Overview of the 7 most popular cross-platform mobile frameworks

At work, I was asked to make a comparative description of several products for creating cross-platform mobile applications: Appcelerator Titanium, Kony Platform, Adobe PhoneGap, IBM Worklight, Telerik Platform, Verivo Akula, Xamarin. I spent a lot of time, so I decided that it would be better to share the obtained data with the habrasoobshchestvo, who suddenly seems useful. I’ll say right away that, apart from PhoneGap, I haven’t come across and have not worked with any of these frameworks, so I’m sure I missed something, maybe I misunderstood somewhere, but I was wrong about something. But in the comments I hope to hear your opinion and correct the flaws.

At the end of the article I placed several polls that will help to understand the popularity and rating of these frameworks.

Interesting opportunities

Distinctive features of the platforms that I wanted to highlight.

1) Appcelerator Titanium
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• Applications look and behave like native, but are completely written using JavaScript (js code in runtime is translated to native view).
• The UI can be created separately for each platform using the Alloy framework (an integrated MVC framework using XML and CSS-like syntax). Despite the fact that creating a separate UI for each OS complicates the development and greatly reduces the amount of reusable code, the entire business logic, model and core of the application still remain the same for any platform.
• The store of plug-ins and components (520 components and 204 of them are free) - everything that you may need for applications: analytics, advertising, cloud storage, social networks, work with graphics, etc.
• Analytical platform (monitoring of application data in real time, monitoring performance, crashes, logs, and even the process of creating an application)
• Full automation tests.
• Built-in connectors to the most popular enterprise platforms (Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and SharePoint), connectors to popular applications (LinkedIn, PayPal, DropBox, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The ability to create your own connectors to any services.

2) Kony Platform

• Web, hybrid and native applications for smartphones, tablets and desktop devices, written with a single code.
• Support for the full cycle of creating an application (design, development, testing, deployment and management of cross-platform applications).
• The ability to show and share prototypes and applications between designers and developers (you can even comment and discuss some problem areas on the layouts).
• Access backend services using thousands (at least they say so) RESTful APIs.
• Flexible ability to choose development frameworks (including JavaScript and PhoneGap) and native tools (iOS, Android).
• Preview applications in real time.
• Ability to send messages and notifications to users (push services).
• Synchronization services allow you to connect to any third-party enterprise services.
• Reporting system and analytics. Determination of devices, crash logs.
• Authorization and security.
• Application update, settings and version management.

3) Adobe PhoneGap

• The application works like a regular web page inside the WebView, respectively, everything is based on the familiar HTML, CSS and JS. But at the same time, PhoneGap API gives us the opportunity to use all the capabilities of the device in the application: camera, sound, GPS, file system, contacts, notifications, etc.
• Due to the fact that the PhoneGap application is built on the basis of WebView, it can be embedded in the native application (we get a hybrid application).
• You can compile to any existing mobile platform, including Tizen, Bada, Firefox OS. And it can be done literally in a couple of clicks using the cloud service PhoneGap Build.
• The framework itself is small and simple, so the threshold for entering the development on PhoneGap is quite low, it’s enough to know only the basic web technologies.
• This is an open and free product.

4) IBM Worklight

• Created on the basis of Apache Cordova (like PhoneGap), so you can also create web applications and hybrids (with the ability to send messages and data between native and web modules).
• Internationalization support.
• Support USSD-services.
• Application analytics service.
• Security at every level - user, device, data, application.
• Ability to update application resources.

5) Telerik Platform

• Built-in user feedback.
• Platform analytics.
• Portal AppManager, where you can download your applications, assign access to them, invite and manage users. (original own Play Market).
• Automated testing of native, hybrid and web applications.
• Push notifications.
• Own advanced web IDE, respectively, you can create applications directly in the browser from any device (with a normal browser of course) anywhere in the world (with access to the Internet).
• Design and prototyping.
• Version Control System (VCS).
• Like PhoneGap and Worklight, Telerik is based on Apache Cordova with all its advantages and disadvantages.

6) Verivo Akula

• Creating native and hybrid applications.
• The system of remote control of their applications.
• Integration with enterprise-services.
• Push notifications.
• Synchronization with the server changes made while the application was offline.
• The ability to use to develop any familiar and favorite IDE (IDEA, Eclipse, NetBeans, etc.), and also has its own Verivo AppStudio.

7) Xamarin

• Creating native iOS, Android, Mac and Windows applications using C #. Moreover, unlike Appcelerator, the code is not interpreted at the execution stage, but is compiled immediately into native code. Therefore, the behavior, appearance and performance is the same as in native applications!
• A UI is created for each platform using the standard view for these platforms.
• Xamarin Test Cloud is an automated application testing service on hundreds of virtual mobile devices.
• A huge number of components (plug-ins) to enhance the capabilities of Xamarin.
• In-app purchases.

Development tools

Supported Platforms

Development languages

Framework extensibility

Analytics, crash reports, logs, audit and management

Prices and tariff plans

What to choose from this - you decide. I hope this brief review will save someone time in search of a suitable solution. Unfortunately, it makes no sense to describe the pros and cons of each framework without working with each of them. I hope that in the comments to the article, someone will share with me useful information regarding this topic and, perhaps, the article will be supplemented.

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UPDATE 07.15.2014
Added section "Development languages". A couple of additions to the article.
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