reactnativeappdevelopment

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React Native vs PhoneGap: Which One is Better?

One common question that comes to the mind of entrepreneurs looking to develop a mobile app for their business is ‘Which is better – native app or hybrid app?’ This is what exactly we are going to discuss here in this article. Here is a comparison of React Native and PhoneGap app development frameworks to help you choose the right native or hybrid platform for your next project.

 But let's get to the basics first.

 What is a native app?

A native application is built specifically for one particular platform and can take advantage of all the device-specific features such as camera, GPS, navigation, contacts, and more. React Native is a cross-platform app development framework created by Facebook to help providers of React Native app development services to build iOS and Android apps for businesses like yours.

 What is a hybrid app?

A hybrid application is a web application built for the native browser using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PhoneGap is a popular hybrid app development framework developed by Apache Cordova. It lets any PhoneGap app development company to create mobile apps for multiple platforms using open source web technology.

 Now, let's dig into the differences between these two popular mobile app development frameworks and find out which one is the best option for you.

 React Native vs PhoneGap

 1. Technology Stack

React Native is a cross-platform app development framework that helps developers to build native-like apps using JavaScript technology. This framework provides a seamless, native user experience by using native UI components. You cannot differentiate between a React Native app and a real native app because React Native apps have all the qualities and functionalities that Android-based or iOS-based apps possess.

 If we talk about PhoneGap, it runs HTML/JavaScript codes inside a native container to get access to device functionalities. As it supports various other web frameworks like AngularJS and JQuery, you can build the UI components easily without having to depend on HTML5 and CSS3.

 2. Platforms

As we mentioned earlier, React Native is a cross-platform framework, so it supports both Android and iOS devices. PhoneGap offers multi-device support, which means you can run and test your app both in the browser and on Android, iOS, and Windows devices.

 3. Performance

In the React Native app development process, developers can just use JavaScript and Native codes instead of using Swift, Java, or Kotlin. It lets you build apps faster with the same responsiveness like native Android and iOS apps. No need to do recompiling, just reload your app with Hot Reloading and save time. Developers need to learn React programming language, and they are good to code using React Native. It enables rapid development as the same code can be used across different building platforms.

 Apache Cordova has got its own line of products to make it easier to build, serve, compile, and run PhoneGap apps from the command-line. There is no need to maintain native SDKs.

 4. Components, Tools, and Community

React Native is known for its efficiency with a community of millions of developers. There are various tools that accelerate the React Native app development lifecycle including Atom, Visual Studio, Expo, Flow, Redux, Ignite, and NativeBase. 

It also has an extensive list of UI toolkits and native component libraries that help developers save time and deliver your app quickly. The React Native UI components that developers use include NativeBase, React Native Elements, UI Kitten, React Native Material UI, React Native Material Kit, React Native UI Library, and React Native Vector Icons.

 PhoneGap also has a huge community of developers who are working every day to improve the features of this framework. Apache Cordova offers PhoneGap Build tool that takes out the headache of compiling at your local server. All you need to do is upload the HTML, CSS and JS codes to the PhoneGap development machine and see the changes instantly. After the build phase, download the PhoneGap installer packages to test the app on any device.

 PhoneGap also provides developers the option to work with third-party tools like ConfigGAP, BuildFire, PayPal, Magento, App Builder, SimiCart, Amazon Mobile Ads Plugin, and more.

 5. Development Cost

React Native saves both time and money for businesses. Developing a React Native app costs 30-50% less than building two separate real native apps.

 With hybrid app development using PhoneGap, you can build and submit the app on all platforms including iOS, Android, Windows and web. So you could save around 30-35% in PhoneGap technology by not having to develop separate apps for four different platforms.

6. Apps Built On React Native and PhoneGap

Till date thousands of apps have been developed using React Native, from new start-ups to Fortune 500 enterprises. These popular apps are built on React Native:

Developing a multi-platform mobile app has become a necessity now. Some of the top PhoneGap app development companies have created these apps on the PhoneGap framework:

React Native vs PhoneGap: Which One to Choose?

It's not easy to tell which one is better for your app project. There are many factors that you need to consider, such as app features you need, project goal, cost and time, in order to decide the best app development framework for your business app. Experts working with top companies offering React Native app development services suggest that if you want native feeling with a low budget, then opt for React Native. Developers of a top PhoneGap app development company say if your app needs to cater to audiences across multiple platforms, then increase your budget a bit higher and go for PhoneGap.

 What do you think? Which one is better?

 Drop us a line in the comments below to tell us about your experience of using one of these frameworks for your app project.