Thursday, 13 November 2014 |Written by qtriangle |

Phonegap Cordova hybrid application developmentA hybrid mobile app refers to a native mobile application that is developed with the help of technologies other than the indigenous SDKs for platforms such as Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows. Implementing the best of both the worlds (native + Web), it is a downloadable native app running a part or whole of its interface in a rooted browser section.

The hybrid app model facilitates an efficient and effortless entry into the new and dynamic HTML5 world due to which more and more e-commerce businesses are considering it. For the developers, rather than rewriting the app for each platform, it becomes essential to write some application code in JavaScript and HTML to be reused across all platforms and phones.

Developing a mobile e-commerce hybrid application typically involves the use of several web-based technologies, a few of which are mentioned above. Practically, a number of frameworks tend to help in using these coding languages and scripts, which encompass a kind of wrapper or compiler for converting common code into a native application. Let us look at some of the most commonly used frameworks or technology options in use for developing hybrid mobile e-commerce app.

Apache Cordova

The secret but the core of a hybrid model is the employment of an abstraction layer exposing the functionality of the device to the hybrid app in the form of a JavaScript API. In the case of mobile Web implementation, this is something not possible due to the security rim between the device APIs and browser. Therefore, facilitating frameworks have made it possible and one such instance is Apache Cordova.

It is an example of a JavaScript abstraction layer that exposes a common APIs set in JavaScript, which tend to work on any device that the framework supports. Cordova supports seven platforms including iOS, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, and Android. When the indigenous wrapper gets compiled around the JavaScript, HTML, and CSS resources, an interop layer links the JavaScript APIs with the APIs that are platform specific.

Donated to Apache, the Cordova code base is a popular hybrid framework using a native wrapper and is developed chiefly with Web technologies. It also has a JavaScript bridge as plug-ins built into the native functionality.

PhoneGap

Built on Apache Cordova, PhoneGap offers a remote building interface for integrating and emulating an application in the cloud. It is an ideal choice for remote development of hybrid mobile e-commerce apps for a sole mobile platform.

Ionic

This one is a free and open source framework featuring a collection of mobile-optimized JavaScript, CSS, and HTML components and tools for developing highly interactive hybrid apps. It has been designed using Sass and optimizes AngularJS for delivering robust apps. Because Ionic is modeled on native mobile SDKs, it is easy to explore for all those who have built native mobile apps for Android or iOS.

Appcelerator

This is another leading framework for using JavaScript and SDKs to design hybrid apps. The biggest benefit of using Appcelerator is maximum access to APIs and native interface widgets.

No matter which one you choose, the aforementioned frameworks facilitate varying levels of access to the functionality of the native device. You only need to choose them on the basis of supporting languages you need.

Why you need a mobile application for your eCommerce store