Apache Cordova vs NativeScript

Overview

Apache Cordova

Stacks686

Followers892

Votes218

GitHub Stars955

Forks345

NativeScript

Stacks533

Followers1.1K

Votes516

GitHub Stars25.3K

Forks1.7K

Apache Cordova vs NativeScript: What are the differences?

Introduction: Both Apache Cordova and NativeScript are popular frameworks used for developing cross-platform mobile applications. While they both serve the same purpose, there are key differences between the two.

Development Approach: Apache Cordova follows a web-based approach, where applications are developed using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These applications are then wrapped in a native container to run on different platforms. On the other hand, NativeScript uses a Native UI approach, where developers can write platform-specific code and create native user interfaces using XML and JavaScript/TypeScript.
Access to Native APIs: Apache Cordova provides plugins to access native APIs, allowing developers to utilize device features. However, the access to these APIs is often limited and requires plugin implementation. In contrast, NativeScript provides direct access to the native APIs of the target platform, enabling developers to utilize all the features without any plugin limitations.
Performance: NativeScript uses a Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation approach to deliver high-performance applications. This means that the code is compiled at runtime, providing faster execution. On the other hand, Apache Cordova applications use WebView, which can lead to performance limitations compared to NativeScript.
App Size: Apache Cordova applications tend to have a larger app size, as they require a WebView to be bundled along with the app. This can result in slower download times and occupy more device storage space. NativeScript, on the other hand, allows developers to directly access native components, resulting in smaller app sizes.
UI Flexibility: With Apache Cordova, developers have limited control over the user interface, as applications follow web standards. Native user interface elements might not be fully customizable or may not look identical across different platforms. In contrast, NativeScript allows developers to create custom user interfaces with platform-specific design patterns and full control over UI components.
Development Community: Apache Cordova has been around for a longer time and has a larger development community. This means that there is a vast amount of community support, plugins, and resources available. NativeScript, while growing steadily, has a smaller development community with fewer resources and plugins available.

In Summary, Apache Cordova and NativeScript differ in their development approach, access to native APIs, performance, app size, UI flexibility, and development community support.

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Advice on Apache Cordova, NativeScript

Gabor

CTO at momento.

Aug 23, 2021

Decided

As a startup, we need the maximum flexibility and the ability to reach our customers in a more suitable way. So a hybrid application approach is the best because it allows you to develop a cross-platform application in a unique codebase. The choice behind Ionic is Angular, I think that angular is the best framework to develop a complex application that needs a lot of service interaction, its modularity forces you (the developer) to write the code in the correct way, so it can be maintainable and reusable.

209k views209k

Comments

Jan

Jan 24, 2022

Decided

I wanted to develop a student app that possibly could be used by many teams (students from other schools)

I chose Ionic, because:

single codebase: previously, we used React Native for Android and Angular for web/PWA, which was troublesome
portability: runs on PWA (which is important, because iOS license is too expensive for school app), web, Android iOS (+ others, if needed)
full use of web technologies: Next.js, Tailwind, React in this example (in oppose to Flutter/Java/Kotlin)
stability and maintainability: low-entry level due to basic web technologies without new syntax (in oppose to React Native and Flutter), web is really stable and won't lose support (which doesn't have to be true with Flutter/Dart)

106k views106k

Comments

Lucas

Jan 6, 2023

Needs adviceon

iOS

Visual Studio Code

TypeScript

Hello,

We're just brainstorming for the moment and we have a few questions.

We have an idea for an app that we want to develop, here are the prerequisites:

cross-platform (iOS, Android, and website);
as easy to maintain as possible / well documented / widely used;
Visual Studio Code and Copilot compatible;
Text to speech;
Speech recognition;
Running in background (screen off with TTS and speech recognition);
could be using TypeScript;
Monetized through ad and in-App payment for premium version;
Display on lock screen (Android only I guess)

So what would you recommend?

I've been trying to review the options available, and I've considered:

Thanks in advance for your help, and I'm open to any comments.

371k views371k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Apache Cordova	NativeScript
Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.	NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.
Cross-platform (CLI) workflow;Platform-centered workflow;Hundreds of plugins	100% Access to Native Platform API;NativeScript is free of charge as an open source project;Code with JavaScript. Style with CSS;Cross-platform UI abstractions;Shared business logic and data models
Statistics
GitHub Stars 955	GitHub Stars 25.3K
GitHub Forks 345	GitHub Forks 1.7K
Stacks 686	Stacks 533
Followers 892	Followers 1.1K
Votes 218	Votes 516
Pros & Cons
Pros 48 Lots of plugins 35 JavaScript 26 Great community 25 Easy Development 18 Easy to learn Cons 2 No native performance 1 Hard to install 0 Hard to install	Pros 75 Access to the entire native api 47 Support for native ios and android libraries 46 Angular 2.0 support 46 Support for javascript libraries 44 Native ux and performance Cons 5 Lack of promotion 1 Slower Performance compared to competitors

What are some alternatives to Apache Cordova, NativeScript?

Ionic

Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.

Flutter

Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.

React Native

React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

Xamarin

Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Framework7

It is a free and open source mobile HTML framework to develop hybrid mobile apps or web apps with iOS native look and feel. All you need to make it work is a simple HTML layout and attached framework's CSS and JS files.

Qt

Qt, a leading cross-platform application and UI framework. With Qt, you can develop applications once and deploy to leading desktop, embedded & mobile targets.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a web platform that exposes native mobile device apis and data to JavaScript. PhoneGap is a distribution of Apache Cordova. PhoneGap allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.

Expo

It is a framework and a platform for universal React applications. It is a set of tools and services built around React Native and native platforms that help you develop, build, deploy, and quickly iterate on iOS, Android, and web apps.

Vue Native

Vue Native is a mobile framework to build truly native mobile app using Vue.js. Its is designed to connect React Native and Vue.js. Vue Native is a wrapper around React Native APIs, which allows you to use Vue.js and compose rich mobile User Interface.

Shoutem UI

Shoutem UI is a set of styleable components that enables you to build beautiful React Native applications for iOS and Android. All of our components are built to be both composable and customizable.

Related Comparisons

Apache Cordova vs NativeScript: What are the differences?

Development Approach: Apache Cordova follows a web-based approach, where applications are developed using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These applications are then wrapped in a native container to run on different platforms. On the other hand, NativeScript uses a Native UI approach, where developers can write platform-specific code and create native user interfaces using XML and JavaScript/TypeScript.
Access to Native APIs: Apache Cordova provides plugins to access native APIs, allowing developers to utilize device features. However, the access to these APIs is often limited and requires plugin implementation. In contrast, NativeScript provides direct access to the native APIs of the target platform, enabling developers to utilize all the features without any plugin limitations.
Performance: NativeScript uses a Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation approach to deliver high-performance applications. This means that the code is compiled at runtime, providing faster execution. On the other hand, Apache Cordova applications use WebView, which can lead to performance limitations compared to NativeScript.
App Size: Apache Cordova applications tend to have a larger app size, as they require a WebView to be bundled along with the app. This can result in slower download times and occupy more device storage space. NativeScript, on the other hand, allows developers to directly access native components, resulting in smaller app sizes.
UI Flexibility: With Apache Cordova, developers have limited control over the user interface, as applications follow web standards. Native user interface elements might not be fully customizable or may not look identical across different platforms. In contrast, NativeScript allows developers to create custom user interfaces with platform-specific design patterns and full control over UI components.
Development Community: Apache Cordova has been around for a longer time and has a larger development community. This means that there is a vast amount of community support, plugins, and resources available. NativeScript, while growing steadily, has a smaller development community with fewer resources and plugins available.

In Summary, Apache Cordova and NativeScript differ in their development approach, access to native APIs, performance, app size, UI flexibility, and development community support.

Apache Cordova vs NativeScript

Overview