome with the help of JavaScript codebase. It also offers a plethora of native features.

Features:

• Titanium contains the IDE, SDK, and MVC (Model-view-controller) to create applications that are no less than native apps.
• The applications are created using the JavaScript codebase and later wrapped inside the native container.
• Applications for mobile platforms like iOS, Android, Tizen, Blackberry, and Windows can use Titanium Appcelerator Framework.

Pros:

• If you are in a hurry or urgently need a prototype of your application, then Titanium Appcelerator must be your prime choice. Building the prototype of an application requires much lesser coding as compared to other frameworks. So, developing an app based on the UI and UX considerations becomes relatively convenient with it. It also saves time for such kinds of projects.
• The framework is most suitable for apps that need interaction with web services. The remote communication becomes quick and easy with the web services when you use Titanium as the app development gets done using web technology only.
• Like the other two frameworks, Titanium also uses a famous programming language which is JavaScript. Thus, you can easily find its expert to work on your project.
• It is also an open-source platform which means using it as a development framework will also reduce the cost of the project.

Cons:  

• A major setback that comes with using Titanium Appcelerator is that it’s not suitable for complex apps. It’s because of the complexity of coding increases at an alarming rate for complex apps.
• If your app has animations, then it may fail to respond appropriately. Also, the animations fail to respond smoothly when Titanium is used for development.

 

  PhoneGap vs Xamarin vs Titanium- Features Comparison:

The table below explains the differences in the features of these three platform tools:

 

Conclusion

As it is evident that all these app development frameworks implement CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript, the choice boils down to the ease of development and usability. 

Among these popular app development frameworks, only the PhoneGap framework is both open-source and leads to uniform development of the app overall the platforms. It is a strong reason why it has become popular among developers and users as well. 

You need to make a choice depending on your requirements. If you have any query related to mobile app development, feel free to contact PixelCrayons: A leading Android, Windows, and iOS app development company in India.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Que-1: What are the differences between the cross-platform and native apps?

Ans-1: 

Native Apps	Cross-Platform Apps
It supports a single platform at a time.	It supports multiple platforms when released into the market.
Proves costly to develop for multiple platforms.	Significant savings greater than 50% gets done by employing cross-platform technology for multiple platforms.
Employing it will ensure smooth functioning of the app with smartphone’s equipment, namely camera, geolocation services, etc.	It needs APIs integration for offering a smooth functioning over the device.
The designing process is simple for native apps.	The integration of several features is necessary for smooth designs.
Its developers’ charges are relatively high owing to needed skills in specific languages.	The technology is web-based and revolves around HTML, CSS, JS and thus have developers available at reasonable rates.

 

Que-2: What are some other cross-platform technologies I can use for my app?

Ans-2: There are multiple cross-platform frameworks available for building apps. Some of them based on their popularity are as follows:

ReactNative – 42% popularity score in 2020 among cross-platform developers.

Flutter – 39% popularity score in 2020 among cross-platform developers.     

Cordova – 18% popularity score in 2020 among cross-platform developers.     

Note: The above stats are from statista.com

Que-3: What is the best cross-platform framework I can choose for my app?

Ans-3: The best cross-platform framework will depend upon the basic guideline of your app that includes the business model, app complexities, etc. However, ReactNative, PhoneGap, Xamarin, etc. are a popular choice and can be used to develop the most kind of apps.

Que-4: Are there any famous hybrid apps?

Yes, there are multiple hybrid apps that you might have been using regularly. Have a look at the top 3 hybrid apps that have made their presence felt:

1. Uber: The famous car booking app is an exceptional example of a hybrid app. It runs on m.uber.com and can perform dynamic operations with much ease. 
2. Instagram: A leading social media platform Instagram has been developed with HTML5 and is a hybrid app.
3. Apple App Store: Well, you read it right, the Apple App store got created with a similar approach that gets used in cross-platform apps using HTML5. 

Que-5: Can a hybrid app perform well as compared to a native app?

Ans-5: When developed by a team of experts, hybrid apps can perform equal to that of the native apps. The examples of Uber App, Instagram App, etc. as hybrid apps that have made a big impact on the daily life of users are clear evidence of it.

In fact, hybrid app development not only performs equally well but also acts as a cost-friendly alternative to the native apps. It is because they come with unified development while a native app requires specific platform-based development.

Que-6: How long does it take for an app to become available in the app stores?

Ans-6:  In most of the Play Stores or App Markets, it usually takes anything between 2 to 6 days for a new app to become available for the users.