Top 9 Android App Development Frameworks to Keep an Eye on in 2022
Android developers will have plenty of options in the years to come. The list of best app development frameworks and libraries keeps expanding, with the latest additions focused on keeping up with the changing needs of users and Google’s platform shifts.
It can be hard to keep track of all these trends, but at the beginning of each year, we make it easier by outlining the most important Android app development frameworks you should pay attention to over the next 12 months.
This article presents our picks for the top 9 Android App Development Frameworks in 2022, as well as some honorable mentions you should look out for!
Number 1: Kotlin
Kotlin is a pragmatic, versatile, and powerful programming language for JVM, Android, NativeScript, and the browser. JetBrains created Kotlin in 2010, but it didn’t get much of a following until Google announced support for Kotlin as a first-class language for writing production applications for Android.
In just three years, Kotlin has been adopted by companies like Trello, Basecamp, Pinterest, Twitter, and WordPress, among others. It’s now one of the most popular languages for developing apps on Android, especially when targeting enterprise clients.
The growth of Kotlin means some more tools and services can be leveraged than ever before. With this new increase in visibility comes increased responsibility. Kotlin needs to keep innovating and pushing the boundaries so developers can access better solutions to their problems, not just incremental changes.
Number 2: Clojure (or Elixir)
Clojure is both a scripting language as well as a functional programming language. Clojure was designed to be compiled, interactive, reflective, and concise. It’s a run-time system – the JVM – that also offers developers a massive library of resources.
This makes it much more feasible for developers in the US or India, and anywhere in the world to make their applications using Clojure. Additionally, one of its main advantages is that it is written with concurrency and parallelism, which means developers can focus on making applications performant without sacrificing developer experience.
Another advantage of this Framework is that it has everything you need pre-installed, so you don’t have to worry about downloading additional libraries.
However, one of this Framework’s downsides is that many technical details could cause developers problems if they don’t know what they’re doing.
Another downside is when apps are built with this Framework; they are usually large since Clojure compiles down into Java bytecode.
Number 3: Angular
It’s important to know that frameworks can be used interchangeably with any programming language, as they dictate how the code will be written. In this case, Angular is a Java-script framework that can be used with either Python or Java.
Angular has become one of the most popular frameworks available for Android apps to simplify the app development process and make life easier for app developers. What makes it so popular? The answer lies in its ability to help companies create mobile apps that are functional, scalable, and maintainable.
More specifically, Angular helps companies develop cross-platform apps without requiring significant changes in their existing codebase. If you want your company to keep up with the latest trends in the market today, then you need to consider using Angular for your next project!
Number 4: React Native
React Native, being able to write code for both mobile and web, is a powerful framework for the future of app development. Plus, React Native apps are more performant than their hybrid counterparts because they’re rendered using the native language of iOS or Android.
Finally, React Native runs as a separate process from your main app rather than via a bridge, so updates can be deployed quicker and more seamlessly.
Number 5: JavaFX
JavaFX is a new Java-based library that provides graphical user interface (GUI) components and scenegraphs, media and effects, converters, builders, and other tools. The technology is ideal for creating standalone desktop applications or lightweight web apps that don’t need the full weight of Adobe Flash Player or Microsoft Silverlight.
It also uses HTML5 technologies to create apps for mobile devices. It’s supported by Oracle, IBM, Adobe Systems Inc., Mozilla Corporation, and Apple Inc. It is currently being used as a replacement for SWT and JSR 295.
One of its advantages over SWT is that it can be integrated with third-party libraries such as jQuery UI or Google Web Toolkit. In addition, it does not require compiling code before deployment, making it suitable for prototyping purposes.
Number 6: Xamarin.Forms
Xamarin.Forms is an app development framework that offers a lightweight solution for developing native iOS, Android, and Windows Phone apps using C# and .NET technologies.
Its easy-to-use library of prebuilt UI components that abstracts the complexities of handling cross-platform user interfaces has become increasingly popular among developers.
One key advantage of this Framework is that developers can share code across platforms with minimal rewriting or customization.
Some disadvantages include poor performance compared to other frameworks, difficulty debugging, and a large initial investment.
Number 7: Ionic Framework
Ionic Framework is one of the most popular app development frameworks for building iOS and Android apps. It’s based on AngularJS and uses SDK features from Cordova, giving it the power to build cross-platform apps with a single codebase.
This Framework allows you to make production-ready apps with beautiful designs and more functionality by developing hybrid native apps. Moreover, because it is built on open-source technologies like Sass and TypeScript, developers can customize the experience to suit their needs.
Additionally, this framework offers plugins for Firebase and Telerik UI so developers can integrate them into the project seamlessly. Lastly, Ionic Framework provides interactive user interface elements such as gestures and animations which makes your app look more engaging to use.
Number 8: Reactive Extensions (RxJava, RxAndroid) and Vue.js
For teams that want a lightweight framework for Android app development, we recommend Vue.js and Reactive Extensions.
Vue.js is much simpler than Angular but offers the same two-way data binding. RxJava and RxAndroid are libraries for the JVM which can be used separately or together with other Java frameworks (such as Spring) to handle concurrent programming, reactive streams, and linear dataflows, respectively.
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Vue.js was designed from scratch with reactivity, so it’s fast enough for most needs and supports streaming. React Native relies heavily on native components, so it performs worse than Vue in most cases, especially since it does not support animations out of the box.
Number 9: Flutter by Google
Google released its new Flutter app development framework for iOS and Android at the end of 2017. One of the biggest perks is that it enables you to code in both Swift and Kotlin languages, which is awesome if you have a team working with different languages.
They also provide a great software toolchain for mobile SDKs, design tools, platform-specific debuggers, and more. Hire an android app development company in India and get your business ready for success!
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Read Also: 10 Web Design Trends That Will Make Your Site Stand Out in 2022
Conclusion
The various frameworks will be competing for their own needs and niches, making it difficult to choose the one that is perfect for you.
For example, Kotlin is a favorite for Android development because of its concise syntax and ability to compile down into Java bytecode. Other languages like Swift or TypeScript may not offer these benefits, but they are good choices if you’re working in iOS or JavaScript, respectively.
In the end, it all comes down to what you need from your programming language and how much time you want to spend learning a new toolset. If you already know Java, then Kotlin might make sense for you. Otherwise, Swift would likely be more appealing.
