What is Android Framework: 5 Key Frameworks to Know About

Take a Look at the Best Android Frameworks Available in the Market

When beginners start their careers in development field, they usually choose Android as their main area. This trend has picked up since the emergence of mobile app development. It is in demand because companies around the world need developers who can build interactive mobile apps for their business. From banks to ecommerce stores, Android development is in demand and it continue to grow with each passing year. This trend has influenced software developers to learn about Android framework in detail. They understand the importance of this framework, as how it will play a major role in the development world in future.

Today, there are different types of Android frameworks available in the market. All of them provide variety of features, allowing developers to offer quality mobile app development services using them. By using these frameworks, developers can build mobile apps with interactive user interface. Furthermore, the integration of various APIs also becomes quite easy while using these frameworks. It is therefor recommended to learn them quickly, so that your skills in mobile app development can enhance dramatically.

However, for beginners, it is also said to not to go for multiple Android frameworks at once. The reason is that these frameworks are quite advanced, and beginners cannot learn all of them simultaneously. They could ideally go for each framework one by one, so that concepts can steadily build in consecutive steps. In this blog, we will be looking into the details of popular Android frameworks available in the market today. This will help beginners to know how many types of Android framework are currently being used by the developers.

But, before moving straight into the details, let us first understand what is Android framework and why its learning is important for mobile app developers.

What is Android Framework?

Android framework

When it comes to develop mobile applications, developers require an environment where they can build everything efficiently. This environment allows them to stick together various components that are required to power up various functionalities in the application. If they will not use it, then they would have to build everything separately which will not only double the effort, but will also cause confusion at various points. This is one of those scenarios that takes the project into failure, taking all the efforts and hard work of development team into vain.

To cope up with this problem, a development framework is required where every component can be built cohesively. This comprehensive framework allows developers to easily work inside a singular environment. They can develop all types of functionalities in this framework, as it also provides several prebuilt features to facilitate Android development. Using this platform also requires good technical knowledge because it is not that simple to use.

So, Android framework is basically a complete area where you can develop applications as per the given functional requirements. From user interface to backend app functionalities, everything can be built and managed in the framework easily. It also supports various languages, giving development teams a complete environment where they can use different technologies properly.

Key Android Frameworks to Know About

If you are a mobile app developer, you need to know about different Android framework types that are used in the market currently. This knowledge is important because it lets you know how developers are creating Android apps using different frameworks. Sometimes, beginners do not know about these types, as they only have knowledge about few platforms.

Below, we have defined some of the top Android frameworks that are used in the market currently. Let’s take a look at them in detail below.

Ionic Framework

Ionic framework

Ionic framework is regarded one of the best frameworks for Android application development. It allows you to create interactive applications by providing plethora of features. The framework is free and open-source validated exclusively by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This gives Ionic framework a strong reputation in the development industry where people highly regard this validation from the top educational name in US.

Using Ionic framework, you can build hybrid applications on the roots of HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript easily. This is also a major reason why this secure software development framework rose to popularity in a short period of time. Developers simply love to use these technologies, as they are quite handy in developing different features inside the mobile application. The usage of JavaScript is especially more, as it is used regularly in the development of mobile apps.

Built with a myriad of software tools, Ionic facilitates developers to build high-class mobile and desktop applications efficiently. It also helps to create progressive web apps with a single code base, allowing dev teams to use the platform more proactively. All of these features make Ionic one of the best Android frameworks that helps developers to create top-notch applications properly.

Corona Software Development Kit

Corona framework

Corona SDK was developed in 2009 to help developers create web applications. It later started to evolve and became a powerful platform supporting mobile app development as well. This great evolution led Corona to be called as cross platform framework where different types of applications can be built easily. It was done by the integration of Lua and other multi-paradigm programming languages built on C++ and OpenGL. This functionality precisely increased the performance of the platform, enabling it to become more cross-functional.

Besides mobile app development, Corona is also known because of game development. This software development framework is quite advanced, as it provides several tools for development that can be accessed both on Mac OS X and Windows. It provides real-time testing functionality, which is indeed a great requirement among game developers. It also supports integration of 500+ APIs that is quite remarkable in every terms. These features make a Corona a reputable platform for development, not just for mobile but for gaming apps as well.

Looking at these functionalities, it could be said that Corona can be used for all types of app development. Though it has some limitations as well, but they can be also managed by integrating correct external modules and add-ons. You can get plenty of information about them on the internet, as the community of Corona is also quite active on the web world.

Flutter Framework

Flutter framework

Flutter is yet another a popular framework used by millions of developers. It is famous because of offering several readymade features in the development platform. Many people in the dev community term it as the best framework for Android development. Developed by Google, Flutter is based on a Dart programming language that makes cross-platform development quite easy. The framework is specially recommended for hybrid app development, as it provides variety of functionalities to support that process.

Flutter uses a 2D rendering engine, Skia, to create material design. It offers a fresh approach to manage these tasks, which is what makes it unique among other frameworks. It is also called an excellent testing framework, as it helps to do everything in the real time. From functionality to unit testing, everything is done live, so that developers can evaluate every error and bug timely.

Some of the top features that make Flutter a good framework to use includes hot reload, reduced code development, single source code and more others. It also offers an extensive library of widgets that helps developers to integrate various external functionalities easily in the applications.

React Native Framework

React native framework

Next up, we have got React Native in our list of best Android framework types available in the dev market. It is certainly very popular among the developers, and is used widely around the world. It is developed by Facebook to rival the above defined Flutter of Google in the software industry. The framework is totally open-source, meaning that it offers complete support for various software development tools and technologies.

Built on the roots of React, this framework has a lot to talk about. It uses the same approach of building components piece by piece, a concept that is also found in majority of other Android frameworks. This allows developers to focus on one thing precisely. It not only provides quality results, but also reduces time to deliver given development tasks. Many people in the dev community love this thing, which is why they also recommend React Native for all types of mobile app development.

As stated in the latest Google trends, the popularity of React Native is increasing day by day. This suggests that the framework is being preferred widely over other mobile app development platforms. The unique features offered by React Native is the primary reason for this prominence which is certainly well deserved.

Xamarin Framework

Xamarin framework

Owned by Microsoft, Xamarin is also a fabulous framework in which you can develop different types of android apps easily. It provides advanced toolset to develop native applications for different platforms. All of these are based on the single codebase of C# which is certainly quite popular among the .NET software developers. It is therefore recommended best for C# developers, as they can easily get started with Xamarin after just few introductory classes.

By using Microsoft’s cloud testing services, applications built with Xamarin can be easily tested on a wide range of devices. This is quite a unique feature that is not offered by any other framework available around. Furthermore, Xamarin also provides great code-sharing capability that allow teams working on same projects to share their code with each other. It not only reduces the coding time, but also helps to eradicate various problems during the development stage, allowing teams to use their time more proactively.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Android framework?
Android framework refers to a complete environment where you can develop Android apps efficiently. These frameworks are quite advanced as they come up with different features that helps to simplify app development.
Why it is important to learn Android framework?
It is quite important to learn different Android frameworks. It helps to enhance your expertise and allow you to work with more diversity while creating mobile applications.
Which Android frameworks are recommended best for development?
There are different Android frameworks used by the developers to create mobile applications. Some of the best name among them includes Flutter, Ionic, Xamarin, React Native and more others.
Which framework is used in Android Studio?
The framework used in Android Studio is Gradle. It works as the foundation of the build system providing capabilities and features in the development.
Is Kotlin an Android Framework?
Kotlin is not a framework but it is officially supported by Google for Android development. You can use it to access different Android APIs and design various app components through it.

Final Words

That concludes our whole article in which we have discussed about different Android frameworks that are popular in the industry. Being a developer, you need to know about them as they come very handy during the mobile app development. Using these frameworks, various complicated tasks can be simplified and development can be done in a much shorter time period. This is what makes the Android framework important, hence every mobile app developer should have knowledge about them.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for an agency that could help you to develop mobile apps using advanced Android frameworks, contact us today. Our professionals will assist you to develop all types of applications, rightly as per the given requirements.

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