Top Mobile App Development Frameworks You Must Know in 2021

As we move into 2021, the number of mobile apps on the market is rapidly increasing after the digital acceleration caused by the pandemic. And businesses do not only have to fight for users’ attention but also user retention. Most users uninstall apps within a week or a month after downloading them. It is due to slow speed, screen freeze, crashes, errors, bad registration or onboarding experience, or even if users find a better mobile app for the same function. Moreover, attractive UI and flawless UX also play a crucial role in user retention. 

But after all, only the best apps that create good user experiences will be retained by them. And the best apps require the best behind-the-scenes to deliver an exceptional user experience. So, here we’ve listed down the top mobile app development frameworks of 2021 for creating amazing apps with a fast and efficient development process.

Let’s dive into the list.

8 Mobile App Development Frameworks You Must Know in 2021

• Flutter

Flutter is the most popular cross-platform mobile app development framework, used by 42% of developers worldwide. Developed by Google, flutter development is a complete SDK with built-in tools to create beautiful, natively compiled applications for multiple platforms with a single codebase.

Features: 

• A free and open-source framework
• Faster development with a rich library of widgets
• Hot reload feature reflects code changes in real-time, allowing quick experiments and testing
• High-performance apps with a native-like look, feel, and functionality
• Build expressive apps with beautiful UI that delight users, with built-in Material Design, Cupertino, customizable widgets, rich motion APIs, and more

Apps built with Flutter: Xianyu by Alibaba, MyBMW, Reflectly, Google Ads

• React Native

React Native is the second most popular cross-platform framework among developers. It has the best-in-class Javascript library with pre-built components that allows seamless development of Android and iOS apps using a single codebase. 

Features:

• A javascript-based, open-source framework by Facebook
• Hot and live reloading lets you develop, test, and iterate changes at lightning speed.
• Wide range of native UI components
• Supports diverse IDEs and third-party plug-ins
• Create truly native, high-performance apps.

Apps built with React Native: Instagram, Shopify, Coinbase, Tesla

• Xamarin

Xamarin by Microsoft is among the top cross-platform mobile app development frameworks used to develop native Android and iOS apps with a single shared .NET codebase.

Features:

• Open-source framework
• Apps are built with native UI, performance, and native API access
• Uses the same language, data structures, and APIs for 75% of app code across all development platforms
• Supports diverse IDEs for your preferred OS
• Tools and libraries supported by a large community

Apps built with Xamarin: UPS, Alaska Airlines, BBC Good Food, American Cancer Society

• Ionic

More than 5 million developers worldwide are using Ionic to power up their mobile app development services. Ionic is a mobile UI toolkit that can build highly interactive, fast, and native-like cross-platform apps with a single shared codebase.

Features:

• Free and open-source
• Offers a library of mobile-optimized UI components, tools, themes, and built-in best practices
• Rich library of native device plug-ins
• Build fast apps with a small footprint
• Integrates seamlessly with the tech you prefer- Angular, Vue, React, or vanilla Javascript

Apps built with Ionic: Sworkit, Untappd, MarketWatch, McDonald’s Turkiye

• Sencha Ext JS

Sencha Ext JS is the most comprehensive Javascript-based framework for developing data-intensive, cross-platform applications for mobile and web on any device.

Features:

• It comes with a library of 140+ pre-integrated and tested high-performance UI components.
• Hundreds of user extensions are available from the community
• Accelerated application development
• End-to-end app building with state-of-the-art tools
• Robust designing and Pen Testing Cloud
• Can manage millions of data, however complex

Apps built with Sencha Ext JS: Ticketmaster, CERN, Governance.io, Real Capital Markets

• Solar2D

Solar2D, formerly Corona SDK, is the most advanced 2D mobile app development framework. It is a cross-platform framework best for the rapid development of apps and games for multiple mobile devices, desktops, or connected TV devices with one codebase. 

Features: 

• A free, open-source framework 
• Uses Lua as the scripting language, which is fast, lightweight but powerful and leading language for games
• Numerous plug-ins for all your needs
• Call any native library (C/C++/Obj-C/Java) or API using Corona.

Apps built with Solar2D: Designer city, Zip Zap, Gunman Taco Truck, the Lost City

• Mobile Angular UI

Mobile Angular UI is an open-source mobile UI framework that uses Angular JS and Twitter Bootstrap for developing attractive HTML5 hybrid mobile apps.

Features:

• A free, open-source framework
• Includes all essential components missing in Bootstrap 3
• Relies on robust libraries for a better mobile experience
• Super easy to learn and put things together
• With a supersmall CSS file, you get a fully responsive and touch-enabled interface that can be used everywhere.

Apps built with Mobile Angular UI: Good Doctor, Hotelier News, Guezz it, Tic-Tac Mobile

• Framework7

Framework7 is an HTML mobile app development framework used to develop full-featured apps for Android, iOS, desktop, or progressive web apps. It is also a prototyping tool used to show working app prototypes as soon as possible if needed.

Features:

• A free, open-source framework
• Provides a stunning set of UI components and widgets, allowing to build apps with a native look and feel
• Build with any tools and tech you prefer- Vue.js, React, Svelte
• Rich ecosystem

Apps built with Framework7: Rabbit Mail, EasyQuick Shop, GoDial, Fitness Pets

Wrapping Up

Newer and better mobile app development frameworks are also emerging on the block with the disruptive increase in the number of mobile apps. But you may consider these trending technologies picked by the experts after considering various factors like OSs, development time, cost, and more for mobile app development. So, if you’re planning to develop a mobile app, here’s one task made easier for you! (thank us later)