12 Best Android App Development Frameworks

For many years now, Android comfortably tops the list of the best-operating systems for mobile app development. As of 2021, Android has captured over 85% of the market share globally. It has been estimated that there are more than 1 billion active users of smartphones worldwide. This number is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2020. With so much competition, it is essential to develop apps that stand out from the crowd. To do this, developers need to use the right tools. Here are some of the best android app development frameworks available today.

This blog shares in-depth information about each framework and will help you choose the right Android framework for your app’s development in 2022.

1. Corona SDK framework of Android

Launched in 2009, Corona SDK is a free-to-use SDK framework of Android with a simple syntax. It is considered the world’s most advanced 2D mobile development platform for both Android and iOS.

Corona SDK is mainly popular for Android game development. However, developers also extensively use it as a general-purpose framework for Android development.

Key Features:

• An interesting feature of the Corona SDK is that it enables a 10x times faster development process than most other Android app frameworks.
• Using only a single code base, Corona SDK is able to build apps and games for mobile and desktop.
• The framework is available for both Windows and MAC OS.
• Corona employs Lua for its app backend framework. Lua is a multi-paradigm programming language that is easy-to-learn, lightweight, and robust in nature.
• It includes more than a thousand built-in feature-rich APIs, a multitude of plugins, and a dynamic advertising platform for the developers.
• It also supports native UI and real-time testing.

Read More: Top Android App Development Trends in 2021

2. Sencha Touch for Android

Sencha Touch is a development framework that specially focuses on creating native Android applications. It is also often denoted as the best Android development framework by the community itself.

Sencha Touch uses JavaScript and HTML5, allowing it to build dynamic and comprehensive apps. Android applications built using Sencha Touch deliver high performances as the development framework incorporates hardware acceleration techniques.

Key Features:

With over 50 UI components and native themes, this new android framework helps develop captivating and eye-catching mobile applications.

• It also adds distinctive features such as richness in fluid animations and smooth scrolling to the apps.
• Several big businesses have praised Sencha Touch for its high degree of compatibility, responsive touch features, and swift execution.

3. TheAppsBuilder

TheAppsBuilder is a unique, new android framework that is based on HTML and supports a codeless UI. Thus, a person need not learn coding in order to use this framework for Android mobile app development.

TheAppBuilder is well suited especially for building information-based Android applications. The framework’s drag-and-drop feature enables you to assemble the application quickly and easily.

Key Features:

• TheAppBuilder comes with built-in blocks that include functionalities such as feedback, content updates, polls, push notifications, and much more.
• Perhaps the best feature of this new Android framework is that it integrates comfortably with Google Play flaunting a social media presence.

Read More: How To Develop A Gaming App For Android

4. React Native

Released in 2015, React Native is an open-source cross-platform development framework. It is backed by social media giant Facebook and is one of the best new Android frameworks for mobile app development.

React Native relies on React, a massive JS library, to build apps on Android and iOS. The cross-platform characteristic allows developers to write the code only once and then execute it elsewhere. This makes the android mobile app development process pretty quick and cost-efficient.

Now and then, the developers seem to face difficulties such as the Iteration Period, Codebase differences, Imperative programming, etc. React Native serves as the best solution to all those problems making it a leader amongst the new Android frameworks.

Key Features:

• React Native has built-in UI components and native API access that lets Android apps enjoy a sophisticated look and great performance.
• It boasts of the hot-reload feature, which enables the developers to update files without disrupting the current state of the app.

5. Xamarin

Owned by Microsoft, Xamarin is an open-source framework used to design Android apps with “.NET”. It is relatively older than most other cross-platform frameworks. Upon joining hands with Visual Studio IDE, Xamarin attracted the likes of many reputable brands.

Key Features:

• Xamarin boasts an advanced toolset through which developers can work with a shared code written in C# or XAML.
• This code-sharing feature cuts back the coding time for developers and the number of bugs during the development process.
• This development framework leverages Microsoft’s cloud testing service thereby enabling easy app testing on numerous devices.

Read More: 7 Tips to Hire Dedicated Developers for Your Project

6. Appcelerator Titanium

Appcelerator Titanium SDK is an open-source platform that allows developers to create native apps using a single JavaScript codebase. As a result, Appcelerator had to make it to the list of new Android frameworks for mobile app development.

JavaScript helps this framework to build highly efficient and robust native android applications.

Key Features:

• Appcelerator has a distinct feature. Developers can create multi-platform applications by deploying around 60%-90% of the existing code.
• On top of that, it gives native API access for operating systems including Android, iOS, Universal Windows, HTML5, and Blackberry.
• Android applications built with Appcelerator framework enjoy the advantage of using hardware-specific features.
• These include Android menu buttons, OS-centric controls, and platform-appropriate notifications.

7. Ionic

If you are looking for a cross platform solution, then Ionic framework might be the right choice for you. It uses HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to develop mobile apps.

Ionic encompasses a myriad of software tools, gestures, and animations. These resources facilitate the development of top-notch mobile, desktop, and progressive web apps with a single code base.

Key Features:

• Besides, the framework also hosts a simple CLI thereby allowing access to emulators, live reload, logging, and other interesting features.
• Because of this CLI and its flexibility, Ionic is one of the best new Android frameworks for mobile app development.
• Ionic integrates quite easily with other libraries such as Cordova and AngularJS.
• Cordova’s plugins improve the functionality of the framework through various components such as camera, GPS, etc.

Read More: React Native Vs Ionic: The Battle of Two Cross-Platform App Development

8. Flutter

Flutter is the latest in the line of mobile app development SDKs. Owned and maintained by Google, it is an open-source framework for building cross-platform apps. The framework is written in Dart language and uses a single codebase.

This leading Android framework is an innovator in the sense that its approach to app development differs from its contemporaries. It streamlines the multi-platform development process to build high-quality interfaces for Android and iOS.

Google’s Flutter framework benefits heavily from a 2D rendering engine called Skia. The visuals that are generated using Skia resemble the Material Design and Cupertino Style.

Key Features:

• Flutter also proves to be a solid testing framework for performing UI, unit and functionality tests.
• Moreover, this development framework has the much-acclaimed hot reload feature that enables seamless testing without having to restart the app.
• This new Android framework is an industry favorite for mobile app development due to its useful benefits such as quick rendering, a screen reader, a bunch of themes, and many more.

9. PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a cross platform mobile application development framework that uses HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to develop native apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, and more. Besides Android, other operating systems can also leverage PhoneGap for mobile app development.

Developers prefer this framework because it allows them to view and check the changes they make at the same time as they work on an application.

Key Features:

• The latest enrolled version of PhoneGap is accompanied by the Cordova WebView.
• This makes the integration of PhoneGap’s code into larger native apps achievable.
• On top of that, this new Android framework features an extended plugin library,   third-party software tools, and a growing community.
• It also enables working without hardware-specific limitations.

Read More: Why Flutter App Development Is the Future in 2022

10. NativeScript

Supported by a Bulgarian software company Telerik, NativeScript is an open-source framework. Besides being one of the best frameworks for Android application development, NativeScript is also a top hybrid app development SDK.

This development framework relies on Vue.js, TypeScript, or JavaScript for building apps and sharing the code across platforms.

Key Features:

• NativeScript works differently than most other Android frameworks, consequently saving time and money in the app development process.
• The framework makes all iOS and Android APIs fully accessible for the developers.
• It also offers a chance to easily reuse CocoaPods and Android SDKs, search for free templates, plugins, and app samples.

11. jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile is a cross-platform development framework that is premised on HTML5. Easily one of the best new Android frameworks for mobile app development, this framework is backed by a huge community. It is one of the easiest software solutions for developers to build mobile as well as web apps.

jQuery reduces the workload of developers drastically. Meaning, a developer has to write the code only once and the framework will execute it on virtually every other platform.

Also, developers get added support in the form of custom JavaScript files and structure-only style sheets from jQuery mobile.

Key Features:

• This Android framework also includes various plugins such as Pop-Up Boxes, Image Slider, Content-Slider, and many more.
• As a consequence, the web pages developed are simple, user-friendly, and more interactive.
• In addition to that, it also offers easy compatibility with other mobile app frameworks and platforms like Worklight and PhoneGap.

Read More: React Native Cross-Platform App Development: When and When Not to Use it?

12. SproutCore

Apple developed an open-source JavaScript framework called SproutCore.  The HTML5 powered framework is utilized in building super-fast apps with sophisticated features.

Developers use SproutCore for its clear MVC design which facilitates performance optimization and scalability.

Key Features:

• As opposed to other Android framework and libraries, this framework includes an extensive set of more than 50,000 tools.
• These tools are perfectly capable of building desktop-like applications in a browser, including routing, UI components, testing and deployment tools.
• Thanks to its maintainable application code and a well thought out business logic, the framework has become one of the best in its field.

Which is the Best New Android Framework for Mobile App Development in 2022?

Every project or application has a unique set of requirements. It’s not possible to label any one Android framework as the best for mobile app development. You need to compare the features that every Android framework offers and match those with the functionalities your app needs. Third Rock Techkno is a leading mobile development services provider in India and the USA. We are here to help you choose the most feasible framework and other tools for your mobile app projects. To get free cost estimates and feedback on your app idea, set up a free consultation call with our experts here.

Hire expert Android developers from Third Rock Techkno to create widely used, simple to complex Android apps at highly competitive rates.