Ionic App Development OR React Native App Development? Which is the best one for 2022?

The most significant bone of contention is React Native vs. Ionic when comparing cross-platform frameworks. In this article, we’ll compare the performance of React Native and ionic, as well as the user experience.

“What platform is the best for my enterprise app development?” is a question that many of us face. Even though it is usually quite specific, we can nevertheless layout (or at least try!) some broad guidelines to help us make better decisions.

Understanding React Native and Ionic

Let’s look at how these frameworks work under the hood before we get into the details of our “React Native VS Ionic” comparison and point out the differences.

React Native App Development

The React Native framework is widely used for developing dynamic web and mobile apps. It was released by Facebook in 2015 and worked on various platforms, including Android and iOS.

Many popular apps are built with React Native like Instagram, Netflix, Amazon, Uber, Discord, Facebook, Skype, Airbnb, Wix, etc., and the list goes on.

React Native is currently one of the widely known cross-platform development frameworks. According to recent data, in 2021, 38% of developers will utilize React Native to construct mobile, desktop, and other apps.

Its wide range of capabilities, open-source nature, and application area, are a few features that make React Native a valuable tool.

React Native Architecture

React Native’s cross-platform functionality is made feasible by its unique architecture.

The Bridge is the most critical part of React Native architecture. This system uses the React library to render the application on a device. In another way, the Bridge converts JS code into native components and vice versa. JavaScript is translated into platform-specific details by the Bridge. It receives the JS call and uses the APIs (Kotlin, Objective C, Java) to render the application natively. Because these async calls are made outside of the main thread, the process does not impact the user’s experience.

This structure, however, can cause problems if your software uses numerous threads and significant amounts of data.

Development Process of React Native

React Native is built on React and uses a single JavaScript codebase to allow code to be reused across several platforms. React Native, unlike Ionic and many other cross-platform development frameworks, uses platform-specific APIs to render native components. React Native, for example, uses either Objective C or Swift APIs to render UI components on iOS. Java or Kotlin will be used for Android mobile applications. A developer does not need to know Objective C or Java to construct the apps.

JavaScript, TypeScript, and JSX are used in the React Native development process. The developers can reuse significant portions of the code (up to 100%).

Another unique feature of React Native is its component generation instructions. RN features particular components that replace HTML components like <div>, <span>, <a>, <p>, and so on (React) like:

• <span> = <Text>
• <div> = <View>
• <img> = <Image>

Furthermore, third-party library compatibility, hot reload, and extensive UI libraries make the development process considerably more accessible and more productive for developers. Once an application is complete, you can link it to a cloud or local database to provide storage.

Functionality is built on a dynamic runtime approach in React Native

Javascript is used to create React-native apps. This Javascript code interfaces with the platforms (iOS, Android) via a mobile javascript API that delivers data calls and functions to the native platform API. A bridge connects both of these APIs.

This Bridge is why React native apps work almost as well as native apps!

Note: While the preceding statement is valid in most circumstances, you should read this post on React native performance to get a better picture of when the issues might get worse.

Features of React Native

• NPM Repository support
  NPM (Node Package Manager) simplifies the building of React Native apps. NPM is a repository of ready-to-use libraries for the React Native framework developers can use. This functionality allows React Native developers to upload code patterns from the NPM libraries, which speeds up the development process.
• Reusability of Code
  Any cross-platform programming framework must have this feature. However, the percentage of code that can be reused varies by platform. In the case of React Native, practically all of the code may be reused between platforms. This feature saves a great deal of time and money.
• Flexibility in Programming Language -
  The framework’s performance and success rely heavily on the programming language and its flexibility. The more widely the cross-platform development framework’s core language is used, the faster and easier it is to learn. It also implies that you won’t have any trouble teaching your JS developers how to use React Native. However, hiring experienced React Native developers makes sense to create a distinctive app faster.

Apart from that, React Native is built on JavaScript and includes TypeScript support out of the box. Because of these quirks, the React Native framework is more accessible to a broader range of developers. According to the most recent developer poll, the most popular programming language is JS, used by about 70% of developers.

• Efficient and Strong Developer Community
  After its initial release in 2015, the React Native framework quickly gained popularity among developers worldwide. Since then, the open-source framework’s community has grown and contributed to it, extending its features and making it faster. This feature ensures the long-term viability of the React Native cross-platform framework and makes it appealing to other developers.
• Supports Third-party libraries
  Another characteristic that distinguishes React Native from other cross-platform frameworks is its support for third-party libraries. Integration with third-party libraries gives developers access to more out-of-the-box solutions and expands their development options.
• High Performance in Mobile Applications
  Since its inception, react Native has been working with mobile platforms (iOS and Android). It’s no surprise that it excels at mobile app development. React Native allows developers to reuse more code in the mobile environment than any other framework, making it the quickest cross-platform framework for mobile apps available today.
• Live and Hot Reload feature
  React Native developers can use the HMR (Hot Module Replacement) feature to replace, add, and modify modules while the system is running. That’s why the app development process is streamlined in the following ways:

Saves time by only changing the code that has changed;

• Retains the state of the application (which is lost on a full reload);
• When changes to the JS code are performed, the browser is updated.
• React Native’s live reload feature allows you to view changes on your screen as soon as you make them.

This capability is extremely beneficial for developing mobile apps.

If your application’s UI is important to you, the React Native framework is the way to go. The framework features excellent rendering capabilities and a plethora of UI libraries for a wide range of applications. This aligns well with creating beautiful mobile apps using React.

Ionic App Development

Ionic arose from the need for a foundation for an ecosystem. It began as a JS framework for creating a front-end for a Hybrid Mobile App. However, it has come a long way since then, and much more is to come. It’s a platform that uses web technology and cloud services to enable next-generation mobile apps.

Ionic is an open-source and free user interface and API framework. It includes cross-platform UI components and native API capability for building apps for iOS, Android, Electron, and the web utilizing standard web technologies.

Ionic’s first version was launched in 2013. In December 2021, the current version, 6.0.0, was released.

Popular apps built using Ionic are MarketWatch, Target, Electronic Arts(EA), SouthWest, Pacifica, etc.

Ionic development services allow you to create a mobile-based application that works on iOS, Windows, and Android devices, all from the same codebase. It employs HTML, JavaScript, CSS, TypeScript, and Angular to create a hybrid mobile application. Essentially, it’s a set of components that work together to deliver the features for a mobile platform. Ionic app development comes with a command line to help you save time and effort when developing your app.

Ionic Architecture

Ionic is a wrapper for building mobile apps that takes HTML, CSS, and Javascript code and puts it on a WebView (a full-screen web browser native component). Technology like Cordova or Capacitor at runtime connects the WebView to the Ionic codebase. Simply put, an Ionic app is a mobile website that has been rendered as a mobile app.

Ionic is framework-agnostic, another architectural difference between it and React Native. Because it’s just a mobile wrapper for a website, you may use any web framework as the underlying technology (such as React, Vue, Angular, or even plain Javascript). Only React Native, a web-based extension of the React framework can create React Native apps.

So which one’s better? It is debatable. The winner of this category is determined by the constraints of your project and the app requirements. React Native is a better choice if you create a mobile app with the look and feel of a native app. Ionic is for you if you want your mobile app to have the same look and feel as your website or if you’re going to build a mobile app using a web framework.

Features of the Ionic Framework

• Platform Independent Framework — Ionic is a platform that mimics the appearance and feel of native apps. It works with mobile-optimized web components, so there’s no need to update the code. Ionic is a framework that works with mobile-optimized web components and has a cost-effective structure.
• Cross-platform Mobile Application Development — If we’re creating a mobile app, we should ensure it works on all operating systems. The ionic platform uses the same codebase as the iOS platform, allowing developers to create applications compatible with all mobile devices and have a consistent look and feel.
• Default User Interface — Ionic comes with pre-installed CSS and JS components, allowing developers to design mobile apps quickly. The default design takes care of most of the details while adding additional functionality to regular CSS classes based on their requirements.
• Plugins for Cordova — The ionic framework for development support plugins. Designers can use Cordova plugins to provide access to various components. It enables you to add appealing features to your app and use it to make a perfect mobile app.
• Top Performance — The ionic framework includes a user-friendly environment for running applications on mobile devices. Users can employ components to improve the performance of their mobile devices.
• Beautiful Designing — It aids with the creation of sturdy and simple designs by providing an ionic framework. It comes with various customizable themes and a fantastic user interface to entice users to use the program.
• Native Experience for enterprise apps — Get interactive mobile applications with native Experience and the most significant components. When it comes to enterprise applications, the framework offers the advantages of the open web.

Maybe some similarities?

Both Ionic and React Native are excellent alternatives to native app development. Ionic enables you to create hybrid mobile apps using standard web technologies such as HTML and Javascript (and even web frameworks such as Vue, React, and Angular). React Native, on the other hand, allows you to create hybrid mobile apps utilizing the React framework and Javascript. In the end, you will have a single codebase written in a single language that compiles into cross-platform mobile apps, regardless of which option you choose.

While they both accomplish the same aim of producing mobile apps, React Native, and Ionic go about it in quite different ways.

Conclusion

Note that this is not a competition between the two frameworks. Both of them are unique, significant, and powerful in their ways. Sure, both have different functioning methodologies, but they are built to achieve a common goal for the user: to create exquisite and well-functioning mobile applications.

The debate between React and Ionic can be never-ending; some might think React is the best, some might think Ionic is better. But in the end, it all comes down to your utility. To see which framework suits your needs of the project the best. We have listed all the features and working of both the frameworks, not to differentiate but to make you understand better about both of them.

Now, also you can differentiate between the two with this level of understanding, considering all the parameters essential to your project and deciding for yourself which one’s better.