7 Problems With Hybrid Mobile Development And How NativeScript Solves Them

I’ve been a mobile application developer since 2010 and I’ve played around with my fair share technologies and frameworks. While I’ve developed applications that can be safely classified as vanilla native or core native using Java, I’ve spent most of my time developing cross platform applications for Android and iOS using frameworks such as Ionic Framework and NativeScript that support web technologies.

The convenience of cross platform development with web technologies doesn’t come without penalty for certain frameworks. After all, mobile development frameworks can be split into a hybrid web category which act as web applications bundled into a mobile application and a native mobile category which act as web applications compiled into a mobile application. The difference being in my use of bundled vs compiled.

We’re going to see some of the problems that developers face when choosing to use a hybrid development framework such as, but not limited to, Ionic Framework vs a native development framework such as NativeScript.

Give That Slow Hybrid Mobile App A Native Performance Boost With NativeScript

When it comes to hybrid mobile application development, there is always discussion around the performance of said applications. While hybrid mobile applications have come a long way in terms of performance since the early days, they still can’t quite live up to the performance expectations that are delivered in a native application.

We’re going to take a look at why hybrid applications suffer in the speed department and how other similar frameworks such as NativeScript can take your applications to the next level without severe changes to design or development.

Apache Cordova And Ionic Framework Apps Are Not Native Mobile Apps

If you’ve been keeping up with my content since the birth of The Polyglot Developer, you’ll know that I was once a huge advocate of Apache Cordova development using frameworks like Ionic Framework. Having been a web developer and coming from native Android development with Java, cross-platform development using hybrid technologies seemed like a logical next step. Fast-forward to now, I’m no longer using Apache Cordova with Ionic Framework and have gone back to native development.

I recently came across an article by Ionic’s CEO, Max Lynch, titled, Cordova/Ionic Apps are Native Apps, trying to explain that Ionic applications are native mobile applications. There are some valid points made in this article, but as someone who spent several years using the technology as well as using applications built with the technology, it is not something I agree with as a whole.

Upgrading Your Hybrid Apps To Native With NativeScript

As someone who has developed both hybrid web applications and native applications, I understand the differences and advantages each brings to the table. While I agree that you can do some pretty neat things with a hybrid web application built with frameworks like Ionic, I no longer think it is as great of a solution as it once was.

With hybrid web frameworks like Ionic 2 and native mobile frameworks like NativeScript both using Angular, you have to step back and ask yourself what you’re truly getting as an advantage as of now in hybrid. Performance is one of many reasons why native still makes more sense, and being able to use Angular, why wouldn’t you?

This is why I spent a lot of time creating an upgrade guide to demonstrate how to take your hybrid mobile application built with Ionic 2 and Angular to native with NativeScript and Angular.

TPDP Episode #3: Developer Tools that can Make You More Productive Towards Your Next Release

In this episode of The Polyglot Developer Podcast I sit down with two of my good friends, Raymond Camden and Simon Reimler, and discuss developer tools and strategies for being successful. Episode #3: Developer Tools that can Make You More Productive Towards Your Next Release covers a lot of ground and is broken up into three main sections:

1. What tools are used for planning, prior to development and design
2. What tools are used for developing and designing an application all the way to release
3. What tools are used for maintaining and driving the success of a released application

This podcast episode is not specific to any programming language or release platform. In other words, whether your a web developer, mobile app developer, or game designer, you will be able to find this information valuable.

Share Things On Social Media Via An Ionic Mobile App

Recently one of my subscribers asked me if I could refresh the social media sharing article that I wrote for Ionic Framework 1 to work with Ionic 2. Since I’m already in the process of rewriting all my posts to Ionic 2, I figured now is a good time to do so.

In case you hadn’t seen my previous post, it is still worth checking out. In either scenario, the goal we’re going to accomplish here is sharing messages, images, and links via social media outlets on Android and iOS within an Ionic 2 mobile app that uses Angular.

Using The Onymos Media Component In Your Ionic Framework App

A few years back I demonstrated how to use the device camera in an Android and iOS application developed with Ionic Framework. Being able to take photos wasn’t particularly difficult, but it left a lot to be desired. This is where the Media component by Onymos comes into play.

So what is the Onymos Media component?

The Onymos Media component extends the media features offered by the Apache Cordova camera plugin. It will correct common orientation issues for photos and videos captured from the various platforms and devices, it allows access to the various internal directories on Android, and it offers advanced compression features. The component also offers tight integration with Amazon S3 for storing media online.

Per the Onymos website, the Media component reduces the time it takes to get an application released to the market and in turn saves in development costs. Paired with the component’s continuous updates, your application will always be functional.

We’re going to see how to take pictures within our application using the Onymos Media component and upload them to Amazon S3 with ease. Everything you see below can easily be expanded to videos as the Onymos Media component can accomplish the same tasks with video as well.